How ATX Power Supply Works

A step by step guide about 200 Watt ATX PC Power Supply function

Here you have the schematic diagram of ATX PC power supply from DTK company. This power supply was designed for ATX and provides a power output of 200 Watt. The integrated circuit TL494 utilised in this design is a very common power circuit PC power supplies having about 200W output. The circuit operates with a symmetrical power stage (push-pull) with regulation of the output voltage, in the following we will understand how ATX power supply works.

The mains voltage passes through the input filter (C1, R1, T1, C4, T5) and then feeds the bridge rectifier (D21 to D24). When the input voltage is switched from 230V to 115V, the rectifier works as a voltage doubler. Varistors Z1 and Z2 protect against over voltage present on the input line. The thermistor NTCR1 limits the input current until capacitors C5 and C6 are charged. R2 and R3 allow the capacitors to discharge after disconnecting the power supply.

When connected to the sector, the capacitors C5 and C6, 470uf each, are all then charged together of approximately 300V. At this moment a secondary power supply, controlled by transistor Q12, starts and produces its output voltage. After the voltage regulator IC3 the +5 V goes into the motherboard. It is necessary to operation of the logic circuits and for "the standby of some functions."

Another voltage, non-stabilized, goes through diode D30 to power the circuit IC1 and the control transistors Q3 and Q4. When the main power supply works, then this voltage comes from the 12V line through the diode D.

Sleep mode (stand-by)

In standby mode, the principal main power supply is blocked by the positive voltage produced by the secondary power supply and present on the contact PS ON of the connector through resistor R23. Because of this voltage, the transistor Q10 will conduct and drive Q1 which applies the reference voltage of +5V from pin 14 "IC1" to pin 4 of "IC1" (Deadtime Control). The circuit is switched to the totally blocked state. Transistors Q3 and Q4 are both saturated (conductive) and short-circuit the auxiliary winding of the transformer T2. These short circuits prohibit the appearance of a voltage on the power circuit. By the voltage on pin 4, we can control the maximum pulse width at the output of IC1. A zero volt voltage produces the widest pulses and at +5 V pulses disappear.

Now we can explain the working of ATX power supply

If someone pushes the start button of the computer, the logic circuit of the motherboard puts the input pin PS-ON at ground (GND). The transistor Q10 will be block which has the effect of Q1 also to block. The capacitor C15 begins his charging through R15. The voltage on pin 4 "IC1" decreases gradually to zero by R17. This voltage permit generating pulses whose maximum width is continually increasing. The main power supply starts gently.

During normal regime, the power is controlled by "IC1". When the transistors Q1 and Q2 conducts, Q3 and Q4 are then blocked. When we want to drive the power transistors (Q1, Q2), then we must block the driver transistors (Q3, Q4). The current passes through R46, D14 and one winding of T2. This excitation current generates a voltage on the base of the power transistor and, due to the reactive positive current, the transistor is rapidly brought to saturation. When the pulse is over, the two driver transistors are then opened. The coupling reactive positive current disappears and produces an overvoltage on the excitation winding and blocks quickly the power transistor. Then the process is repeated with the second transistor. Transistors Q1 and Q2 alternately connect one end of the primary winding of T3 to the positive or negative voltage. The power goes from the emitter of Q1 (collector of Q2) through the third winding excitation transformer T2 and then through the primary winding of the main transformer T3 and the capacitor C7 to the virtual centre of the supply voltage.

ATX power supply Output voltages stabilization

The output voltages of +5 V and +12 V are measured by IC1 through R25 and R26. Other voltages are not stabilized and are determined by the windings and the diodes polarity. On the output, the filtering coil is necessary to remove high frequency interference.

This voltage is evaluated before the coil, by the pulse width and cycle time. On the output, after the rectifier diodes, a coil is common to all voltages. When we keep the direction of winding and the number of turns corresponding to output voltages, the coil will work as a transformer and we have a compensation for the irregular charges of the individual voltages.

In practice, voltage deviations of 10% of the value are specified. The reference of the 5V voltage of the internal regulator (pin 14 of "IC1") is applied, through the voltage divider R24/R19 to pin 2 of "IC1" which is the inverting input of error amplifier. The output voltages of the power supply are applied, through the voltage divider R25, R26/R20, R21, to the non inverting input of the error amplifier (pin 1 of "IC1"). R18 and C1 stabilize the regulator. The output voltage of the error amplifier is compared, through the capacitor C11, to the voltage of the ramp.

When the output voltage decreases, the voltage on the error amplifier then increases. The pulse excitation is longer, the power transistors Q1 and Q2 conduct longer, the width of the pulse before the output coil is larger and the output power increases. The second error amplifier is blocked by the voltage of the pin 15 of IC1.

PowerGood circuit

The motherboard needs the "PowerGood" signal. When all output voltages are stable, the PowerGood signal rises to +5V (logic). The PowerGood signal is usually connected to reset signal.

Stabilization of the +3.3V voltage

Look at the circuit connected to the +3.3V output. This is an additional stabilization for offset the loss of voltage in the cables. An auxiliary wire on the connector measures the 3.3V voltage on motherboard.

ATX Overvoltage circuit

This circuit is composed of Q5, Q6 and a number of discrete components. Like in LCD TV power supply, it monitors all output voltages. When limits are exceeded, the power is off.

For example, when I short-circuit by error -5V to +5 V, the positive voltage will then go, through D10, R28, D9, to the base of Q6. This transistor now conduct and drive Q5 which applies the reference voltage of +5V to the pin 14 "IC1", through diode D11, the pin 4 "IC1" (Deadtime Control signal) which blocks the power supply. It is then kept blocked by voltage, now present on the emitter of Q5, and applied to the base of Q6 passing through D12 and R30, until the high voltage input line is disconnected.

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pcbuzzcenter : Diskless iCafe LANshop

Brand New PC Buzz Internet Cafe (AMD) *Diskless* 30 Units -1 Timer - 1 Server

Brand new with factory warranty

Price: factory price

Location: Quezon City

The current setup is enough to run the latest games at modest settings.

We only provide top quality brands and models suited for Internet Cafe and Lanshops.

Gskill 1600 RAMs are well suited to improve gaming performance.

Spec:

Client Specifications: (30 Units)

AMD Trinity A6-5400K Processor

4GB Gskill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 RAM

Gigabyte F2A55M DS2 Motherboard

18.5 LED Philips or AOC Monitor

Core Elite Casing w/ 600 Watts PSU

Genius Keyboard and Mouse Combo PS2

Soncm Headset w/ Mic

Timer Specifications: (1 Unit)

AMD Trinity A6-5400K Processor

4GB Gskill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 RAM

Gigabyte F2A55M DS2 Motherboard

18.5 LED Philips or AOC Monitor

Western Digital 500GB SATA 3.0 HDD

Core Elite Casing w/ 600 Watts PSU

HP DVD-RW Drive

Genius Keyboard and Mouse Combo PS2

Fortress USB Speakers

Server Specifications: (1 Unit)

AMD Trinity A8-5600K Processor

16GB Gskill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 Dual Channel RAM

Gigabyte F2A55M DS2 Motherboard

ADATA or Crucial 128GB SSD (Server / Client OS)

Western Digital 1TB Black SATA (Game Disk)

ADATA or Crucial 128GB SSD (Write Back)

Aerocool VS3 Casing

Corsair VS 550 Watts PSU

Genius Keyboard and Mouse Combo PS2

Bosline 650VA UPS

Network:

(2) TP Link 24-Port Gigabit Switch

DLink Original CAT5E Cable 305 Meters *Boxed*

80 Pieces RJ45 *Free*

Optional and Add Ons:

TP-Link 300 Mbps Wireless N Router

Epson L210 (All In One) w/ CISS

(2) Broadcomm Server LAN Card

CC Boot License Only

(Configure Your Own Diskless Setup, Tweakable and Legitimate DisklessProgram)

QQ Diskless Setup and Service

(Network Cable Crimping, Server Imaging, Timer Setup and Overall Client Setup)

ALL parts are top quality branded

ADD on:

Windows 7 license, Antivirus license, Microsoft Office license

We can deliver or you can pick up at our warehouse

We can custom build your PC that is depend on your spec

We can give quotation to your PC spec

For more info you can contact me Nino

Sun 09331998650 call, txt, apps available Viber, Line, Wechat, Tango

Globe 09054992358 call and txt

Smart 09982582976 call and txt

Facebook PC buzz

Email or ym: buzzpc@yahoo.com.ph

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First AMD Brazos 2.0 Motherboard Shown by Sapphire

The fight for the high sales/low price market segment has been won by AMD for the past year, and the company is getting ready to conquer even a higher percentage of the market.

AMD needs huge volumes and it’s likely that the company will have to face shortages this summer, as spreading Brazos 2.0 and Trinity over all the market segments AMD is currently successful in will be pretty difficult.

The Texas-based fabless CPU designer positioned Brazos for low-power small systems, netbooks, low-cost notebooks and cheap PC systems. Llano was also targeted for the low and mid-end notebook and desktop lines.

Now AMD adds Windows 8 tablets, hybrids, mid to high-end UltraThin notebooks, all-in-one systems, and so on.

As the company’s products are quite successful in their respective markets, the company has to ensure very high volumes of chips ready to ship out to customers.

The first Brazos 2.0-based motherboard was reportedly spotted at this year’s Computex show and it is coming from Sapphire.

The Pure Mini E2-1800 comes with two SO-DIMM slots for a maximum of 8GB DDR3-1333 memory and features both a mini-PCIe and a full PCIe x16 slot.

The board is powered by AMD’s E2-1800 APU. The next generation of low-power APUs from AMD is still based on TSMC’s now very mature 40nm process.

Improvements come in the form of an increased clock frequency and a heap of new features like USB 3.0, for example.

The E2-1800 MHz APU runs at a 1700 MHz frequency. It has two “Zacate” processing cores, each with 512 KB or Level 2 cache and integrates a very capable iGPU, called AMD Radeon HD 7340.

The AMD Radeon HD 7340 iGPU has 80 shaders and runs at a default frequency of 523 MHz, but it can turbo up to 680 MHz when the 3D tasks thrown at it are very demanding, but the total TDP is just 18 watts.

Sapphire’s Brazos 2.0 motherboard uses mostly solid capacitors and we applaud the manufacturer for building affordable motherboards with quality in mind.

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CCBoot 3.0 : Server Hardware Requirements

Here is the recommended server hardware for diskless boot with CCBoot.

1.] CPU: Intel or AMD Processor 4 Core or more.
2.] Motherboard: Server motherboard that supports 8GB or more RAM, 6 or more SATA Ports.
3.] RAM: 8GB DDR3 or more.
4.] Hard Disk:At first, we introduce some items.
Image disk: the hard disk that stores the client OS boot data. We call it as "image".
Game disk: the hard disks that store the game data.

Writeback disk: the hard disks that store the client write data. In diskless booting, all data are read and wrote from server. So we need writeback disk to save the client's write data. Other products are also named it as "write cache".

1) One SATA HDD is used for server OS (C:\) and image disk(D:\); some users put image file into SSD disk. It's not necessary. We have RAM cache for image. All image data will be loaded from RAM cache at last. So put image file into SSD disk is not necessary.

2) Two SATA HDD are set up on RAID0 for Game Disk.

We recommend to use Win2008 disk manager to setup RAID0 instead of hardware RAID in BIOS. We recommend to set SATA mode as AHCI in BIOS. Because AHCI is better for writeback disks' write performance. For more information, please refer to AHCI on wiki. In the BIOS, SATA mode can only be one of AHCI and RAID. If we set it as AHCI, the RAID function of the motherboard will be invalid. So we use Win2008 disk manager to setup RAID0. The performance is same as hardware RAID0. Note: If you skip RAID0, the read speed of the game may become slow. But if the clients are less than 50 with SSD cache, it is OK to skip RAID0.

3) One SSD disk for SSD cache. (120G+)

4) Two SATA/SAS/SSD HDD is used for client write-back disk. We do NOT recommend to use RAID for write-back disks. If one disk is broken, we can use the other one. If using RAID for writeback disk, one disk broken will cause all clients stop. On the other hand, CCBoot can do balance for writeback disk. Two disks write performance is better than one RAID disk. Using SSD as writeback disk is better than SATA. SSD has good IOPS. The street said the writing activities are harmful for the lifetime of SSD. In our experience, one SSD for writeback disk can be used for three years at least. It's enough and worth.

Conclusion: You need to prepare 6 HDDs for the server normally. They are 5 SATA HDDs and 1 SSD HDD. 1 SATA for system OS, 2 SATA for game disks, 2 SATA for writeback disks and 1 SSD for cache.

For 25 - 30 client PCs, server should have 8G DDR3 RAM and two writeback disks.
For 30 - 70 client PCs, server should have 16G DDR3 RAM and two writeback disks.
For 70 - 100 client PCs, server should have 32G DDR3 RAM and two writeback disks.
For 100+ client PCs, we recommend to use 2 or more Servers with load balance.
Network: 1000Mb Ethernet or 2 * 1000 Mb Ethernet team network. We recommend Intel and Realtek 1000M Series.

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Powerline Communication Modem PLC-UART-12V

Description: This is a transceiver module designed to send/receive serial data over power lines. PLC-UART is designed to transparently move serial data over the AC or DC power line network installed in your home or office. These units have the distinct advantage over protocols like X10. The PLC-UART communicates bidirectionally and at up to 19200bps. Not only can you tell the blender to turn on, but you can query the remote device and get data from it (you can't query with X10).

The PLC-UART-12V requires an external 12VDC supply for operation.

On the PLC-UART motherboard, there is a 20-pin receptacle, users can choose different daughter boards based on the interface needs. This 20-pin receptacle is pin-compatible with XBee module from Digi. So a XBee module can also be used on PLC-UART, and PLC-UART will become a powerline communication to Zigbee bridge.

The new generation PLC-UART motherboard also support DIP by optional pins that can be used to directly plug to user's board without doing screwing. The interface board signals such as RS232/RS485/USB signals are also routed back to motherboard through the 20-pin receptacle, and again to users' board through these DIP pins.

LinkSprite modules have the built-in packet-level repeater function. This feature can greatly extend the coverage of the powerline communication.

LinkSprite module has both physical and logic addresses. In a network, both physical and logic addresses can be used to address different nodes in the network.

Features:

• Fully transparent mode, plug and play coming out of the box without the need to do any programming.
• Built-in error correction codes.
• Built-in repeater function to extend the coverage.
• Physical and logic address
• AT commands used for advanced configuration.
• UART interface to host uP
• FSK(Frequency Shift Keying) modulation used in physical layer
• Low power Design
• RoHS
• Small module size, and easy to be implemented into existing products.

PLC-UART-12V User Manual

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Blackcat USB SPI Flash Programmer ST SPANSION MXIC AMD

BlackcatUSB a multi-protocol flash memory programming tool

Capable of programming thousands of flash memory devices using JTAG or SPI connections.

This eBay item includes: a new BlackcatUSB board, USB cable, and a jumper cable of your choice.

Features:

• Open-source software supports multi-languages: English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish
• Fast 16MHz RISC processor
• 32KB Flash (upgraded from 16KB!)
• 2 DIP switches for mode application changes
• Upgradeable firmware over USB
• On board reset button
• Universal CFI Flash programming support (over JTAG)
• SPI Mode 0, 1, 2 compatible
• USB 1.1 / 2.0 compatible
• Dual voltage (3.3v or 5v) output

This product includes a choice of these three cables for your target device:

This device can be used to program the flash memory of thousands of different memory devices, including the BIOS chips often used on many newer motherboards for both PC and laptops. It can be used on millions of devices to fix broken devices due to bad or corrupted firmware.

MSI Eclipse Motherboard

MSI P6NGM Motherboard

MSI P6NSLI Motherboard

Easy to use Microsoft Windows based software:

Reading flash data using JTAG mode

Writing flash data using SPI mode

FREE Open-source software compatible with:
Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista and Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit versions)
Mutli-language support: English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish,
(Download software and driver, version 330)

Verified to work with these CFI Flash devices:

AMD S29GL320 Intel  28F128J3 Samsung  K8D3216UB MXIC  29LV800BMC AMD 28F400BT Intel  28F160B3 Samsung  K8D3216UT SHARP  28F320BJE AMD 29DL322GB Intel  28F160B3 ST M28W160CB SHARP  LH28F160BJHG AMD 29DL322GT Intel  28F160C3B ST M29D323DB SHARP  28F160S3 AMD 29DL323GB Intel  28F160C3T FUJITSU  29DL323GB SHARP  28F320S3 AMD 29DL323GT Intel  28F320B3 FUJITSU  29DL323TE Microchip  SST 39VF1600 AMD 29DL324GB Intel  28F320B3 FUJITSU  29LV160B Microchip  SST 39VF1601 AMD 29DL324GT Intel  28F320C3 FUJITSU  29LV160T Microchip  SST 39VF3201 AMD 29LV160DB Intel  28F320C3 FUJITSU  29LV320BE Microchip  SST 39VF800 AMD 29LV160DT Intel  28F320J3 FUJITSU  29LV320TE ST / Micron  MT28W320 AMD 29LV320DB Intel  28F320J5 FUJITSU  29LV800B ST / Micron  MT28W320 AMD 29LV320DT Intel  28F640B3 Micron  28F160C34B ST / Micron  29W320DB AMD 29LV320MB Intel  28F640B3 Micron  28F160C34T ST / Micron  29W320DT AMD 29LV320MT Intel  28F640C3 Micron  28F322P3 ST / Micron  M29W160EB AMD 29LV400BB Intel  28F640C3 MXIC  25FL0165A ST / Micron  M29W160ET AMD 29LV800BB Intel  28F640J3 MXIC  29LV161B ST / Micron  M58LW064D Spansion  29AL016M Intel  28F640J5 MXIC  29LV161T ST / Micron  M29W800AB ATMEL  AT49BV/LV16X Intel  28F800B3 MXIC  29LV320B TOSHIBA  TC58FVT160B ATMEL  AT49BV/LV16XT Intel  28F800C3 MXIC  29LV320B TOSHIBA  TC58FVB321 HYHYNIX  HY29F400TT Samsung  K8D1716UB MXIC  29LV320T TOSHIBA  TC58FVT160 HYHYNIX  HY29LV1600T Samsung  K8D1716UT MXIC  29LV320T TOSHIBA  TC58FVT321

Verified to work with these SPI Flash devices:

Atmel  AT25DF641 Microchip  SST 25WF040 ST / Micron  M25P64 MXIC  MX25L128 Atmel  AT25DF321 Microchip  SST 25WF040B ST / Micron  M25P32 MXIC  MX25L256 Atmel  AT25DF161 Microchip  SST 25WF080 ST / Micron  M25P16 EON EN25F20 Atmel  AT25DF081 Microchip  SST 25WF080B ST / Micron  M25P80 EON EN25F40 Atmel  AT25DF021 Microchip  SST 25WF016 ST / Micron  M25P40 EON EN25F80 Atmel  AT26DF081A Microchip  SST 25WF016B ST / Micron  M25P20 EON EN25F16 Atmel  AT26DF161 Microchip  SST 25WF032 ST / Micron  M25P10 EON EN25F32 Atmel  AT26DF161A Microchip  SST 25WF032B Windbond  W25X40 EON EN25F64 Atmel  AT26DF321 Microchip  SST 25WF064 Windbond  W25X80 PMC  PM25LV010 Atmel  AT45DB011 Microchip  SST 25WF064B Windbond  W25X16 PMC  PM25LV020 Atmel  AT45DB021 Microchip  SST 25WF128B Windbond  W25X32 PMC  PM25LV040 Atmel  AT45DB041 Spansion  S25FL256S Windbond  W25X64 PMC  PM25LV080B Atmel  AT45DB081 Spansion  S25FL128S Windbond  W25Q80BV PMC  PM25LV016B Atmel  AT45DB161 Spansion  S25FL128P Windbond  W25Q16BV PCT 25VF512A Atmel  AT45DB321 Spansion  S25FL064 Windbond  W25Q32BV PCT 25VF010A Atmel  AT45DB642 Spansion  S25FL032 Windbond  W25Q64BV PCT 25VF020B Atmel  AT45DB011D Spansion  S25FL016 MXIC MX25L10 PCT 25VF040B Atmel  AT45DB021D Spansion  S25FL008 MXIC MX25L20 PCT 25VF080B Atmel  AT45DB041D ST / Micron  N25Q00A MXIC MX25L40 PCT 25VF016B Atmel  AT45DB081D ST / Micron  N25Q512 MXIC MX25L80 PCT 25VF032B Atmel  AT45DB161D ST / Micron  N25Q256 MXIC  MX25L160 PCT 25VF064C Atmel  AT45DB321D ST / Micron  N25Q128 MXIC  MX25L320 PCT 26VF016 Atmel  AT45DB642D ST / Micron  M25P128 MXIC  MX25L640 PCT 26VF032 ST / Micron  N25Q064

Verified MCU specific devices supported:

Nordic nRF24LE1 (16KB  flash over SPI) Xilinx CoolRunner-II  series (XC2C32A, XC2C64A, XC2C128, XC2C256, XC2C384, XC2C512)

If you need to program a flash here that is not listed, just contact us and request to have it added. We are able to add any SPI or CFI compatible flash to our software free of charge. If you need a specific MCU supported (such as a device with on board memory that can be programmed via SPI or JTAG), contact us!

New feature: manual configure for SPI devices

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Zotac's Mini-ITX Ivy Bridge-Ready Powerhouse

Intel's Ivy Bridge CPUs will be launched in a couple of weeks, so motherboard makers are showing their 7-Series platforms, even very small ones.

Contrary to what some may think, a powerful computer does not actually need to have a huge main unit, far from it.

It all boils down to the motherboard size and how many features a hardware maker can cram into it.

Zotac's Z77-ITX WiFi shows that even a mini-ITX motherboard can support all the Panther Point chipset and Ivy Bridge CPU features.

“ZOTAC is the global innovator when it comes to mini-ITX mainboards. We continue to push the performance envelope with mini-ITX to rival much larger systems,” says Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.

“The latest Intel Ivy Bridge processors paired with our ZOTAC Intel 7-series mini-ITX mainboards make an unbeatable performance combination without sacrificing energy-efficiency.”

Even when smaller than the ASUS Maximum V GENE, the ZOTAC Z77-ITX WiFi somehow crams together two DDR3-1600 memory slots (2,133 MHz when overclocked) and a PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot (for graphics cards).

Knowing how powerful video boards are nowadays, this means that small PC boxes can breeze through any game.

It doesn't take too much imagination to picture this platform inside a small LAN party case and loaded with high-end hardware.

That said, Zotac tossed in two HDMI outputs, a mini DisplayPort connector, two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, two SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors and a bunch of USB ports/headers. Finally, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 go without saying.

In addition to the ZOTAC Z77-ITX WiFi, the company has a H77-ITX WiFi board too, which lacks overclocking but is otherwise identical to the Z77.

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My Jetway P4XFA pfSense Router End of Life

Today my Jetway P4XFA end its life as my pfSense router, it serve my mini Lab for several years and due to faulty Pentium 4 Microprocessor this Linux router motherboard will be for disposal. I am selling this Jetway P4XFA motherboard for less just email me or leave your message in the comment box below if interested.

The package included are Kingston KVR266X64C25/128 Memory and 64Mb AGP Video card. This Jetway motherboard works perfectly on MS Windows XP, I have been using this as my pfSense router long time ago without fan only the heatsink only find today fail to connect my network.

Jetway P4XFA Specifications, Drivers and Manual can be downloaded here.

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Intel Takes on Mini ITX

Intel prepares its new mini ITX motherboard offering

Intel is poised to take on VIA’s mini ITX motherboards with its upcoming Little Valley D201GLY, which is part of its Intel Desktop Board Essential Series. The new D201GLY is the first Intel branded motherboard to feature a SiS chipset. Intel previously used ATI chipsets in its D103GGV and D102GGC2 budget motherboards, however, Intel kicked ATI to the curb after the acquisition by AMD.

The upcoming Intel D201GLY motherboard is an all-in-one solution with an integrated processor, similar to VIA’s EPIA series. It features the SiS662 north bridge paired with the SiS964L south bridge. The SiS662 features integrated SiS Mirage 1 graphics. The integrated graphics core is AGP8x-based and features hardware accelerated DVD decoding. It is not Vista Premium ready.

Intel integrates a Yonah-based Celeron processor on the D201GLY. The integrated processor is a Celeron 215 in a BGA 479 package. Intel clocks the Celeron 215 at 1.33 GHz on a 533 MHz front-side bus. It also has 512KB of L2 cache. Despite being Yonah-based, the Celeron 215 is a single-core processor.

Other notable features of the Intel D201GLY include DDR2-533/400 MHz memory support, one PCI slot, 10/100 Ethernet, six USB 2.0 ports and optional S-Video output.

Expect Intel to release the D201GLY with the integrated Celeron 215 in the end-of-May or early-June timeframe.

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How to Access The Computer and motherboard BIOS

Computer and motherboard manufacturers and BIOS suppliers may use varying keyboard keys or key combinations that can be pressed during system post to access your system BIOS. Unfortunately there is no standard method to universally access or enter a motherboard BIOS. The following is a list of some popular BIOS suppliers, Computer Vendors and the keyboard key combinations that have been known to work with them.

If you know of a combination that is not listed, please feel free to contact us with the information and we will have it added.

Keyboard Key Commands used to Access a System BIOS

The following BIOS Suppliers chart lists the keys used to enter BIOS.

Bios Suppliers	Keyboard Commands used to access BIOS
ALR Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI	F2
ALR PC non / PCI	CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS	F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS	DEL
Award™ BIOS	CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS	DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS	ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS	CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS	CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS	CTRL+ALT+INS

Computer Manufacturers and the keys used to enter system BIOS.

Computer Vendor/Manufacturer	Keyboard Commands used to access BIOS
Acer®	F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
ARI®	CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
AST®	CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700	F10
CompUSA®	DEL
Cybermax®	ESC
Dell BIOS web site search links	For models not listed below.
Dell® 400	F3, F1
Dell 4400	F12
Dell Dimension®	F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron®	F2
Dell Latitude	Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude	F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex	DEL
Dell Optiplex	F2
Dell Precision™	F2
eMachine®	DEL , F 2
Fujutsu Manuals & BIOS	Manuals & BIOS Download
Gateway® 2000 1440	F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™	F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard)	F1, F2 (Laptop, ESC)
IBM®	F1
E-pro Laptop	F2
IBM PS/2®	CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer)	Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent	DEL
Lenovo(formerly IBM)	Lenovo BIOS Access page
Micron®	F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell®	F1, F2, Del
Seanix	DEL
Sony® VAIO	F2
Sony VAIO	F3
Tiger	DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS	ESC
Toshiba Protege	ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS	F1
Toshiba Tecra	ESC then F1 or F2
Toshiba Notebook [Newer models]	1. Turn on computer by Holding down power button while pressing the ESC key. The machine will beep, then display: Check System, then press [F1] key. 2. Release ESC key 3. Press F1 key

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The world's first Tegra 3 Mini-ITX motherboard

Kontron is about to launch the world's first Tegra 3 Mini-ITX motherboard (17 cm x 17 cm). Compact size, rich I/O interfaces, and amazing power efficiency (total consumption under 7W!) the KTT30/mITX is the start of a new breed of desktop computer. The beginning of the end for Intel's Atoms?

• ARM Cortex-A9 Quad Core 900MHz Processor
• Up to 2 GB DDR3L memory down
• Ultra low power NVIDIA GeForce GPU with enhanced 3D capabilities
• 1080p H264 MPEG-4 encoding/decoding Video Processor
• HDMI 1.4a (up to 1920x1080 pixel)
• 24 bit LVDS (up to 2048x1536 pixel @ 18bpp)
• support for 3 independent displays
• 3 x port USB 2.0 (2x Type A and 1x Micro)
• 2 x SD card slots
• 1 x HDMI
• Bootable eMMC
• 1 x mPCIe
• 1 x mPCIe/mSATA
• 1 x mPCIe for 3G (oboard SIM socket)
• 2 x RS232
• 1 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet Controller
• S/PDIF audio

As part of Kontron's strategic entry into ARM processor technology, Kontron has unveiled its first embedded ARM based motherboard in the Mini-ITX form factor (170mm x 170 mm). The Kontron KTT30/mITX is equipped with NVIDIA's Tegra 3 super processor and combines outstanding media performance with particularly low power consumption. With its integrated, ultra low-power GeForce GPU, the ARM Cortex-A9 900MHz Quad-Core processor board offers impressive 3D graphic performance and delivers a total energy consumption of just under 7 watts. These performance features make the board ideal for a wide spectrum of graphics- and video-oriented embedded applications like thin clients, Panel PCs and Mini-Box PCs, which are to be found in nearly all embedded computing vertical markets. The board which has a long-term availability of at least seven years is also predestined for markets such as medical, rail traffic and public safety.

Thanks to its standardized Mini-ITX form factor, the Kontron KTT30/mITX paves an efficient path for OEMs to integrate innovative ARM technology straight off-the-shelf and into their embedded applications. Not only are a wide range of Mini-ITX peripherals already available, but OEMs also benefit from Kontron's comprehensive customization services and extensive software support for Android and Linux which serve to minimize development time and costs. Besides the numerous USB and RS232 interfaces, several audio and video interfaces as well as miniPCIe extension slots, the Kontron KTT30/mITX offers a selection of interfaces to suit nearly every possible application. The extremely low-power consumption facilitates small passive cooling solutions which additionally reduce the bill of materials and development effort while simplifying implementation. Due to the board's low height of just 15.2 millimeters, extremely flat systems can be built and mounted directly onto the back of monitor and video panels, i.e. for HMIs or cost-efficient digital signage players. In addition, the board supports Full-HD (1080 p) video for both playback and recording purposes - making it an ideal platform for video conferencing systems or security applications. As with all Kontron embedded motherboards, the new Kontron KTT30/mITX comes with a long-term availability of at least seven years as well as its outstanding and durable stability and reliability due to its high-quality board layout and selected top-grade components.

The Kontron KTT30/mITX is based on the NVIDIA® Tegra 3 processor with four ARM Cortex-A9 CPU cores each with up to 900 MHz. An additional core with up to 500 MHz clock speed reduces power consumption to less than 1 watt in phases, when just media playback or background services are running. With its integrated 12-core NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU for low-power applications, life-like 3D graphics with dynamic lighting are possible at screen resolutions of up to 2048 x 1536 pixels. It also offers HDMI 1.4a and 24 bit LVDS video interfaces. Thanks to the integrated video encoder and decoder, as well as high resolution video playback it offers real time video compression, which can, for example, be supplied via the CSI/DSI camera port. Peripheral devices can be connected via three USB 2.0 ports and two RS232 ports. Operating system and application data can be hosted on the bootable eMMC. Two PCIe slots, one of which can also be used as an mSATA port, are available for application-specific extensions. An RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port and analog audio-I/Os add the final touches to the feature set.

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Best Way on Testing Laptop Backlight (CCFL) and Inverter

We will be concentrating on LCD Inverter and CCFL bulb.

Laptop with black screen problem is commonly caused by:

1. a defective backlight, which is the cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) bulb malfunction
2. defective laptop’s inverter board
3. no video output going to the LCD Screen

It is not an easy job repairing laptops specially if we don’t have parts that we can use to replace to the parts we are suspecting to be the culprit. So now, we will going to try to make our own tools for testing a bad CCFL backlight of a laptop.

Tools Needed For this Project:

1. 9volts battery
2. 9v battery connector
3. known good CCFL inverter from any laptop or LCD monitor.

Once you have the tools that we needed, we can continue to the next procedure.

About The Video Output:

If the laptop is equipped with an external monitor connector, we can easily check if the problem of having a black screen is caused by a faulty video card or GPU within the laptop or maybe the problem resides inside the LCD which is the inverter and CCFL bulb.

Connect an external monitor to the VGA Port of the laptop and check if there is a video output to the monitor.

There is some model of laptop that requires you to press a FN key plus a key with a picture of a monitor to switch between the LCD laptop to external monitor.

Then now, if you get a video on your external monitor then you now know there is a LCD screen, CCFL bulb and inverter board problem. If the external monitor doesn’t get any video at all, then suspect a video (GPU) or video cable problem.

Checking the CCFL Bulb:

On checking whether your CCFL bulb if it is still functional, we can use our own known good inverter to test the CCFL bulb is still working or in good condition.

Using the Known Good Inverter:

Now, with our known good inverter, connect the CCFL bulb. And next, supplies a power to it using our 9v battery. A laptop inverter is usually powered by 12v and up but with our 9v battery, it is just enough to start the circuit of an inverter.

Connect the black probe from our battery source to the yellow wire, which is usually the 12v supply coming from laptop circuits, but to find more accurately the connection of the power source of an inverter, all you have to do is to find where is the connection of the SMD fuse in the circuit of the inverter. And the black probe to the ground screw hole of the inverter board.If our CCFL bulb lights up like in the picture below, then we now know that our CCFL bulb is good and working and now we can suspect that our inverter board is bad.

Checking Inverter:

Since that our known good inverter have able to light up the LCD Screen, and then connect the inverter of the laptop back to its position. Then we are going to conduct a test to it using the procedure we did to our known good inverter. And if it won’t lights up the CCFL bulb, then we can suspect that our inverter is defective and needs to be replaced to a new one or simply you can check it if the fuse is open. If it is open, try to make a jumper through the fuse using a thin wire to serves as our fuse, then redo the testing again with same procedure as we use on our known good inverter.

Checking the Power Supply Line:

If our known good inverter light up our CCFL bulb and the Laptop’s inverter also lights up using the 9v battery as its power source, then we are going to suspect the 12 volts power supply line from the laptop’s motherboard.

Let us get our multitester/multimeter and set it to DC Volts.

Plugged our AC Adapter and turn on our Laptop.

Put the black probe to the ground screw hole on the motherboard and the red probe to the yellow or the supply line and see if you have a voltage reading on that connection.

If you are can’t read any voltages from the connector then let us suspect a problem on the motherboard itself and this needs a lot of knowledge and experience on repairing Laptop.

At this point, we will have to bring the unit to a technician who have the knowledge of repairing a complicated problem of a Laptop.

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AsRock EP2C612D16C-4L Server Motherboard Review

ASRock opened the motherboard floodgates on Tuesday to reveal 17 new C612 motherboards for servers and workstations. This new series supports DDR4 memory modules and Intel's Xeon E5-2600 v3 and ES-1600 v3 "Haswell-EP" processors.

In the first group, High Performance Computing Servers, ASRock provides the EP2C612D16-2L2T and EP2C612D16-4L. These motherboards feature dual CPU sockets, 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, 10 SATA 3 ports via Intel and 2 SATA 3 ports by Marvell. They also include an Aspeed AST2400 remote management controller, support for two 10G Base-T and support for two GLAN.

The next group, Cutting-edge Front PCIe Design, includes the EP2C612D16FM and the 3U8G-C612. These boards include 2 CPU sockets, 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, 10 SATA 3 ports by Intel and 2 SATA 3 ports by Marvell. The EP2C612D16FM can be installed in main storage bays with lots of drives while the 3U8G-C612 is a barebones rack.

Next up is the Thermal Optimized Servers group, which includes the EP2C612D16NM-2T8R, EP2C612D16NM-8R and EP2C612D16NM boards. These feature CPU sockets that are located in places where they will get air flow equally. There are also 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, 10 SATA 3 ports by Intel, 8 SAS3 ports by LSI, and support for 3 PCIe 3.0 x16 slots.

There are only two motherboards in the Highly Expandable Servers group: the EP2C612D16SM-2T and the EP2C612D16SM. These boards contain 6 PCIe 3.0 x8 slots, 10 SATA 3 ports by Intel and an additional mezzanine slot for a storage mezzanine card. Other features include support for the Aspeed AST2400 remote management controller and support for GLAN.

The next batch, ATX Compact Storage with Onboard SAS3, includes three motherboards: the EP2C612D8-2T8R, EP2C612D8-8R and EP2C612D8. These set of boards include 10 SATA 3 ports by Intel, 8 SAS3 ports controlled by an LSI chip, 8 DDR4 DIMM slots, an Aspeed AST2400 remote management controller, 2 PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and a single PCIe 3.0 x8 slot.

Specifications

MB Physical Status
Form Factor	- SSI EEB
Dimensions	- 12'' x 13''
Processor System
CPU	- Intel® Xeon processor E5-2600/4600 & v3 series
Socket	- Dual Socket LGA 2011 R3
Power Design	- Intel® C612
System Memory
Capacity	- 16 DIMM slots
Type	- Quad Channel memory technology - Supports 2133/1866 LR/R/ECC, UDIMM and NVDIMM
Voltage	- 1.2V
Expansion Slot
PCIe 3.0 x 16	- 3 slots
PCIe 3.0 x 8	- 2 slots (PCIE1 switch with PCIE2: x8/x8 ; PCIE3 switch with PCIE4: x8/x8 )
Storage
SATA Controller	- Intel® C612 : 10 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s, support RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 (SSATA_3 port is shared with M.2 Socket)
Additional Storage Controller	- Marvell 9172: 2 x SATA3 6Gbps, support RAID 0, 1 1 (supports M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s))
Ethernet
Interface	- 1000 /100 /10 Mbps by Intel® i210
LAN Controller	- 4 x RJ45 GLAN by Intel® i210 - 1 x RJ45 Dedicated IPMI LAN port - Supports Wake-On-LAN - Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az - Supports Dual LAN with Teaming function
Management
BMC Controller	- ASPEED AST2400
IPMI Dedicated LAN	- 1 x Realtek RTL8211E for dedicated management GLAN
Features	- Watch Dog - NMI
Graphics
Controller	- ASPEED AST2400
VRAM	- DDR3 16MB
Rear Panel I/O
VGA Port	- 1 x D-Sub
USB 3.0 Port	- 2
Lan Port	- 4 + 1 (IPMI) Lan port (RJ45) - LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
Serial Port	- 1 (COM1)
UID Button/UID LED	- 1
Internal Connector
COM Port Header	- 1 (COM2)
Auxiliary Panel Header	- 1 (includes chassis intrusion, location button & LED, front LAN LED)
TPM Header	- 1
IPMB Header	- 1
Buzzer	- 1
Fan Header	- 2x CPU Fan, 6x system Fan (4-pin)
ATX Power	- 1 (24-pin) + 2 (8-pin)
USB 3.0 Header	- 1 ( support 2 USB 3.0)
USB 2.0 Header	- 1 ( support 2 USB 2.0)
Type A USB 3.0 Port	- 1
System BIOS
BIOS Type	- 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS
BIOS Features	- Plug and Play (PnP) - ACPI 2.0 Compliance Wake Up Events - SMBIOS 2.8.1 Support - ASRock Rack Instant Flash
Hardware Monitor
Temperature	- Motherboard Temperature Sensing - CPU1 Temperature Sensing - CPU2 Temperature Sensing
Fan	- CPU/Rear/Front Fan Tachometer - CPU Quiet Fan (Allow CPU Fan Speed Auto-Adjust by CPU Temperature) - CPU/Rear/Front Fan Multi-Speed Control
Voltage	- Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, DRAM, 1.05V_PCH, +BAT, 3VSB, 5VSB
Support OS
OS	Microsoft Windows - Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64 bit) - Server 2012 (64 bit) - Server 2012 R2 (64 bit) Linux - RedHat Enterprise Linux Server 5.10/6.5 (32 / 64 bit) - CentOS 5.10 / 6.5 (32 / 64 bit) - SUSE Enterprise Linux Server 11 SP3 (32 / 64 bit) - FreeBSD 9.1 (32 / 64 bit) - Fedora core 19 (64 bit) - Ubuntu 12.04.2 (64 bit) / 12.10 (64 bit) Virtual - VMWare ESXi 5.5 (not supported for Marvell 9172)
Environment
Temperature	Operation temperature: 10°C ~ 35°C / Non operation temperature: -40°C ~ 70°C

The next group, High Performance and High Density, consists of the EP2C612D16HM-2T and EP2C612D16HM boards. These are proprietary half-width server boards with two CPU sockets. They also include 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, 10 SATA ports by Intel, 8 SAS3 ports by LSI, and the Aspeed AST2400 remote management controller. There's also one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot.

Finally we have the Versatile Server/Work Station/IPC with Thunderbolt group, consisting of three motherboards: the EPC612D8A-TB, EPC612D8A and EPC612D8 boards. These include a single CPU socket and support for the Intel Xeon E5-1600/2600 V3 CPU. Other features include 8 DDR4 DIMM slots, 10 SATA 3 ports by Intel, the Aspeed AST2400 remote management controller, 4 PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and 1 PCIe 3.0 x8 and M.s slot. They also have two GLAN ports by Intel.

Save for the last group of motherboards with a single socket, all motherboards listed here support the Intel Xeon E5-2600/4600 v3 processor. To see more information about these 17 new ASRock boards, head to asrockrack.com.

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