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?
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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.