Alternatively referred to as the mb, mainboard, mobo, mobd, backplane board, base board, main circuit board, planar board, system board, or a logic board on Apple computers. The motherboard is a printed circuit board that is the foundation of a computer, located at the bottom of the computer case. It allocates power to the CPU, RAM, and all other computer hardware components and allows them to communicate with one another.
Below is a graphic illustration of the ASUS P5AD2-E motherboard and some basic explanations of each of the major portions of the motherboard. Clicking on the image below gives you a larger more detailed version of the picture below.
Below is a listing of links that describe each of the above mentioned motherboard components in additional detail. Links are listed in clockwise order going from the top-left corner of the image. Components not listed above or found on other motherboards are listed in the next section.
- Expansion slots (PCI Express, PCI, and AGP)
- 3-pin case fan connectors
- Back pane connectors
- 4-Pin (P4) power connector
- CPU Socket
- Screw hole
- Memory slot
- Super I/O
- Floppy connection
- ATA (IDE) disk drive primary connection
- 24-pin ATX power Supply connector
- Serial ATA connections
- Coin cell battery (CMOS backup battery)
- System panel connectors
- Serial port connector
- USB headers
- Integrated circuit
- 1394 headers
Other motherboard components
Below is a listing of other motherboard components that are not shown in the above picture or have been part of older computer motherboards.
- Cache memory
- Dip switches
- Game port and MIDI header
- Internal speaker
- Keyboard controller
- Network header
- Obsolete expansion slots (AMR, CNR, EISA, ISA, VESA)
- Obsolete memory slots (SIMM)
- Onboard LED
- Parallel port header
- PS/2 header
- Serial port header
- Screw hole aka mounting hole
- Voltage regulator
- Voltage regulator module (VRM)
Motherboard form factors
As computers advanced, so have motherboards. Below is a listing of the various motherboard form factors and additional information about each of these form factors including ATX the most commonly used motherboard form factor today.
Since there is a motherboard, is there a fatherboard?
No, there is no such thing as a fatherboard when talking about a computer. However, there is such a thing as a daughterboard.
- Steps for installing a computer motherboard.
- Computer motherboard manufacturers and related links.
- Computer motherboard help and support.