CPU Cards - plug in

CPU Cards – plug in

Plug in CPU cards are designed to form part of an industrial PC based around passive backplane architecture. In this architecture, components typically located on the motherboard (i.e. memory, CPUs and chipset components) are instead located on a single plug-in CPU card. The “motherboard” is replaced with a simple “passive backplane” that has only standard card slots such as PCI Express, PCI and ISA connectors. One of these slots will be dedicated for the CPU card, and the rest of the slots accommodate standard ISA, PCI and/or PCI Express peripheral cards. This backplane is simple and robust, with a very low likelihood of failure, given its passive nature.

The benefits of using passive backplanes with CPU cards include:

• Excellent flexibility for adding peripheral cards such as PCI, ISA and PCI Express cards – generally passive backplanes can accommodate more add-on cards than standard ATX motherboards, and support legacy standards such as ISA and PCI;
• A much lower Mean Time to Repair than classic computer motherboard approaches, as the CPU card can be swapped easily, leaving the backplane and other cards in place;
• Industrial grade componentry – wide temperature tolerance, high grade components for 24×7 operation, and long product lifecycles, which support the needs of industrial applications.

To build an industrial PC using these boards, a suitable combination of chassis, passive backplane, and CPU card must be chosen, which are all compatible with one another, and meet your requirements. It’s best to start by choosing a chassis, and then choose a backplane that’s compatible with it, based on what combination of expansion slots are needed; then choose a powerful enough CPU card that is the correct size and correct PICMG version to match the backplane. For assistance putting together an industrial PC to meet your requirements, please contact us for a quote.