Motherboard Components

 

Introduction to Motherboard

The motherboard is defined as a circuit board for the computer system, also called logic board or mainboard. In the computer system, the biggest component is the motherboard that controls all the components of the computer system and establishes a link between all components. From the motherboard, different components like ROM, CPU, RAM, PCI slots, USB ports, and other components are connected. The controller’s device is also attached to the motherboard like DVD, hard drive, mouse, and keyboard. The computer system starts using the motherboard and these components act as the backbone for starting the system.

Components of Motherboard

In the below section, some of the important components of the motherboard are defined below:

1. Keyboard and mouse

There are mainly 2 types of mouse and keyboard connectors. The first connector is known as PS/2 & the second connector is known as USB.

2. Universal Serial Bus (USB)

The USB port is used for connecting the computer system. In the computer system, there is various type of devices that are connected with the USB port like keyboard, mouse, camera, scanner, printers, and another device. The main use of a USB port is to connect the peripheral devices and computer motherboards. The peripheral device connected to the computer system can be inserted or remove without system restarts that can be the main advantage of a USB port.

3. Parallel port

The old printers that are used in past use the parallel port to connect with the computer system. In the parallel port, multiple wires are used to send or receive multiple bits of the data in a single instance. On the other hand, serial ports use only one wire at a time.  In the parallel port, 25 pins female DB type connector is used.

4. CPU chip

The central processing unit is the processor that controls all the functions of the computer system. The overall flow of task and functions are controlled by the central processing unit. For the computer system, the central processing unit is called the brain of the computer system.

5. RAM slots

The RAM slots are used for connecting the RAM (memory) in the computer system. In the general computer system, there are mainly two RAM slots but sometimes there can be four-plus slots in the motherboard to increase the memory of the computer system.

6. Floppy Controller

The older motherboard chip contains a 34-pin type ribbon cable for connecting the computer system with a floppy drive. In this ribbon cable, one end is directly connected with the computer system and one end is connected with the motherboard.

7. IDE controller

The integrated drive electronics are also known as ATA or Parallel ATA. The IDE is the type of component that issued for hard drive control. In today’s computer system, the IDE controller supports is not supported.

8. PCI slot

The full form of PCI is a peripheral component interface. The PCI slot is mainly used to insert the expansion cards on the computer. The other PCI devices can also be connected like a sound card, network card, video, card, modems, and other devices. In today’s computer system support for PCI expansion slots are not there.

9. ISA slot

Industry-standard architecture (ISA) is defined as standard architecture for expansion bus. The ISA slot issued for connecting input devices and modems.

10. CMOS Battery

The CMOS battery is used for storing the BIOS settings on the motherboard. The CMOS battery is also capable of storing the time and data in it.

11. AGP slot

AGP (Accelerated Graphics slot) is a type of computer slot that is used for attaching the video card to the system. This slot is a high-speed slot so that data transfer can be done at high speed.

12. CPU slot

The CPU slot is a type of port that is used to connect the central processing unit to the motherboard of the computer system.

13. Power supply slot

The power supply slot is used for providing the electric supply to the computer system so that it can start and perform its functions. The total power supply given to the system is around 110 ac power. In the power supply type connector, there are a total of 20-pins that are used to maintain the power supply to the computer system.

14. HeatSink

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.

15. North Bridge

Alternatively referred to as the PAC (PCI/AGP Controller) and NB, the Northbridge is an integrated circuit responsible for communications between the CPU interface, AGP, and the memory. Unlike the southbridge, the northbridge is directly connected to these components. It acts as a "bridge" for the southbridge chip to communicate with the CPU, RAM, and graphics controller. Today, the northbridge is a single-chip that is north of the PCI bus, however, early computers may have had up to three separate chips that made up the northbridge.

16. South Bridge

The southbridge is an IC on the motherboard responsible for the hard drive controller, I/O controller and integrated hardware. Integrated hardware can include the sound card and video card if on the motherboard, USB, PCI, ISA, IDE, BIOS, and Ethernet.
The southbridge gets its name for commonly being South of the PCI bus. Below is a graphic illustration of the ASUS P5AD2-E motherboard with explanations of each of the major components including the southbridge. It is common for the northbridge and southbridge to have a heat sink. Also, the northbridge is usually slightly larger than the southbridge.

Factors of Motherboard

The main form factor for the motherboard is size and shape. The other factors are physical layout, mounting holes, and board organization.

In the below section, some of the form factors are mentioned below:

1. ATX

In this type, the standard locations were defined for mouse, keyboard, input/output devices, video connectors, and other devices. In the year 1990, the ATX form factor was developed. The expansion slot given new location as in this form factor expansion slot were given separate space so that they can be connected with the motherboard.

2. Micro-ATX

The benefit obtained from the Micro-ATX is the same as from the ATX form factor. The main difference is an improvement in system design so that the overall cost of the component can be reduced as the size of the motherboard is reduced in this form factor. The size is reduced by reducing the I/O slots number on the motherboard.

Uses of Motherboard

The motherboard is the main component in the computer system that is used for connecting all the components of the computer system so that they can perform several tasks and functions in the system. The motherboard is considered as the spine of the system as all components are connected to a single circuit board for performing their functions. The motherboard is a costly device and once it gets damaged the user needs to spend a lot of money to buy a new motherboard for a computer system. The motherboard is a central device where all devices are get connected and maintain the flow in the computer system.

Conclusion

The motherboard is a type of circuit board installed in a computer system where all components of the computer system are getting connected. The motherboard is considered as the backbone of the computer system. There are different formations of the motherboard that can be distinguished based on budget, needs, requirements, and speed. The motherboard is considered as a central hub where all different computer devices are getting connected with it.