The workmanship of the motherboard has always been the focus of everyone's attention. The quality of the workmanship directly determines the overclocking performance, service life, stability, etc. of the motherboard. This shows the importance of the workmanship of a motherboard, and even motherboards of the same model will have large or small differences in quality due to different manufacturers and different batches. Astute consumers can still see the products of different batches and manufacturers. (In fact, even among the same manufacturers and batches, there will be individual differences in quality, and these differences are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye). Therefore, when professional knowledge is relatively weak, only by mastering certain identification skills can we buy satisfactory products. This is also what our consumers want. Below I will introduce the pros and cons of motherboard workmanship in several parts.
1. Power supply section
The power supply section of the motherboard includes the power supply for various slots and interfaces, but the most important one is the power supply for the CPU and memory. Let's take a look at the power supply part of the CPU first. The power supply of the CPU is generally composed of capacitors, inductors and field effect transistors. Its main function is to transform the voltage and stabilize it at a certain value. In addition, filtering is also completed in this part. Its quality directly determines the stability of the system and the performance of the system, especially the overclocking performance. A considerable number of people have always been very cold about two-phase power supply, thinking that three-phase power supply must be better than two-phase power supply. In fact, two-phase power supply is not as bad as we think. Famous brand motherboard manufacturers generally have strong design capabilities, so their two-phase power supply is not necessarily worse than the three-phase power supply of those copycat manufacturers.
As for the choice of capacitors, it is recommended to choose high-quality electrolytic capacitors, such as Japanese RUBYCON, SANYO, NICHICON, etc. Electrolytic capacitors from Taiwan can also be considered, such as TAICON, OST, TEAPO, CAPXON, etc. . This can greatly reduce the chance of motherboard capacitor bursting. Generally speaking, famous brand motherboards will use high-quality brand-name capacitors to ensure the stability of CPU power supply. However, some lower-quality motherboards use much different materials due to cost considerations, and generally use Taiwanese or off-brand capacitors.
There are also some differences in the coils. Some motherboards use coils with a very thin wire diameter and many windings; others use coils with a smaller number of windings and a very thick wire diameter. Coils with very thick wire diameters use new magnetic cores with high magnetic permeability and resistance to saturation, so they do not require a large number of windings to obtain sufficient magnetic flux. Therefore, they are also used by more and more motherboard manufacturers. It should be noted that before a motherboard is put into mass production, it has been rigorously tested by engineers, and its power supply is generally guaranteed, especially for famous brand motherboards. However, it is not ruled out that some manufacturers cut corners in order to reduce costs and obtain maximum profits. The quality of such products can be imagined. For a motherboard, the circuit of the power supply part of the CPU is also very particular.
The copper foil block for the power supply made of blue coils
We know that when the current flows through a conductor with a small cross-sectional area, the loss is greater and the heat generation will also be Correspondingly, the efficiency of power supply will decrease. Therefore, for a well-designed motherboard, the copper foil lines in the CPU power supply section will generally be thicker and wider. Some engineers even use a whole piece of copper foil and add a layer of soldered tin strips on top to enhance power supply efficiency. And the effect of doing so is also very obvious. Note that some motherboards also use power management chips like "multi-phase conversion" in this part, such as Intersil ISL6556B, which can adjust the phases of different currents and increase the throughput rate of the power supply, thus improving the working efficiency of the power supply and reducing the power consumption of the power supply. of extra calories. For these chips, I will not introduce them one by one here.
Good memory power supply combination and poor memory power supply combination
The memory power supply part is ignored by many users, and inferior motherboards use it to The surgery was done.
The current power supply of DDR memory is divided into two parts, namely the 2.5V core voltage and the 3.3V I/O voltage (of course, the 2.5V power supply requirement for the DDR memory core is relatively higher). Therefore, theoretically speaking, it is reasonable that the power supply part of the memory needs to be divided into two groups. In order to provide better power supply quality, the power supply part of each group is best to use a combination of inductor coil and MOSFET to ensure stable power supply. Famous brand motherboards generally have sufficient information in this regard, but there is no guarantee for inferior motherboards. Generally, the inductor coil is omitted and only one or two sets of MOSFETs are retained for power supply. Of course, this depends on your shrewd eyes to distinguish. If you have chosen a low-quality motherboard, it is recommended to replace it with a good-quality power supply, which will help your memory and ensure its stable operation. On the contrary, if an inferior motherboard is coupled with an inferior power supply, the consequences will be disastrous.
2. Clock generator
RTM862-431 clock generator ICS 950224AF clock generator
The clock generator is usually combined with a crystal oscillator chip to form a system clock generator. The pulse signal generated by the system clock generator not only directly provides the external operating frequency required by the CPU, but also provides a variety of clock signals required by other peripherals and buses. Its working principle is as follows: a stable pulse signal is first generated by the crystal oscillator, then shaped and divided by a clock generator, and finally transmitted to each device.
For a motherboard, this part is very important, especially for overclocking users, who have higher requirements for the clock generator. If a motherboard uses a clock generator with poor frequency division, its overclocking performance will be greatly limited. Common clock frequencies for frequency division are mostly brands such as IC, ICS, Winbond, PhaseLink, IMI, and C-Media. Such as RTM660, IC-Works W48S101-04x, ICS 950227AF, Winbond W83194BR-323, etc. For example, most of ABIT's mainstream products now use RTM360-110R as the clock generator. Because it has rich frequency divisions and can be adjusted from 100 to 250 MHz on a megabyte basis, and can achieve a maximum frequency division of 6, it has become one of the powerful tools for motherboard overclocking.
3. Protection circuit part
Poly Fuse near the IO interface (left) and USB interface (right)
Protection There are many types of circuits, let’s take a look at Fuse first. Simply put, Fuse is a fuse. They usually appear near the IO interface and USB interface of the motherboard, and the most common one is Poly Fuse. It is a varistor that provides overvoltage protection. When the voltage is within the normal working range, its resistance is very small (or very large). When the voltage or current reaches a certain high value, its resistance will suddenly become very large (or extremely small), thus protecting the The motherboard circuit is protected from damage. When the electromagnetism returns to normal, the Fuse returns to its normal state (except for applications similar to blown fuses). On a famous brand motherboard, as long as you look carefully, you can usually find several small light green or dark green SMD components. Yes, they are what we call Poly Fuse. And these are like "endangered animals" on the earth to an inferior motherboard.
Attansic ATXP1 chip
Let’s take a look at the overclocking protection chip. Common ones include MSI's MS-3 overclocking protection chip, Attansic ATXP1 and ATTP1 overclocking control and protection chips, etc. ATXP1 is a two-in-one overclocking/protection Super PLL chip, usually near the CPU socket. It can perform frequency division settings and voltage adjustment for the CPU, memory, AGP, etc. while ensuring that the CPU will not burn out due to unstable voltage. The ATTP1 chip can provide an independent CPU overheating protection function to prevent the CPU from burning out due to accidental falling off of the radiator.
These protection chips are very important in ensuring security.
Various hardware monitoring chips
Finally, let’s take a look at the hardware monitoring functions. Famous brand motherboards usually provide some kind of software in the accessories. It can be used in conjunction with the hardware on the motherboard to monitor voltage, temperature, fan speed, etc. Once it detects that these parameters exceed the set indicators, it will automatically make a decision. Adjust to protect component safety. Common temperature control chips include ADT7463, etc.; common general hardware monitoring chips include Winbond's W83697HF and W83627HF, SMSC's LPC47M172, ITE's IT8705F, IT8703F, ASUS' AS99172F, etc. These chips usually also integrate super I/O functions. , can be used to monitor the voltage, temperature, speed, etc. of the monitored object. To monitor the temperature, it needs to be used in conjunction with the temperature sensing element; to monitor the fan motor speed, it needs to be used in conjunction with the CPU cooling fan. These are generally not provided by low-quality motherboards. They may be provided, but they are not perfect.
4. PCB part
Motherboard PCB
PCB is the abbreviation of Printed Circuit Block, also known as printed circuit board. It is an important part of the motherboard and directly determines the electrical performance of the motherboard. Current motherboards are generally produced using 4-layer, 6-layer or even 8-layer PCBs. Theoretically, the electrical performance of 6-layer PCBs is better than that of 4-layer PCBs, but this is based on reasonable design. Of course, for famous brand motherboard manufacturers, their design capabilities are quite strong, which is more reassuring. Moreover, the more layers the PCB has, the more complex the process will be. Complex processes will inevitably lead to higher scrap rates, so the cost will be higher.
The various layers of PCB can generally be divided into signal layer (Signal), power layer (Power) or ground layer (Ground). During the design process, engineers will make the most reasonable optimization of the circuit line direction of each layer. The circuits on each layer of PCB are independent of each other. In a 4-layer PCB motherboard, the signal layer is generally distributed on the top and bottom layers of the PCB, while the middle two layers are the power and ground layers. Relatively speaking, a 6-layer PCB is more complicated. Its signal layers are generally distributed on layers 1, 3, and 5, while the power layer has 2 layers. If you look closely, you will also find one or several layers of white stuff sandwiched in the middle of the PCB. In fact, it is made of insulator. Its purpose is to ensure that there will be no short circuit between different layers. As for judging the quality of PCB, the main thing is to observe whether the printed circuit part is clear and clear, whether the PCB is flat and without deformation, etc. The quality of PCB has nothing to do with its color. Some manufacturers like to use red, and some like to use green... This is completely decided by the manufacturer. Of course, as a fixed manufacturer, especially a famous brand manufacturer, it has already formed a certain style. Therefore, the color of its PCB generally does not change much.
5. Wiring
Snake-shaped wiring
Carefully observe the motherboard circuit lines, you will find that most of the lines are winding, with few There are straight lines, which are what we often call "snake paths." Its main function is to compensate for the smaller delayed parts of the "same group of related" signal lines. By adjusting the length of the line, the time it takes for the signal to reach the receiving end from the sending end can be adjusted, so that the delay difference of each signal is maintained within a certain range, ensuring the validity of the data read by the system in the same cycle.
But delay is also related to line width, line length, copper thickness, board structure, etc., so you cannot just look at the line length. You may ask, will so many traces arranged together cause interference? The answer is yes. Theoretically, if the spacing of the serpentine traces reaches twice the line width, the interference will be greatly reduced. Therefore it is very important to maintain proper spacing between traces. But isn't it that simple? No. In fact, the serpentine trace has another purpose in the motherboard, which is to act as a filter inductor to improve the anti-interference ability of the circuit.
In addition, it can also play a role in assisting in impedance matching. There is a lot of knowledge involved, and it is not easy to explain it clearly if you want to introduce it in depth. In a word, famous brand motherboards have stronger design capabilities, and we have every reason to believe that their wiring will be more reasonable and reliable. As for some copycat factories, they are far different.
6. Overall layout
Mainboard layout
The overall layout of the motherboard mentioned here refers to the layout of various components on its PCB Is it reasonable? The layout of components of a good motherboard should take into account various problems faced by users and make it more user-friendly without causing any inconvenience during use. For example, the IDE port should be placed near the bottom of the motherboard and designed horizontally to facilitate user access; the area near the CPU slot should be left as empty as possible to facilitate users to install larger radiators; the AGP slot should be adjacent to A certain distance should be maintained between the PCI slots, so that users can easily install larger graphics cards or PCI cards without being unable to install them or affecting the use of certain slots; the DIMM wrench should be away from the AGP slot. The extension cable directly below is slightly farther away, which makes it easier for users to replace the memory module when the graphics card is installed; the capacitors near the DIMM wrench should not be too close to avoid accidentally knocking off the capacitor during installation...these The problem is very common, especially on some inferior motherboards. For famous brand motherboards, such low-level mistakes are generally not made, but it does not mean that they will never be made, but they are relatively rare.
7. The quality of the connectors and the welding quality of the components
LOTES’s CPU socket and neatly welded components
When it comes to the welding quality of the components, I have to introduce the connectors in the motherboard first. For a motherboard, the quality of the connectors directly affects the stability of the entire computer. The quality of connectors generally depends on the brand of connectors used by the motherboard manufacturer. Connectors supplied by world-famous motherboard connector suppliers such as LOTES, FOXCONN, TEKCON and AMP are obviously much better in quality. Poor-quality connectors may suffer from poor contact, weakened elasticity, deformation, etc., and especially cannot withstand repeated plugging and unplugging. For such important connectors as CPU sockets, AGP slots and DIMM slots, even slight problems in contact may cause system instability or even failure to light up the machine.
After you have good connectors and other components, you must also pay attention to certain skills when welding. Otherwise, poor welding will reduce the service life of the motherboard. Among the motherboards that have been repaired, a considerable number are sent for repair due to contact problems with components, such as false soldering. It is difficult to see with the naked eye the quality of component welding and whether the contact is good. We generally judge based on whether the components are welded firmly and whether the solder joints are smooth and burr-free. Although it is not very accurate, it can still explain some problems. Generally, famous brand motherboards will use internationally renowned connectors, and their welding technology will be more mature. The most important thing is that their quality control is relatively strict, which to a certain extent reduces the flow of some substandard products to the market. .
Humanized design
Using color-coded dual-channel memory slots
The humanized design of the motherboard is reflected in whether it is convenient for users to install various devices. , without causing unnecessary losses due to installation errors. For example, dual-channel memory slots should be distinguished by different colors, which makes it easier for users to identify and quickly establish dual channels; the various pin-type interfaces on the motherboard should be marked with the parameters of each pin, which can reduce a lot of Various problems caused by incorrect wiring can effectively avoid events such as burning out the motherboard or other equipment. For example, due to incorrect USB wiring, it is very likely that the USB device you are using will be burned. On the other hand, it is reflected in whether the BIOS settings are reasonable and whether the use of drivers and management software conforms to people's usage habits.
For a good motherboard, the driver installation should be more convenient and easy to use without many tedious steps; the installation and use of management and monitoring software should also be simple and clear. Finally, in terms of appearance packaging, motherboards from major manufacturers generally spend a lot of time on their design. Therefore, its packaging will appear more refined and generally have a fixed style. Of course, brand-name motherboards also pay attention to safety issues in their appearance and packaging. For example, in order to reduce various unpredictable problems caused by vibration and other reasons during transportation, cardboard is usually added to the packaging to prevent the collision between the accessories and the motherboard, and a large sponge is also added to reduce the damage of the motherboard. Vibration and so on.
Market reputation
Establishing a brand does not happen overnight, especially to gain recognition from the majority of users, which is even more difficult. The products of famous brand manufacturers have been tested by the market for a long time and have a relatively fixed user group. Coupled with the role of "brand effect", they will definitely be sought after by more users. However, since it is a famous brand and its reputation is high, the price will naturally go up. And it may be much higher than the products of some no-name factories, but its quality will be more guaranteed. Therefore, if the budget is sufficient, it is better to buy famous brands. After all, "you get what you pay for" is not unreasonable. At present, the main brands with good reputation in the motherboard market include Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, ABIT, Panzheng, etc.