motherboard list with specification and capabilities

SOCKET AM2+

AMD confirmed that AM2 processors will work in AM2+ motherboards and AM2+ processors will work on AM2 motherboards. However, due to the lack of support of HyperTransport 3.0 and separated power planes in Socket AM2 motherboards, AM2+ chips will be limited to the specifications of Socket AM2 (HyperTransport 2.0 at the speed of 1 GHz, one power plane for both Cores and IMC). AM2 chips will not benefit from faster HyperTransport and separated power planes on AM2+ motherboards as they do not support them, AM2+ motherboard then fall back to compatibility mode using AM2 specifications.
According to confirmations from AMD, Socket AM2+ will have a compatibility path with Socket AM3, AM3 processors will work in AM2+ motherboards; however, AM2+ processors will not be compatible with AM3 motherboards.
Type
PGA-ZIF

Chip form factors
Ceramic Pin Grid Array (CPGA)Organic Pin Grid Array (OPGA)

Contacts
940

Bus Protocol


FSB
200 MHz System clock2.6 GHz HyperTransport

Voltage range
?

Processors
Athlon 64Athlon 64 X2OpteronPhenom series :Phenom X4Phenom X3Phenom X2

ASUSASUS ORIGINAL FEATURES
Asus has introduced a number of original features and tools that complemented its products, especially motherboards. The table below lists them, together with some third-party technologies, rebranded under Asus-specific names (note: the acronym AI, which prefixes many of the feature names, stands for Asus Intelligence).


AI NOS
2005
Motherboards
Non-delay Overclocking System. A dynamic overclocking technology
AI Proactive
2004

Motherboards
a blanket term for all AI enhancements
AI Quiet/Q-Fan

Motherboards
Controls fan-speed to requirement for noise management
Audio DJ


Motherboards and notebooks
Allows playing Audio CDs without turning the computer on. Notebooks supporting this feature normally have play/pause, stop and other control buttons on the front, where they are accessible even when the notebook is closed.
Express Gate /Lite


Motherboards
On boot-up, the user is given the option to boot a version of Linux stored on a bit of Flash memory on the motherboard. Users can surf the internet and use Skype, IM, YouTube, webmail and internet file downloads without booting Windows.
Asus EZ Flash

Motherboards
Allows update of the BIOS through a non-boot floppy which just contains the new BIOS image. Built-in with the BIOS firmware and can be accessed by pressing ALT+F2 during the power-on self-test
C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
2004
Motherboards
Automatically restore default CPU settings at reboot when the system fails due to overclocking.
Asus CrashFree BIOS
2004
Motherboards
If the BIOS becomes corrupted, CrashFree BIOS 2 allows the user to perform a recovery using the motherboard support CD.
Color Shine (or Colour Shine), Crystal Shine
2006
Laptop LCDs
Asus marketing names for the anti-reflective LCD technology.
GameFace Live
2004
Graphics Cards
A multi-player audio and video chat solution allowing online gamers to see and talk to each other while playing. As of 2006, it is limited to DirectX games and allows up to eight simultaneous players.
GameLiveShow
2004
Graphics Cards
Allows gamers to broadcast
WiFi-AP
2005
Motherboards
WiFi AccessPoint module bundled with some motherboards, Notably the P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n that includes 802.11n.
Music Alarm
2007
Motherboards
BIOS feature makes the computer play music from a CD at a user-defined date.
Q-Connector
2006
Motherboards
Front-panel connectors plug into this block. The block is then plugged into the motherboard for easy removal and installation.
Stack Cool
2006
Motherboards
The back of the motherboard is designed for optimal heat dissipation of onboard components.
AI Gear
2007
Motherboards
Uses adjustable profiles to change CPU frequency and Core voltage to minimize noise and power consumption.
O.C. Profile
2006
Motherboards
Allows users to store multiple BIOS settings for distribution or sharing. Settings can be stored in CMOS or as a separate file.
GreenASUS
2006


GUMSTIX
Gumstix is a US-based technology company that designs, builds and sells full-function miniature computers and related products. The small form factor gumstix (in the words of Gumstix) "is just a computer".

The Gumstix product line consists of cased and single board wide computers. The platform is a motherboard and expansion card computer based on Marvell XScale processors running Linux Embedded. Gumsticks motherboards measure 80 mm x 20 mm x 6.3 mm, comparable in size to a stick of chewing gum (hence the name of the company). I/O options via expansion boards include synchronous and asynchronous serial, USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth and Wifi wireless interfaces. The motherboard schematics and design information are proprietary, but expansion board schematics and layouts are available online under the Creative Commons Share

VERDEX
The Verdex motherboards feature up to 128MB RAM, on-board strataflash up to 32 MB, an onboard 60-pin Hirose I/O header, a 120-pin Molex connector for connecting additional expansion cards and have Infineon Bluetooth as an option.
The key functions of the verdex motherboards over the basix and connex motherboards include: USB host and the higher RAM and flash memory options.
In volume, verdex motherboards may be ordered with processor speeds of 300MHz, 400MHz, 500MHz and 600MHz with any combination of RAM, flash and expansion board connectors.
Connex The Connex motherboards also feature on-board 16 MB strataflash, an onboard 60-pin Hirose I/O header, a 92-pin bus header for connecting additional expansion cards and have Infineon Bluetooth as an option.
] Basix
The Basix motherboards features 4 MB strataflash, an onboard 60-pin Hirose I/O header, an onboard MMC slot and Infineon Bluetooth as an option. Basix-xm models extend the 4 MB of flash to 16 MB.
Computers
Gumstix has two cased computer product lines: Netstix and Waysmall.
Netstix
The Netstix computers, based on the Connex motherboard, provide 10/100 Mb Ethernet connected computers with CompactFlash (CF) for storage.
Waysmall The Waysmall computers, based on the Basix motherboard, have USB and serial connectivity with MultiMediaCard (MMC) storage capability.
Software development kit .

Gumstix uses the OpenEmbedded software framework to track and fetch dependencies, cross-compile packages and build complete images automatically using BitBake. After building, the rootfs image and the kernel are transferred to the Gumstix through a serial connection, using compact flash or MMC type cards or through ethernet network (depending on the system configuration and what expansion boards are used)
Additional software can be either downloaded prebuilt directly from the Gumstix repositories or compiled using BitBake with the same method, and is installed and managed using ipkg packages.

3D VISUALIZATION
This modeling environment for electronic product designers integrates popular design tools, 3D images, and software scripts intended to aid the design and visualization of new product enclosures and custom expansion boards, by combining 3D Gumstix product visuals with Google SketchUp, Google 3D Warehouse and Cadsoft's Eagle CAD software

BTX CASE
BTX (for Balanced Technology Extended) is a form factor for PC motherboards, originally slated to be the replacement for the aging ATX motherboard form factor in late 2004 and early 2005. It has been designed to alleviate some of the issues that arose from using newer technologies (which often demand more power and create more heat) on motherboards compliant with the circa-1996 ATX specification. The ATX and BTX standards were both proposed by Intel. Intel's decision to refocus on low-power CPUs, after suffering scaling and thermal issues with the Pentium 4, has added some doubt to the future of the form factor. The first company to implement BTX was Gateway Inc, followed by Dell. Apple's Mac Pro utilizes the elements of the BTX design system as well but is not BTX compliant. However, future development of BTX retail products by Intel was canceled in September 2006.[1]
Low-profile - With the push for ever-smaller systems, a redesigned backplane that shaves inches off height requirements is a benefit to system integrators and enterprises who use rack mounts or blade servers.
Thermal design - The BTX layout establishes a straighter path of airflow with fewer obstacles, resulting in better overall cooling capabilities. A distinct feature of BTX is the vertical mounting of the motherboard on the left-hand side. This results in the graphics card heatsink or fan facing upwards, rather than in the direction of the adjacent expansion card.

structural design
- The BTX standard specifies different locations for hardware mounting points, thereby reducing latency between devices[citation needed] and also reduces the physical strain imposed on the motherboard by heat sinks, capacitors and other components dealing with electrical and thermal regulation. For example, the Northbridge and Southbridge chips are located near each other and to the hardware they control.

PICO BTX
BTX form factor motherboard inside a Dell Dimension E520.
Pico BTX is a computer motherboard and system form factor. Pico BTX motherboards are relatively small—smaller than current 'micro'-sized motherboards, hence the name 'pico'. They share a common top half with the other sizes in the BTX line, but sport only one or two expansion slots, designed for half-height or riser-card applications.
Intel, as the originator of the form factor, is the primary manufacturer of such boards. As of January 2007, there are very limited numbers of OEM motherboards and cases for Pico BTX. Complete systems are available from Dell, which embraced BTX quickly within its desktop product line, and appears to use Pico BTX boards in its smallest machines, though no claims are made by Dell in their marketing materials.

Compatibility with ATX products
The BTX form factor is largely incompatible with the ATX form factor. The only area where this doesn't fully apply is in power supply support. ATX power supplies can be used with regular or full-sized BTX motherboards. Neither the power connectors nor the direction of airflow from the power supply fan has been changed.

NFORCE 600
• The nForce 600 chipset was released in the first half of November 2006, coinciding with the GeForce 8 series launch on November 8, 2006. The nForce 600 supports Intel's LGA775 socket and AMD's Quad FX platform and replaces the nForce

AMD Chipsets
nForce 680a SLI
Specially made for the AMD Quad FX platform proposed by AMD, providing a total of two CPUs and multiple graphic cards configuation (SLi) working on a single chipset.

Features
AMD Dual Dual-core Socket F
Enthusiast multiple-GPU segment
Support for HyperTransport 2.0
2 northbridges as Media and Communications Processor (MCP) equal to that of nForce 570 SLI MCP [1], each providing one x16 and one x8 PCI-E lanes and total 28 PCI-E lanes
Total of 4 PCI-E x16 slots
Two of the x16 slots receive x8 PCI-E lanes bandwidth
Additional PCI-E slots support (PCI-E x8/x4/x1 slots)
Support of a total of 56 PCI-E lanes
PCI slot(s)
Support up to 4 non-registered DDR2 DIMM modules
Support for EPP memory
Support up to 12 SATA harddisks
Support RAID configurations:
RAID 1
RAID 0+1
RAID 5
JBOD
4 onboard Gigabit Ethernet ports
NVIDIA FirstPacket Technology
Support up to 20 USB 2.0 ports
GeForce 7050/nForce 630a
Features
AMD Socket 939/Socket AM2 processors
Mainstream IGP segment
MCP61P northbridge, IGP renamed as GeForce 7050[2]
sDVO connection for optional HDMI output[citation needed]
DVI, TV-out outputs
1 PCI Express x16 slot
Dual-channel DDR2-533/667/800 support
Extra PCIe x1 & PCI slots
High-definition audio (Azalia audio)
10 USB 2.0 ports
4 SATA 3.0 Gbit/s ports with RAID
Gigabit Ethernet

INTEL CHIPSETS
nForce 680i SLI
NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI System Platform Processors (SPPs) and Media Communications Processors (MCPs) are the top of the line motherboard for Intel users in the nForce 600 series.
] Features
Support for Quad Core CPUs and 1333 MHz Front Side Bus
Support for 1200 MHz SLI-Ready Memory with EPP
Support for up to 46 PCI Express (PCIe) lanes
Support for up to 10 USB 2.0 ports
Support for 6 3 Gbit/s SATA and 2 PATA drives, which can be linked together in any combination of SATA and PATA to form a RAID 0, 1, 5, or 0+1
NVIDIA nTune, a tool for easy overclocking and timing configurations
HDA (Azalia) Audio
Dual Onboard Gigabit Ethernet
NVIDIA FirstPacket and DualNet
nForce 680i LT SLI
Features
Support for Quad Core CPUs and 1333 MHz Front Side Bus
Support for 800 MHz SLI-Ready Memory with EPP
Support for up to 46 PCI Express (PCIe) lanes
Support for up to 10 USB 2.0 ports
Support for 6 3 Gbit/s SATA and 2 PATA drives, which can be linked together in any combination of SATA and PATA to form a RAID 0, 1, 5, or 0+1
NVIDIA nTune, a tool for easy overclocking and timing configurations
HDA (Azalia) Audio
Single Onboard Gigabit Ethernet
NVIDIA FirstPacket and DualNet
nForce 650i SLI
Intel LGA 775
Performance/mainstream dual-GPU segment
Estimated price US$150 or less nForce 650i Ultra
Intel LGA 775
Performance/mainstream single-GPU segment
nForce 630i
Intel LGA 775
IGP [3]
Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM memory
Video outputs: HDMI, DVI with HDCP and D-Sub
Value IGP segment
No PureVideo
nForce 680i SLI hotfix
NVIDIA has issued a fix named NV121906 in late December 2006 for 680i SLI motherboards. This hotfix was released because users have reported disconnect or write error issues with Serial ATA disk drives on their nForce 680i motherboards. It is an update specifically for SATA Disk Drives and system instability. System instability is observed in the following ways (not a complete list):
Random application shutdown
Corrupted boot drive
BSOD (Blue screen of death)
Corrupt data
To address them, BIOS updates were released for some NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI based motherboards that eliminate those symptoms. Affected motherboards include:
EVGA nForce 680i SLI
BFG nForce 680i SLI
Biostar TF680i SLI Deluxe

ECS PN2-SLI2+
This update is supposed to improve system stability and prevent future stability issues related to SATA disk drives on those systems requiring this hotfix. NVIDIA has strongly recommended that all customers upgrade their motherboards to the newest available BIOS revision that their nForce 680i-based motherboards could support, regardless of whether or not they have experienced the issues. Also, NVIDIA has stated that this upgrade will preserve the user's current computer settings.

APPLE II

The Apple IIe was the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The e in the name stood for enhanced, referring to the fact that several popular features were now built-in that were only available as upgrades and add-ons in earlier models. It also improved upon expandability and added a few new features, which, all combined, made it very attractive to first-time computer shoppers as a general-purpose machine. The Apple IIe has the distinction of being the longest-lived computer in Apple's history, having been manufactured and sold for nearly 11 years with relatively few changes. For this reason, it is the most commonly recognized model in the Apple II line. Technical specifications
Microprocessor
6502 or 65C02 running at 1.023 MHz
8-bit data bus

Memory
64 KB RAM built-in
16 KB ROM built-in
Expandable from 64 KB up to 1 MB RAM or more
Video modes
40 and 80 columns text, white-on-black, with 24 lines¹
Low-Resolution: 40×48 (16 colors)
High-Resolution: 280×192 (6 colors) *
Double-Low-Resolution: 80×48 (16 colors)
Double-High-Resolution: 560×192 (16 colors) *
*effectively 140×192 in color, due to pixel placement restrictions
¹Text can be mixed with graphic modes, replacing either bottom 8 or 32 lines of graphics with 4 lines of text, depending on video mode
Audio
Built-in speaker; 1-bit toggling
Built-in cassette recorder interface; 1-bit toggle output, 1-bit zero-crossing input
Expansion
Seven Apple II Bus slots (50-pin card-edge)
Auxiliary slot (60-pin card-edge)
Internal connectors
Game I/O socket (16-pin DIP)
RF modulation output (4-pin Molex)
Numeric keypad (11-pin Molex)
External connectors
NTSC composite video output (RCA connector)
Cassette in/out (two 1/8" mono phono jacks)
Joystick (DE-9)
B. In addition to supporting Double-High-Resolution and Double-Low-Resolution (see list above) it also added a special video signal accessible in slot-
new keyboard, with smaller superscripted black print. Note the user-added Enhanced badge.
Apple upgraded the motherboard free of charge. In later years Apple labeled newer IIe motherboards with a "-A" suffix once again although in functionality they were Revision B motherboards.
New case and keyboard
In 1984, Apple revised the case and keyboard. The original IIe used a case very similar to the Apple II Plus, painted and with Velcro-type clips to secure the lid with a strip of metal mesh along the edge to eliminate Radio Frequency Interference. The new case was made of dyed plastic mold in a slightly darker beige with a simplified snap-case lid. The other noticeable change was a new keyboard, with more professional looking print on darker keycaps (small black lettering, versus large white print). This was the first cosmetic change.
The Enhanced IIe
In March 1985, Apple replaced the original machine with a new revision called the Enhanced IIe. It was completely identical to the previous machine except for 4 chips changed on the motherboard (and a small "Enhanced" sticker placed over the keyboard power indicator).

The purpose of the update was to make the Apple IIe more compatible with the Apple IIc (released the previous year) and in some respects to a smaller degree, the Apple II Plus. This change involved a new processor, the CMOS based 65C02 CPU, a new character ROM for the text modes, and two new ROM firmware chips. The 65C02 added more CPU instructions, the new character ROM added 32 special "MouseText" characters (which allowed the creation of a GUI-like display in text mode, similar to IBM ANSI), and the new ROM firmware fixed problems and speed issues with 80 columns text, introduced the ability to use lowercase in Applesoft BASIC and Monitor, and contained some other smaller improvements (and fixes) in the latter two (including the return of the Mini-Assembler—which had vanished with the introduction of the II Plus firmware).

Despite affecting compatibility with a small number of software titles (particularly those that did not follow Apple programming guidelines and rules, used illegal opcodes that were no longer available in the new CPU, or used the alternate 80 column character set that MouseText now occupied) a fair bit of newer software — mostly productivity applications and utilities — required the Enhancement chipset to run at all. An official upgrade kit, consisting of these 4 replacement chips and an "Enhanced" sticker badge, was made available for purchase to owners of the original Apple IIe. An alternative at the time, which some users choose as a cost cutting measure, was to simply purchase their own 65C02 CPU and create (unlicensed and illegal) duplicates of the updated ROMs using re-rewritable EPROM chips. When Apple phased out the Enhancement kit in the early 1990's, this became the only method available method for users looking to upgrade their IIe, and remains so right up until present day. An Enhanced machine identifies itself with the name "Apple //e" on its start up splash screen (as opposed to the less specific The Platinum IIe
In January 1987 came the final revision of the Apple IIe, often referred to as the Platinum IIe, due to the color change of its case to the light-grey color scheme that Apple dubbed "Platinum". Changes to this revision were mostly cosmetic to modernize the look of the machine. Besides the color change, there was a new keyboard layout, with built-in numeric keypad. The keyboard was changed to match the layout of the Apple IIGS, with the reset key moved above the ESC and '1' keys, the Open and Solid Apple modifier keys replaced by Command and Option and the power LED relocated above the numeric keypad. Gone were the recessed metal ID badges (showing the Apple logo and name, with "//e" beside it) replaced with a simpler "Apple IIe" silk screened on the case lid in the Apple Garamond font. A smaller Apple logo badge remained, however moved to the right side of the case.
Internally, a (reduced in size) Extended 80 Columns Card was factory pre-installed, making it come standard with 128 KB RAM and Double-Hi-Res graphics enabled. The motherboard had a reduced chip count by merging the two system ROM chips into one and used higher density memory chips so its 64 KB RAM could be made up of two (64 Kbx4) chips rather than eight (64 Kbx1) chips, bringing the count down to a total of 24 chips. A solder pad location on the motherboard, present since the original IIe, for (optionally) making presses of the "Shift" keys detectable in software, was now shorted by default so that the feature was always active. Next, in a move to reduce Radio Frequency Interference when a joystick plugged into the motherboard's Game I/O socket, filtering capacitors were added. While this made no difference to the average user, it had the negative effect of lowering the available bandwidth to the socket, which was often used by specialized devices for such purposes as measuring temperature, controlling a robotic device, or even simplistic networking for data transfer to another computer. In such cases the specialized devices were rendered useless on the Platinum IIe unless the user removed the capacitors from the board.
There were no firmware changes present, and functionally the motherboard was otherwise identical to the Enhanced IIe. This final model of the Apple IIe was discontinued in November 1993, officially retiring the entire Apple II family line with it.
The Apple IIe Card for Macintosh
In March 1991, shortly after the release of the Macintosh LC series, Apple released the PDS slot-based Apple IIe Card for the Macintosh. By plugging this card into a Macintosh LC (and later models incorporating an LC PDS slot), through hardware and (some) software emulation, the Macintosh could run most software written for the 8-bit Apple IIe computer. This miniaturized computer on a card was made possible by a chip called the Mega II, first used in the Apple IIGS computer to emulate the Apple IIe. The Mega II duplicated all the functions of a standard Apple IIe, minus RAM, ROM and CPU.
Many of the built-in Macintosh peripherals could be "borrowed" by the card when in Apple II mode (i.e. extra RAM, 3½ floppy, AppleTalk networking, clock, hard disk). It could even run at an accelerated 2 MHz, however as video was emulated using Macintosh QuickDraw routines, in slower machines it sometimes could not keep up with the speed of a real Apple IIe. With a specialized Y-cable, the card could use an actual Apple 5.25, Apple UniDisk 3.5 or even Apple II joystick/paddles. The Apple IIe Card is thought of as an Apple II compatible or emulator rather than an extension of the Apple II line, but included in this article for the sake of completeness.
International versions
The Apple IIe keyboard differed depending on what region of the world it was sold in. Sometimes the differences were very minor, such as extra local language characters and symbols printed on certain keycaps (e.g. French accented characters on Canadian IIe such as "á", "é", "ç", etc, or the British Pound "£" symbol on the UK IIe) while other times the layout and shape of keys greatly differed (e.g. European IIe). In order to access the local character set and keyboard layout, a user-accessible switch was found on the underside of the keyboard -- flipping it would instantly switch the video output and keyboard input from the US character set to the local set. To support this, special double capacity video and keyboard ROMs were used; in early motherboards they had to reside on a tiny circuit card that plugged into the socket. In some countries these localized IIe's also supported 50 Hz PAL video instead of the standard 60 Hz NTSC video and the different 220/240 volt power of that region. An equivalent of the "PAL color card" for the earlier Apple II europlus model was integrated into the motherboard of these IIe's, so that color graphics were available without the addition of a slot card.

The Apple IIGS Upgrade


The replacement ID badges for the front lid, used in the Apple IIe to IIGS upgrade.
When the Apple IIGS computer was introduced by Apple Computer in September 1986, Apple also announced it would be making an upgrade kit for the IIe available for purchase. Essentially the "upgrade" replaced the Apple IIe motherboard for a 16-bit Apple IIGS motherboard, making it more of an outright computer transplant than upgrade. Users would bring their Apple IIe machines into an authorized Apple dealership, where the IIe motherboard and lower baseboard of the case were swapped for an Apple IIGS motherboard with a new baseboard (with matching cut-outs for the new built-in ports). New metal sticker ID badges replaced those on the front of the Apple IIe, rebranding the machine. Retained were the upper half of the IIe case, the keyboard, speaker and powersupply. Original IIGS motherboards (those produced between 1986 to mid 1989) had electrical connections for the IIe powersupply and keyboard present, although only about half produced had the physical plug connectors factory pre-soldered in, which were mostly reserved for the upgrade kits.

reference
www.wikipedia.com