This document defines and explains what a motherboard is and its importance. A motherboard is the primary circuit board that connects all the core components of a computing device. It allows the components to communicate and work together. Motherboards are found in devices like desktop and laptop computers, phones, tablets, servers, and supercomputers. The document discusses different types and sizes of motherboards and describes the various buses that connect components via the motherboard, such as the front side bus. It also explains what a machine cycle is and how it provides an orderly method for a processor to execute software instructions.

1. Caleigh Crowell
Jacob Moore

2. What Is A Motherboard?
 Primary Circuit
 Connects all core components

3. Why A Motherboard Matters
 Allows components to communicate
 General-purpose and special-purpose

4. Who Has A Motherboard
 Desktop PCs
 Notebook PCs
 Cell phones
 IPods
 Servers
 Supercomputers
 Outside devices to be connected to the
system components

5. Picture of IPhone Motherboard

6. Personal Computer
Motherboard
 Sockets of microprocessor, main
memory, ROM, expansion slots
 Also includes buses

7. Different Size Motherboards
 Small ex. netbooks, tablets, or smart
phones
 Large ex. Alienware Area-51 ALX
desktop comptuer

8. What is A Bus?
 Subsystem
 Transfers data

9. Why Does A Bus Matter?
 Connects components of computer
system

10. Speed of the Bus
 Impact performance of a CPU

11. Front Side Bus
 More commonly known as the FSB
 Considered the most important bus
 Connects the CPU to the northbridge

12. Other Bus’s
 Internal Bus
 PCI Bus - Connects external devices to
the core system components through
expansion slots, or USB or PCI
connections.
 LPC Bus - Connects ROM and
sometimes other input devices to the
CPU.

13. Machine Cycles

14. Definition
 Machine Cycle - used as an orderly
method of processing software
instructions.

15. Why This Matters
 Provides organized method for the
processor to carry out instructions from
the server.
 Without the machine cycle the processor
would not be able to execute software
code.

16. Step 1
 Fetch
Instructions are fetched from primary
storage (RAM) or its cache memory.

17. Step 2
 Decode
The control unit decodes the instruction
and then sends it to the arithmetic logic

18. Step 3
 Execute
The decoded instruction is sent to the
ALU to execute.

19. Step 4
 Store
The results of the instructions are stored
back primary storage.

20. Machine Cycle Facts
 Today’s processors can overlap
machine cycles and even execute
multiple instructions simultaneously.
 Machine Cycle’s keep computers
running smoothly, and processing
orderly.