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What Are The Different Motherboard Components and Their Functions PDF

The motherboard contains many components that facilitate communication between the CPU and other computer components. Some key components include PCI and PCIe slots to connect expansion cards, SATA connectors to connect storage devices, RAM slots to connect memory, and chipsets like the Northbridge and Southbridge that help the CPU communicate with other parts. Knowing the functions of these various motherboard components can help with troubleshooting, upgrading, and building a PC.

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Maria Norberta Mandac
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662 views

What Are The Different Motherboard Components and Their Functions PDF

The motherboard contains many components that facilitate communication between the CPU and other computer components. Some key components include PCI and PCIe slots to connect expansion cards, SATA connectors to connect storage devices, RAM slots to connect memory, and chipsets like the Northbridge and Southbridge that help the CPU communicate with other parts. Knowing the functions of these various motherboard components can help with troubleshooting, upgrading, and building a PC.

Uploaded by

Maria Norberta Mandac
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What are the Different Motherboard Components

and Their Functions?


The motherboard is one of the most important parts of the PC, but as a tech
enthusiast, you probably already know that. What you might not know, though, is the
role played by each chip, port or slot present on a motherboard. A lot of people simply
don’t care about these aspects, but if you’re the do-it-yourself type, knowing
everything there is to know when it comes to motherboards can help you when it
comes to troubleshooting, upgrading or even building your own PC.

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1. Back Panel Connectors & Ports Connectors and ports for connecting the computer to external
devices such as display ports, audio ports, USB ports, Ethernet
ports, PS/2 ports etc. See image below for a close-up view.
2. PCI Slots PCI: Peripheral Component Interconnect

Slot for older expansion cards such as sound cards, network cards,
connector cards. See image below for a close-up view.

Have been largely replaced by PCI-Express x1 slots (see motherboard


parts #3 below).

3. PCI Express x1 Slots Slot for modern expansion cards such as sound cards, network cards
(Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth), connector cards (USB, FireWire,
eSATA) and certain low-end graphics cards. See image below for a
close-up view.

4. PCI Express x16 Slot Slot for discrete graphic cards and high bandwidth devices such as
top-end solid state drives. See image below for a close-up view.

5. Northbridge Also known as Memory Controller Hub (MCH).

Chipset that allows the CPU to communicate with the RAM and
graphics card.

Beginning from Intel Sandy Bridge in 2011, this motherboard


component is no longer present as it has been integrated within the
CPU itself.

6. CPU Socket Insert CPU here. To learn how to install a CPU, click here for our
guide to installing a CPU.

7. ATX 12V Power Connector Connects to the 4-pin power cable of a power supply unit which
supplies power to the CPU.
8. Front Panel USB 2.0 Connects to USB 2.0 ports at the front or top of a computer case. See
Connectors image above for a close-up view.

9. Front Panel Connectors Connects to the power switch, reset switch, power LED, hard drive LED
and front audio ports of a computer case. See image above for a close-up
view.

10. IDE Connector Connects to older hard drive disks and optical drives for data transfer.
See image above for a close-up view.

Have been replaced over by SATA connectors (see motherboard


component #13 below).

11. CMOS Battery Supplies power to store BIOS settings and keep the real-time clock
running. See image above for a close-up view.

The CMOS battery found on most motherboards is the CR2032 lithium


coin cell.
12. Southbridge Also known as the Input/Output Controller Hub (ICH).

Chipset that allows the CPU to communicate with PCI slots, PCI-Express
x 1 slots (expansion cards), SATA connectors (hard drives, optical
drives), USB ports (USB devices), Ethernet ports and on-board audio.

13. SATA Connectors Connects to modern hard disk drives, solid state drives and optical drives
for data transfer. See image above for a close-up view.

14. Fan Headers Supplies power to the CPU heat sink fan and computer case fans. See
image above for a close-up view.

15. RAM Slots Insert RAM here.

16. ATX Power Connector Connects to the 24-pin ATX power cable of a power supply unit which
supplies power to the motherboard.

17. mSATA Connector Connects to a mSATA solid state drive. In most cases, this SSD is
used as cache to speed up hard disk drives, but it's possible to re-
purpose it as a regular hard drive.

18. Front Panel USB 3.0 Connects to USB 3.0 ports at the front or top of the computer case.
Connector

19. Power & Reset Button Onboard button to turn on, turn off and reboot the computer.

This motherboard component is more common among high end


boards.

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