The Motherboard
What is a motherboard?
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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?
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.