Motherboard Components
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ScribdTranslationsMotherboard Components
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ScribdTranslationsMotherboard Components
Computer Motherboard
The motherboard (motherboard or mainboard) is a printed circuit board responsible for making the interconnection between
the components necessary for the operation of the computer. They are built to support the others.
devices such as the processor, the memory, the hard drive, etc.
It has basic components, each with its function such as the BIOS, the chipset, and the other components, and offers
support for expansion slots, various connectors, inputs, etc.
The motherboard emerged adapted to IBM PC computers in 1982, and despite having the same design, over time
over time, several adjustments were made to its structure to support other elements. The company Apple, in its
The Apple II computer also used this model to manufacture its motherboard, innovating and adding other elements.
Some motherboard models are AT (Advanced Technology used in the 80s and 90s), ITX (created in 2001 by VIA)
Technologies), BTX (launched in 2003 by Intel), etc.
Chipset
It is a chip that aims to control various components of the motherboard, such as buses, the
access to memory, sending and receiving information from the keyboard, mouse, and other outputs, establishing communication between
processor and RAM, etc. It is common in current boards to have controller chips: South Bridge (L1) and Bridge
North (L2):
Southbridge (Bridge South) - controls the input and output devices of the computer;
Northbridge (Ponte Norte) – controls the memories and video buses.
Processor Socket
The place where the processor (CPU) should be fitted is called a 'socket', so each processor has a number.
different from pins and must be adapted to their specific sockets according to the manufacturer, that is, the board-
Motherboard must be built to support a specific processor.
BIOS
A BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is an application designed to perform
some basic tasks at the moment the computer is turned on, performing the verification of all hardware
connected, until the operating system starts.
Battery
It is a battery made of lithium, which keeps the information inside the ROM memory while the computer is
turned off. In current boards, its main function is to ensure the operation of the computer's internal clock.
Sweater
They are small plastic blocks that contain metal inside. They are placed on the pins of the motherboard.
As they are inserted, the computer configurations may change. There are those who can connect the cables of
cabinet for connecting auxiliary outputs (located at the front of the cabinet, such as USB and audio inputs).
Entrance Doors
PS/2 and USB: the former is intended for connecting the mouse and keyboard. The latter is an input that can
connect several other devices.
Firewire: it is faster than USB and connects digital cameras and hard drives.
Slots
A slot is a plastic connector with gold contacts present on the motherboard for the purpose of inserting new cards.
They are responsible for connecting the peripherals to the bus.
Memory slots: they are used to connect the memories, which can be DDR2 or DDR3.
HD Connection Slots/Optical Drives: are used to connect HDs/CD/DVD drives are called IDE and
SATA/SATA2.
Expansion slots: are inserted into the motherboard allowing for the addition of extra resources. It is possible to install them.
connect: network card, modem, sound card, etc. The most used are PCI, PCI-Express 1x, PCI-Express, AGP, and ISA
(found in old motherboards).
Video cards: the most used slots to connect video cards are PCI-Express 2.0, PCI-Express, and AGP. And it is possible
connecting two or more graphics cards in the same machine when the motherboard has more than one slot
characteristic of this plate in order to achieve greater performance.
Power Connector
Location where the power supply is connected, responsible for supplying electrical power to the motherboard and its components.
components. There are two types: AT and ATX, the latter being the most used. It is important to emphasize that the motherboard without the
The power supply can power the memory, the processor, and a large part of the connected devices.
slots, but the units of DVD and CD, HDs, cooler, etc. need the power from the power supply.
Dams
Barrages are communication channels or patterns through which information flows used to interconnect the
various devices in a computer (processor and memory, motherboard and computer components).
The output from the terminal will depend on the connection of these devices to the computer. They may be located in the
the computer's own motherboard (on board), there are sockets (connectors) or internal buses and each slot has
a specific bus. Ex.: ISA, PCI, SCSI, IDE, AGP, among others. They can also be in the case of
computer, usually at the back of it and are called 'ports' or external bus.
In order for the peripherals to use the buses, it is necessary for each card (video card, sound card, modem, etc.) to be
compatible with a certain type of bus. The great gain obtained with these buses is the standardization,
Since the connector is compatible, the board from any supplier can be installed in its bus.
computer.
ISA Bus: Industry Standard Architecture
The ISA bus is widely used for expansion cards, that is, computer components that have the
format of the card, such as: sound card, network card, video card, modem, etc. It was used by the
IBM computers, being one of the oldest, are out of use.
PCI Bus: Peripheral Component Interconnect
The PCI bus is widely used for expansion cards, just like the ISA. It emerged in the market to replace the
ISA bus and uses "Plug and Play" technology (a feature that allows a card installed in a slot to be
automatically recognized), which made it much easier to install new equipment on the computer. A
the characteristics of PCI are that it is shared by all connected devices, so the actual rate of
The transfer will depend on the number of computer devices that use the bus.
AGP Bus: Accelerated Graphics Port
The AGP bus is used only for video cards and also uses 'Plug and Play' technology. Previously, the cards
Video cards were generally installed on the PCI bus, today in more modern computers this is used
bus. In this way, there is a dedicated bus for the video card, which allows, for example, to improve
3D applications.
Another characteristic is that the AGP bus reserves a larger amount of memory for storage of
textures for three-dimensional objects, in addition to being able to access these textures at high speed.
IDE Bus: Integrated Drive Electronics
The IDE bus is used for internal storage units, such as hard drives, CDs, CD recorders,
DVD units, etc.
In addition to these, there are other buses used for various purposes to connect the microprocessor, inputs
USB, etc.
