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The Motherboard

What is a motherboard?

Motherboard Installation
  • The motherboard is the main circuit board of a computer.

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  • All components (parts) of the computer are connected to the motherboard.

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  • If a computer were a human, the motherboard could be the skeleton because it connects everything together.

What is connected to the motherboard?

CPU Diagram.png
RAM (1).png
ROM.png
Cache.png
Graphics Card.png
Sound Card.png

Graphics Card

(attached to PCI slot)

Sound Card

(attached to PCI slot)

Cache Memory

CPU

(Central Processing Unit)

RAM

(Random Access Memory)

ROM

(Read Only Memory)

What is a motherboard's form factor? 

Form factor relates to the motherboard's size, shape and how many components it can fit.

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There are three main motherboard form factors:

ATX

Micro ATX

Mini ATX

Size

Large

Medium

Small

Max RAM

32GB

64GB

64GB

Card Slots

7

4

1

Buses

Data is transferred within a computer system along pathways called buses.

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There are three types of bus:

Address Bus

Data Bus

Control Bus

Sends a memory address of where data is stored.​​

Transfers data between components. Data is sent both ways.

Sends control signals from the control unit to other components of the system. Status signals are sent back to the CPU.

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