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Motherboard

The motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer that connects the central processing unit and other essential components. It contains the microprocessor, memory sockets, expansion slots, input/output ports, and connectors for peripherals. All other components of the computer either connect directly to the motherboard or plug into it. The motherboard comes in different standardized form factors that determine the shape and layout of the components and the computer case. It aggregates all the primary system components on a single printed circuit board to allow the components to communicate with each other and provide the pathways for all operations in the computer to function.

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103 views2 pages

Motherboard

The motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer that connects the central processing unit and other essential components. It contains the microprocessor, memory sockets, expansion slots, input/output ports, and connectors for peripherals. All other components of the computer either connect directly to the motherboard or plug into it. The motherboard comes in different standardized form factors that determine the shape and layout of the components and the computer case. It aggregates all the primary system components on a single printed circuit board to allow the components to communicate with each other and provide the pathways for all operations in the computer to function.

Uploaded by

Grace Bravo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Motherboard

• The motherboard, or mainboard, of a PC is a large printed circuit board that is home to


many of the most essential parts of the computer, including the microprocessor,
chipset, cache, memory sockets, expansion bus, parallel and serial ports, mouse and
keyboard connectors and IDE, EIDE or SCSI controllers. The motherboard binds the PC’s
operational components together.
Motherboard
• A motherboard by itself is useless, but a computer has to have one to operate. The
motherboard's main job is to hold the computer's microprocessor chip and let
everything else connect to it. Everything that runs the computer or enhances its
performance is either part of the motherboard or plugs into it via a slot or port.
• The motherboard is mounted in the PC box using small plastic brackets and screws. The
cabinet and the motherboard are made to suit each other, so there are holes in the
metal for the connectors mounted on the board. Finally, the motherboard has to be
connected to the PC’s power supply installed in the cabinet. This is done using a
standard connector:
Motherboard Design
• Motherboard Style – also known as mainboard, mobo, system board or planar. It
aggregates all the PC’s primary system components on a single printed circuit board. In
the motherboard’s single board design, al of the PC’s electronic circuitry that provides
the conduit through which all operations flow is located on the motherboard.
 Backplanes – are common in large PC network servers and on other computers on which
the processor is upgraded frequently. In its basic form, a backplane mainboard contains
very little in the way of intelligence and storage capabilities. It is merely a receptacle
board into which processor cards, memory cards and other component boards are
inserted to add capability to a PC.
Form Factor
• The shape and layout of a motherboard is called the form factor. The form factor affects
where individual components go and the shape of the computer's case. There are
several specific form factors that most PC motherboards use so that they can all fit in
standard cases
• Motherboard Form Factors
• AT Motherboard
• ATX Motherboard
• LPX/NLX Form Factor
Components of the Motherboard
• Chips - These are tiny electronic circuits which are crammed with transistors. The chips
have various functions.
• Sockets/Slots - These are holders, which have been soldered to the motherboard. The
sockets are built to exactly match a card or a chip.
• Components of the Motherboard
• Plugs, ports and connectors – these are inputs and outputs, to which various equipment
can be connected. Most ports (also called I/O ports) can be seen where they end in a
connector at the back of the PC.
• Battery
Other Motherboard Standards
• The socket for the microprocessor determines what kind of Central Processing Unit
(CPU) the motherboard uses.
• The chipset is part of the motherboard's logic system and is usually made of two parts -
the Northbridge and the Southbridge. These two "bridges" connect the CPU to other
parts of the computer.
Other Motherboard Standards
The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) chip controls the most basic functions of
the computer and performs a self-test every time you turn it on. Some systems feature
dual BIOS, which provides a backup in case one fails or in case of error during updating.
The real time clock chip is a battery-operated chip that maintains basic settings
and the system time.
Motherboard Slots and Ports
• Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)- connections for video, sound and video
capture cards, as well as network cards
• Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) - dedicated port for video cards.
• Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) - interfaces for the hard drives
• Universal Serial Bus or Firewire - external peripherals
• Memory slots
• New Technological Advances
• Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID) controllers allow the computer to
recognize multiple drives as one drive.
• PCI Express is a newer protocol that acts more like a network than a bus. It can
eliminate the need for other ports, including the AGP port.
• Rather than relying on plug-in cards, some motherboards have on-board sound,
networking, video or other peripheral support.
• CPU Sockets
• New CPU Sockets
• Socket 754 - for AMD Sempron and some AMD Athlon processors
• Socket 939 - for newer and faster AMD Athlon processors
• Socket LGA775 –(Land Grid Array) also known as Socket T, this is the newest Intel CPU
Socket.

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