Motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in some complex electronic systems, such as modern personal computers. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board. Motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane, it also hosts the central processing unit, and other subsystems and devices. Motherboards are also used in many other electronics devices such as mobile phones, stop-watches, clocks, and other small electronic devices.
MOTHERBOARD COMPONENTS:
1. Mouse and Keyboard connectors - Keyboard Connectors are two types basically. All PCs have a Key board port connected directly to the motherboard. The oldest, but still quite common type, is a special DIN, and most PCs until recently retained this style connector. The AT-style keyboard connector is quickly disappearing, being replaced by the smaller mini DIN PS/2-style keyboard connector.
2. USB port - USB is the General-purpose connection for PC. A USB connector's distinctive rectangular shape makes it easily recognizable. USB has a number of features that makes it particularly popular on PCs.
3. Parallel port - Most printers use a special connector called a parallel port. Parallel port carries data on more than one wire, as opposed to the serial port, which uses only one wire. Parallel ports use a 25-pin female DB connector. Parallel ports are directly supported by the motherboard through a direct connection or through a dangle.
4. CPU Chip - The central processing unit, also called the microprocessor performs all the calculations that take place inside a pc. Modern CPUs generate a lot of heat and thus require a cooling fan or heat sink. The cooling device (such as a cooling fan) is removable, although some CPU manufactures sell the CPU with a fan permanently attached.
5. RAM slots - Random-Access Memory (RAM) stores programs and data currently being used by the CPU. RAM is measured in units called bytes. RAM has been packaged in many different ways. The most current package is called a 168-pin DIMM (Dual Inline Memory module).
6. Floppy controller - The floppy drive connects to the computer via a 34-pin ribbon cable, which in turn connects to the motherboard. A floppy controller is one that is used to control the floppy drive.
7. IDE controller - Industry standards define two common types of hard drives: EIDE and SCSI. Majority of the PCs use EIDE drives. SCSI drives show up in high end PCs such as network servers or graphical workstations. The EIDE drive connects to the hard drive via a 2-inch-wide, 40-pin ribbon cable, which in turn connects to the motherboard. IDE controller is responsible for controlling the hard drive.
8. PCI slot – PCI stands peripheral component interconnect. The PCI bus is used to connect I/O devices (such as NIC or RAID controllers) to the main logic of the computer. PCI bus has replaced the ISA bus.
9. ISA slot – ISA stands Industry Standard Architecture. It is the standard architecture of the Expansion bus. Motherboard may contain some slots to connect ISA compatible cards.
10. CMOS Battery - To provide CMOS with the power when the computer is turned off all motherboards comes with a battery. These batteries mount on the motherboard in one of three ways: the obsolete external battery, the most common onboard battery, and built-in battery.
11. AGP slot – In modern motherboard, a single connector that looks like a PCI slot, but is slightly shorter and usually brown. In this slot, inserted a video card. This is an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) slot.
12. Power supply plug in - The Power supply provides the necessary electrical power to make the pc operate. The power supply takes standard 110-V AC power and converts into +/-12-Volt, +/-5-Volt, and 3.3-Volt DC power. The power supply connector has 20-pins, and the connector can go in only one direction. 26
