Motherboard
The motherboard is
a printed circuit board (PCB) which links all different
components inside your computer. It allows all the parts of your computer to
receive power and communicate with one another.
The motherboard accommodates
the central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM),
expansion slots, heat sink and fan assembly, basic input/output
system (BIOS) chip, chipset, optical drives, video card, sound card and the
circuitry that interconnects the motherboard components. It can be
considered as the backbone of a computer.
A motherboard also
called printed circuit board (PCB), mainboard,
main circuit board, system board, baseboard, planar
board, logic board, or mobo etc. The
term Logic board is brand specific by Apple
company.
Motherboard Components
and Their Functions
1. CPU
(Central Processing Unit) chip
2. RAM
(Random Access Memory) slots
3. Southbridge/northbridge
4. BIOS
(Basic Input/Output System)
5. I/O
port
6. USB
(Universal Serial Bus)
7. CPU
slot
8. PCI
(Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot
9. AGP
(Accelerated Graphics Port) slot
10.
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) slot
11.
Parallel port
12.
FDC (Floppy-Disk Controller)
13.
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
controller
14.
CMOS (Complementary Metal-oxide semiconductor)
battery
15.
Power supply connector
16.
Mouse and keyboard ports
17.
DIP (Dual In-line Package) switch
18.
Jumper
19.
Heat sink/heatsink (cooling system)
20.
Clock generator
1. CPU (Central
Processing Unit) chip
CPU is the electronic
circuitry in a computer that executes instructions that make up a program. It
is also known as a central processor or the main processor. The CPU executes
the basic logic, arithmetic, controlling as well as input/output (I/O)
operations specified by the instructions in the desktop programs.
2. RAM (Random Access
Memory) slots
RAM is a kind of computer
memory that can be read and written. It is mainly used to save data and machine
code. A RAM device permits data to be read or written in nearly the same amount
of time no matter where the data’s physical location is in the memory. Compared
to the direct-access storage devices like hard drives, CD/DVD and magnetic
tapes, RAM media is much faster for data reading and writing.
3.
Southbridge/northbridge
They are the two chips in
the core logic chipset on the motherboard. Typically, the southbridge
implements the slower capabilities of the motherboard in a
northbridge/southbridge chipset computer architecture.
The northbridge, also
known as host bridge or Memory Controller Hub, is connected directly to the CPU
via the front-side bus (FSB). It is responsible for tasks requiring the highest
performance. Together with the southbridge, they manage communications between
the CPU and other motherboard components.
4. BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System)
BIOS, also called system
BIOS, PC BIOS or ROM BIOS, is firmware that is used to perform hardware initialization
during the booting process; and to provide runtime services for operating
system and programs. The BIOS firmware is the first software to run when
powered on; it is re-installed on a PC’s system board.
5. I/O port
Input/output ports are
the connections between the CPU and peripheral devices on a motherboard. There
are two complementary methods to perform input and output processes:
memory-mapped I/O (MMIO) and port-mapped I/O (PMIO). Alternatively, you can use
dedicated I/O processors, called channels on mainframe computers, which execute
their own instructions.
6. USB (Universal
Serial Bus)
USB is an industry
standard that creates specifications for connectors, cables and protocols for
connection; power supply (interfacing) and communication among computers,
computer peripherals as well as other desktops. There are a great many USB
hardware including several different connectors, of which USB-C is the latest
kind.
7. CPU slot
A CPU slot, also called a
CPU socket or Processor socket, contains one or more mechanical components that
provide mechanical and electrical connections between the PCB and a
microprocessor (CPU). Therefore, you can install a CPU on a motherboard without
soldering.
8. PCI (Peripheral
Component Interconnect) slot
Peripheral Component
Interconnect is a local computer bus for connecting hardware to a computer. It
supports all the functions of a processor bus. PCI is usually been called
Conventional PCI to distinguish it from its successor PCI Express (PCIe, PCI-e
or PCI-E).
PCI Express is a
high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard designed to replace the older
PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standard. It is a general-use motherboard interface for
the graphics card, SSDs, hard drives, Wi-Fi as well as Ethernet hardware connections.
9. AGP (Accelerated
Graphics Port) slot
AGP was designed as a
high-speed point-to-point channel for connecting a video card (graphics card)
to a computer system. Primarily, it was used to assist in the acceleration of
3D computer graphics. AGP is originally designed to be a descendant of the PCI
series of connections for video cards. Yet, it was replaced by the PCIe slots.
10. ISA (Industry
Standard Architecture) slot
ISA is the 16-bit
internal bus of IMB PC/AT and similar computers that are based on Intel 80286
and its immediate successors during the 1980s. It was backward compatible with
the 8-bit bus of the 8088-based IBM PC largely.
There once was an attempt
to extend ISA into a 32-bit bus, called Extended Industry Standard Architecture
(EISA). The attempt wasn’t very successful and the EISA was largely replaced by
the later VESA Local Bus and the PCI bus.
11. Parallel port
A parallel port is a kind
of interface for attaching peripherals on desktops. The name of this kind of
port is derived from the way the data is sent. That is, the parallel ports send
multiple bits of data at the same time. Serial interfaces, on the contrary,
send bits one data at once. To achieve parallel data transfer, there are
multiple data lines in the parallel port cables. The parallel port cable is
larger than the cable of a contemporary serial port, which only has one data
line within.
12. FDC (Floppy-Disk
Controller)
FDC is a special-purpose
chip and associated disk controller circuitry. It controls and directs reading
from and writing to a computer’s floppy disk drive (FDD).
13. IDE (Integrated
Drive Electronics) controller
The devices used for
connecting IDE, Ethernet, FireWire, USB and other systems can be
called host adapter. So, the IDE controller refers to the host adapter. A host
adapter, also called a host controller or a host bus adapter (HBA), connects a
computer (acting as the host system) to other network and storage devices.
14. CMOS (Complementary
Metal Oxide Semiconductor) battery
CMOS battery, also called
memory battery, clock battery or real-time clock (RTC), is generally a CR2032
lithium coin cell. The lifespan of the CMOS battery is estimated to be three
years when the power supply unit (PSU) is unplugged or switch off.
15. Power supply connector
A power supply provides
the necessary electrical power to let the computer to work. It takes standard
110-Volt AC (Alternative Current) power to DC (Direct Current) power of 12
Volt, 5 Volt, 3.3 Volt, etc.
16. Mouse and keyboard
ports
All computers have a
keyboard port connected directly to the motherboard. There are two types of
connectors. The oldest one is a special DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung)
connector while the newest one is the mini DIN PS/2-style connector. Many PCs
use the PS/2-style connectors for both keyboard and mouse; and the connectors
are marked clearly for different usage.
17. DIP (Dual In-line
Package) switch
A DIP switch is a manual
electric switch packaged with others in a standard dual in-line package. The
term may refer to an individual switch or the whole unit. The DIP switch is
designed to be used on a printed circuit board (motherboard) together with
other electronic motherboard components. It is usually used to
customize the behavior of an electronic device for specific situations.
18. Jumper
A jumper is a short
length of conductor that is used to close, open or bypass part of an electronic
circuit. Typically, jumpers are used to set up or configure printed circuit
boards like the motherboard.
19. Heat
sink/heatsink (cooling system)
A heat sink is a passive
heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by parts
of motherboard into a fluid medium like liquid or air. The fluid
medium will dissipate away from the device. Thus, the temperature of the device
is kept within a tolerable range. On the motherboard, the heatsink is usually
used to cool CPU, GPU (graphics processing unit), chipsets and RAM modules.
20. Clock generator
A clock generator is an
electronic oscillator (circuit) that produces a clock signal for usage in
synchronizing a circuit’s operation. The clock signal ranges between high and
low frequencies, thus creating a metronome for the coordination of actions.
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