The motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer that connects all the components together. It contains the CPU and manages communication between all subsystems like storage and graphics cards. Motherboards come in different form factors like ATX, micro-ATX, and mini-ITX. Key components include RAM, ROM, CPU socket, expansion slots, and connectors for peripherals. The motherboard distributes power and contains chips like the Northbridge and Southbridge to manage data flow between components.

1. WHAT IS MOTHERBOARD ??
PREPARED BY- ARUNA.J.VASAVA

2. Introduction of Motherboard:
 What is motherboard???
 A motherboard (also called main board, main circuit board, system
board, baseboard, planar board, logic board, and mobo) is the main printed
circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable
systems.
 A motherboard is an electronic circuit board in a computer which interconnects
hardware devices attached to it. At a minimum it includes one or more Central
processing units, and the main processing activity of the computer takes place
on it.

3. Purpose of Motherboard:
 The motherboard's primary purpose is to manage all the computer's
subsystems. A chipset manages communications among systems.
The motherboard also distributes power to the systems with low power
needs.
 A motherboard is to act as the “hub” to which other computer devices
connect.

4. Motherboard form factor:
 What is form factor?
 Motherboards come in different sizes, known as form factors. The most
common motherboard form factor is ATX.
 The different types of ATX are known as micro-ATX (sometimes shown
as µATX, mini-ATX, Flex ATX, EATX, WATX, nano-ATX, Pico-ATX, and
mobile ATX). A smaller form factor is ITX, which comes in mini-ITX,
nano-ITX, and Pico-ITX sizes.

5. Components of Motherboard:

6. Connectors for integrated peripherals:
 PS/2 mouse port
 PS/2 keyboard port
 Digital audio in port
 Digital audio out port
 VGA port
 DVI port
 USB port
 RJ-45 Ethernet port
 Line-in port
 Line-out jack
 Microphone jack
 Fire wire port (also called IEEE
1394)

7. CPU socket & CMOS Backup Battery:
A battery that maintains the time, date,
hard disk and other configuration settings
in the CMOS memory. CMOS batteries
are small and are attached directly to the
motherboard.
A CPU socket or CPU slot contains one
or more mechanical components providing
mechanical and electrical connections
between a microprocessor and a printed
circuit board (PCB). This allows for
placing and replacing the central
processing unit (CPU) without soldering.

8. North-Bridge & South-Bridge:
 A Northbridge or host bridge is one of the two chips in the core logic
chipset architecture on a PC motherboard, the other being the
Southbridge. Unlike the Southbridge, Northbridge is connected directly
to the CPU via the front-side bus (FSB) and is thus responsible for
tasks that require the highest performance.

9. AGP Slot, ISA & PCI Slot:
 An accelerated graphics port (AGP) is a
point to point channel that is used for
high speed video output.
 This port is used to connect graphic
cards to a computer's motherboard. The
primary purpose of an AGP is to
accelerate 3D graphics output for high
definition video.
 An Industry Standard
Architecture (ISA )is a type of bus used
in PCs for adding expansion cards.
An ISA slot may be used to add a video
card, a network card, or an extra serial
port.
 A Peripheral Component Interface (PCI)
slot is a built-in slot on a device that
allows for the attachment of various
hardware components such as network
cards, modems, sound cards, disk
controllers and other peripherals.

10. RAM & ROM:
 The RAM stands for random-access
memory. It is temporarily holds the
information your computer needs right
now. A subset of RAM memory is called
the cache. The cache holds frequently
used data in especially fast RAM. The
cache is memory that connects directly
to the CPU on the motherboard.
 The ROM stands for read-only memory.
It's used to store the start-up
instructions for a computer, also known
as the firmware. Most modern computers
use flash-based ROM. It is part of the
BIOS chip, which is located on
the motherboard.

11. IDE Connector & ATX Power Connector
 Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) is a
standard interface for connecting a
motherboard to storage devices such as
hard drives and CD-ROM/DVD drives.
 An ATX power supply provides a number
of peripheral power connectors and
auxiliary connector providing
additional power to the CPU and a main
24-pin power supply connector, an
extension of the original 20-pin version.

12. CPU Fan & Heat sink Mounting Point:
 All computers have heat sinks, which help keep the CPU cool and
prevent it from overheating.
 Therefore, a fan is often used in combination with the heat sink to keep
both the CPU and heat sink at an acceptable temperature.

13. Sources:
 Wikipedia
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