Taiwan-based ASUSTeK Computer Inc., which claims to have sold 420 million motherboards since 1989, produces the Asus P5K-VM computer motherboard. As a printed circuit board, it houses a computer's microprocessor and other integral hardware components. Apart from this basic specification, several other specs stand out as examples of the P5K-VM's design and performance capabilities.
Form Factor
ASUSTeK manufactures its the P5K-VM motherboard on a Micro Advanced Technology Extended, or Micro ATX, form factor. The layout and shape of a motherboard's primary structure, a form factor is measured in two dimensions: width and depth. Unlike a standard ATX form factor, which is 12 inches wide by 9.6 inches deep, the P5K-VM's Micro ATX form factor is 9.6 inches wide by 9.6 inches deep, allowing the motherboard to fit more easily within computer towers, casings and other hardware containers.
Processor Compatibility
The P5K-VM motherboard is compatible with several different types of microprocessors -- the integrated circuits that perform the central processing functions of computers -- via an LGA775 socket. Examples of microprocessor types that the P5K-VM can support include 64-bit, dual-core and quad-core processors. Compatible models include the Pentium 4, Pentium Extreme Edition, Pentium D, Pentium Core 2 Duo, Pentium Core 2 Quad and Pentium Core 2 Extreme.
Bus Speed
The P5K-VM motherboard can support a maximum bus speed of 1333 megahertz, or MHz, which reflects how fast the it can transmit data to and from a microprocessor. The "bus" in "bus speed" refers to the motherboard's front-side bus, or FSB -- a group of wires that connects the motherboard's microprocessor to the rest of its components.
Chipset
A chipset consists of two microchips: a north bridge and south bridge. While the north bridge controls data from the motherboard's FSB and main memory, the south bridge controls data from the motherboard's peripheral component interconnect slots and industry standard architecture slots. The P5K-VM utilizes a chipset with an Intel G33 Express north bridge and an Intel ICH9 south bridge.
BIOS
The P5K-VM relies on an American Megatrends Inc. basic input/output system, or BIOS, which provides a computer with basic instructions for booting programming interfaces. Compatible interfaces for the P5K-VM include the ASUS EZ Flash 2, SMBIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0 support, ASUS MyLogo2, WfM 2.0 and DMI 2.0.
Tags: form factor, data from, north bridge, P5K-VM motherboard, Pentium Core