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Difficulty: HardMotherboards Form Factors and Connectors

A technician is preparing to replace a failed motherboard and power supply inside a system case. The technician selects a Micro-ATX motherboard to replace the previous standard ATX board. Which of the following technical characteristics regarding motherboard form factor compatibility and power delivery standards are accurate for this deployment? (Select TWO.)

  1. The Micro-ATX motherboard can be installed inside the existing ATX-compatible chassis because Micro-ATX uses a subset of standard ATX mounting hole patterns.Answer
  2. The standard 24-pin ATX main power connector delivers +3.3 V, +5 V, +12 V, and -12 V direct current power directly to the motherboard PCB.Answer
  3. C
    Motherboard M.2 slots exclusively route SATA controller protocol signals, requiring a dedicated PCIe expansion card for NVMe solid-state drive operation.
  4. D
    Enabling dual-channel memory performance requires installing matching RAM modules into immediately adjacent DIMM slots across the board.

Answer

Micro-ATX motherboards utilize a subset of standard ATX mounting hole locations, enabling installation in standard ATX cases. Additionally, the 24-pin ATX main power connector delivers +3.3 V, +5 V, +12 V, and -12 V power rails directly to the motherboard.
Micro-ATX motherboards share standardized mounting hole layouts and backplate dimensions with full-size ATX cases, making them backward-compatible with ATX computer chassis. Furthermore, the 24-pin ATX P1 power connector is the main power interface delivering +3.3V, +5V, +12V, and -12V direct current voltages directly to the system motherboard.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze form factor dimensional compatibility.
Micro-ATX motherboards measure up to 9.6 × 9.6 inches and share mounting hole layouts with the 12 × 9.6 inch ATX specification.
Chassis manufacturers build ATX cases with standoff positions that accommodate both ATX and Micro-ATX boards.
2
Evaluate motherboard power connector specifications.
The standard 24-pin P1 connector provides essential DC voltage rails (+3.3V, +5V, +12V, -12V) and control lines.
This main connector supplies board logic, chipset, memory, and low-power expansion slots.
3
Verify storage and memory socket protocol support to eliminate false options.
M.2 slots natively support PCIe NVMe drives, and dual-channel memory requires installing modules into alternating slots belonging to separate channels.
Confusing interface protocols or improper memory slot alignment leads to reduced performance or system POST failures.

Key Concept

Motherboard Form Factors and Power Connectors
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Motherboards Form Factors and Connectors

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