Get to know the motherboard of x86 CPU

　　Embedded motherboard is generally understood as the CPU board embedded in the device for control and data processing, which is the "brain" of the device. Embedded into the device, of course, there are strict requirements for the size and power consumption of the motherboard (heat dissipation issues of embedded motherboards). So generally speaking, embedded motherboards have characteristics such as small size, high integration, and low power consumption! There are generally two common types of embedded motherboards: 1. X86 based embedded motherboards and 2. RISC based ARM embedded motherboards (authorized by ARM company, each chip manufacturer has its own special functions). Embedded ARM boards are generally onboard CPUs, while motherboards based on x86 CPUs may not necessarily be.

　　Generally speaking, there are several types of x86 CPU motherboards:

　　Common types of embedded motherboards include 3.5-inch boards, PC104 boards, MINI-ITX, PICO-ITX, NANO-ITX, ETX, etc.

　　Usually, motherboards come with VGA interfaces (some embedded motherboards may have DVI, HMD, LVDS/TTL and other display interfaces, with LVDS/TTL used to connect to LCD displays); Motherboards with 945 chipset or above can also support asynchronous dual display, USB interface (low-end motherboards can generally only connect to storage using USB drives, mainly depending on whether the system has USB configured drivers), keyboard/mouse, parallel port, serial port (usually with multiple serial ports, many devices also control and communicate through serial ports) IDE interface (high-end motherboards usually have SATA interfaces), network port, GPIO port, etc., usually also have a functional expansion interface such as PC104, PCI104, MINI-PCI, etc., storage expansion interface such as CF card interface (low-end motherboards also have DOC interface).

　　The volume of the 3.5-inch embedded motherboard series is only equivalent to the size of a 3-inch hard drive. (There are low-end motherboards with onboard CPUs, as well as non onboard ones.); Motherboards are generally able to support Windows systems, so their performance is generally higher than PC104 motherboards. Common PC104 motherboards are usually powered by DOS; Some motherboards not only have CPUs attached to them, but also onboard memory. 128/256 motherboards do have them, and they are indeed ALL-IN-ONE. ）

　　PC104 motherboards (usually equipped with onboard CPUs, onboard memory modules, and onboard electronic disks) are very common, with two specifications: X86 and ARM. Many manufacturers produce PC104 motherboards based on X86, mostly for low-end DOS systems, but there are exceptions. Some manufacturers can upgrade to PM1GHz or higher, but of course, the price is also very expensive. PC104 embedded motherboards, like other motherboards, are embedded into devices for control purposes, so they can be used in many industries. For example, medical equipment such as monitors and blood analyzers used in hospitals, as well as locomotive control (a large company in Zhuzhou is an example). So it's not just for the military industry (which few manufacturers in China can do).

　　MINI-ITX motherboard, created by VIA, has a specification of 17CM * 17CM, high integration, low cost, and is commonly used in commercial terminals such as financial POS, KIOSK, etc. The most popular ones are MINI motherboards based on INTEL ATOM processors. Of course, many of them are commercial computer boards made by manufacturers, and the price is very good, usually around 500 yuan (1.6GHz motherboard 945 chipset, which will not be further introduced here). ）

　　PICO-ITX motherboard, in 2007, VIA released the world's smallest commercial motherboard EPIA®  Pico-ITX， The size is only 10 cm x 7.2 cm. In order to apply the x86 architecture to embedded systems that were previously impossible to implement due to space constraints, VIA EPIA® Pico ITX provides an innovative platform option for other standard embedded motherboards or x86 system modules. The motherboard size is small, retaining only the most basic PC functions, with limited expandability, making it a portable or highly mobile device!

　　NANO-ITX is a highly integrated native x86 embedded platform with a size of only 12 cm x 12 cm, which is 50% smaller than the Mini ITX board type.

　　ETX, short for Embedded Technology eXtended, is a new standard for industrial SOM (Modular Systems) applications with dimensions of 114mm x 95mm. The ETX module consists of two parts: one is the ETX CPU module, and the other is the ETX custom carrier board.