Gigabyte Technology (branded as GIGABYTE or sometimes GIGA-BYTE; formally Giga-Byte Technology Co., Ltd.; Chinese: 技嘉科技; pinyin: Jìjiā Kējì), is a Taiwanese manufacturer and distributor of computer hardware.

Gigabyte's principal business is motherboards, with shipments of 4.8 million motherboards in Q1 2015, while Asus shipped around 4.5 million motherboards in the same quarter.^[3] Gigabyte also manufactures custom graphics cards and laptop computers (including thin and light laptops under its "Aero" sub-brand). In 2010, Gigabyte was ranked 17th in "Taiwan's Top 20 Global Brands" by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.^[4][5]

The company is publicly held and traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, stock ID number TWSE

History[edit]

Gigabyte Technology was established in 1986 by Pei-Cheng Yeh.^[6] Gigabyte's components are used by Alienware, Falcon Northwest, CybertronPC, Origin PC,^[7] and exclusively in Technology Direct (Australia) desktops with up to a 5 year warranty,^[8] and may also be purchased at retail by those who wish to build or upgrade a PC system themselves.

One of Gigabyte's key advertised features on its motherboards is its "Ultra Durable" construction, advertised with "all solid capacitors".^[9] On 8 August 2006 Gigabyte announced a joint venture with Asus.^[10] Gigabyte developed the world's first software-controlled power supply in July 2007.^[11]

An innovative method to charge the iPad and iPhone on the computer was introduced by Gigabyte in April 2010.^[12] Gigabyte launched the world’s first Z68 motherboard on 31 May 2011, with an on-board mSATA connection for Intel SSD and Smart Response Technology.^[13] On 2 April 2012, Gigabyte developed the world's first motherboard with 60A ICs from International Rectifier.^[14]

A global leader in the PC industry, GIGABYTE offers a comprehensive product lineup that aims to “Upgrade Your Life.” With expertise encompassing consumer, business, gaming, and cloud systems, GIGABYTE uses research and innovation to consistently meet user needs. GIGABYTE is renowned for award-winning products including motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, mini PCs, and other PC components and accessories, and has revolutionized the PC industry with patented DualBIOS™ and Ultra Durable™ technologies. As an expert in PC technology, GIGABYTE is poised to extend our scope in business servers and cloud systems with hardware and software solutions that integrate AI and AloT applications to develop the ideal infrastructure for future prospects in 5G.

A motherboard (sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, main circuit board, system board, baseboard, planar board or logic board,^[1] or colloquially, a mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) found in general purpose computers and other expandable systems. It holds, and allows, communication between many of the crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals^[2]. Unlike a backplane, a motherboard usually contains significant sub-systems such as the central processor, the chipset's input/output and memory controllers, interface connectors, and other components integrated for general purpose use and applications.

Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability and as the name suggests, this board is often referred to as the "mother" of all components attached to it, which often include peripherals, interface cards, and daughtercards: sound cards, video cards, network cards, hard drives, or other forms of persistent storage; TV tuner cards, cards providing extra USB or FireWire slots and a variety of other custom components.

Similarly, the term mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and no additional expansions or capability, such as controlling boards in laser printers, televisions, washing machines, mobile phones and other embedded systems with limited expansion abilities.

Design[edit]

The Octek Jaguar V motherboard from 1993.^[3] This board has few onboard peripherals, as evidenced by the 6 slots provided for ISA cards and the lack of other built-in external interface connectors. Note the large AT keyboard connector at the back right is its only peripheral interface.

The motherboard of a Samsung Galaxy SII; almost all functions of the device are integrated into a very small board

A motherboard provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate. Unlike a backplane, it also contains the central processing unit and hosts other subsystems and devices.

A typical desktop computer has its microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components connected to the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices may be attached to the motherboard as plug-in cards or via cables; in modern microcomputers it is increasingly common to integrate some of these peripherals into the motherboard itself.

An important component of a motherboard is the microprocessor's supporting chipset, which provides the supporting interfaces between the CPU and the various buses and external components. This chipset determines, to an extent, the features and capabilities of the motherboard.

Modern motherboards include: