"larry moe 'n curly" ) writes:
Tom Biasi wrote:
"larry moe 'n curly" wrote in message
ups.com...

I have an Asrock (budget Asus) K7VT4A Pro ATX motherboard with three
empty spaces where it seems that fuses would normally go.

Mobos often have empty spaces where it looks like something could go. Not
every model uses every space.
RTFM: http://www.asrock.com.tw/Drivers/Man...VT4APro_um.pdf :-)

I have RTFM, but TFM doesn't mention the fuse, and I doubt that these
missing fuses are for any missing functions.

If they are not there you probably don't need them.

Yes, but why specifically is the circuit board laid out for those
fuses?

Because it's cheaper to make one board, and then stuff it as needed,
than have to make a different board for every variant, or when a small
change is necessary.

Let's say they make 100,000 boards. They start stuffing and run out
of a specific part at the 10,000 mark. If they can't get the part that
fits, then they have to scrap the remaining 90,000 boards. But when
they have foresight, they have designed the board to take some different
parts sizes just in case.

Or, and this is common in consumer equipment, one board has some features
that the other doesn't. So long as it doesn't add too much to the board
space, it's cheaper to have one board that has all the possibilities than
multiple boards.

So the fuses that are "missing" may exist on the board in a different
form. Or they may be part of feature that isn't part of what you bought,
so you don't get it.

Meanwhile, someone else might have the same board, and have those
fuses in place while fuses in a different package elsewhere are "missing".
The traces on the board simply put both in parallel so what is available
can fit the board. Or, they have some extra feature that requires some
of the "missing" parts, so the space is filled.

Michael