PARTS OF

MOTHERBOARD
and its function
1. CPU (CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT) CHIP

CPU IS THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY IN A

COMPUTER THAT EXECUTES INSTRUCTIONS
THAT MAKE UP A PROGRAM. IT IS ALSO KNOWN
AS A CENTRAL PROCESSOR OR THE MAIN
PROCESSOR. THE CPU EXECUTES THE BASIC
LOGIC, ARITHMETIC, CONTROLLING AS WELL AS
INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) OPERATIONS SPECIFIED
BY THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE DESKTOP
PROGRAMS.

2. RAM (RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY) SLOTS

RAM IS A KIND OF COMPUTER MEMORY THAT

CAN BE READ AND WRITTEN. IT IS MAINLY USED
TO SAVE DATA AND MACHINE CODE. A RAM
DEVICE PERMITS DATA TO BE READ OR WRITTEN
IN NEARLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME NO
MATTER WHERE THE DATA’S PHYSICAL
LOCATION IS IN THE MEMORY. COMPARED TO
THE DIRECT-ACCESS STORAGE DEVICES LIKE
HARD DRIVES, CD/DVD AND MAGNETIC TAPES,
RAM MEDIA IS MUCH FASTER FOR DATA
READING AND WRITING.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function
3. SOUTHBRIDGE/NORTHBRIDGE

THEY ARE THE TWO CHIPS IN THE CORE LOGIC

CHIPSET ON THE MOTHERBOARD. TYPICALLY,
THE SOUTHBRIDGE IMPLEMENTS THE SLOWER
CAPABILITIES OF THE MOTHERBOARD IN A
NORTHBRIDGE/SOUTHBRIDGE CHIPSET
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE.
THE NORTHBRIDGE, ALSO KNOWN AS HOST
BRIDGE OR MEMORY CONTROLLER HUB, IS
CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO THE CPU VIA THE
FRONT-SIDE BUS (FSB). IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
TASKS REQUIRING THE HIGHEST
PERFORMANCE. TOGETHER WITH THE
SOUTHBRIDGE, THEY MANAGE
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE CPU AND
OTHER MOTHERBOARD COMPONENTS.

4. BIOS (BASIC INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEM)

BIOS, ALSO CALLED SYSTEM BIOS, PC BIOS OR

ROM BIOS, IS FIRMWARE THAT IS USED TO
PERFORM HARDWARE INITIALIZATION DURING
THE BOOTING PROCESS; AND TO PROVIDE
RUNTIME SERVICES FOR OPERATING SYSTEM
AND PROGRAMS. THE BIOS FIRMWARE IS THE
FIRST SOFTWARE TO RUN WHEN POWERED ON;
IT IS RE-INSTALLED ON A PC’S SYSTEM BOARD.
 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function5. I/O PORT

INPUT/OUTPUT PORTS ARE THE CONNECTIONS

BETWEEN THE CPU AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES
ON A MOTHERBOARD. THERE ARE TWO
COMPLEMENTARY METHODS TO PERFORM
INPUT AND OUTPUT PROCESSES: MEMORY-
MAPPED I/O (MMIO) AND PORT-MAPPED I/O
(PMIO). ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN USE
DEDICATED I/O PROCESSORS, CALLED
CHANNELS ON MAINFRAME COMPUTERS,
WHICH EXECUTE THEIR OWN INSTRUCTIONS.

6. USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS)

USB IS AN INDUSTRY STANDARD THAT CREATES

SPECIFICATIONS FOR CONNECTORS, CABLES
AND PROTOCOLS FOR CONNECTION; POWER
SUPPLY (INTERFACING) AND
COMMUNICATION AMONG COMPUTERS,
COMPUTER PERIPHERALS AS WELL AS OTHER
DESKTOPS. THERE ARE A GREAT MANY USB
HARDWARE INCLUDING SEVERAL DIFFERENT
CONNECTORS, OF WHICH USB-C IS THE LATEST
KIND.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function 7. CPU SLOT

A CPU SLOT, ALSO CALLED A CPU SOCKET OR

PROCESSOR SOCKET, CONTAINS ONE OR MORE
MECHANICAL COMPONENTS THAT PROVIDE
MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS
BETWEEN THE PCB AND A MICROPROCESSOR
(CPU). THEREFORE, YOU CAN INSTALL A CPU
ON A MOTHERBOARD WITHOUT SOLDERING.

8. PCI (PERIPHERAL COMPONENT

INTERCONNECT) SLOT

PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT IS A

LOCAL COMPUTER BUS FOR CONNECTING
HARDWARE TO A COMPUTER. IT SUPPORTS ALL
THE FUNCTIONS OF A PROCESSOR BUS. PCI IS
USUALLY BEEN CALLED CONVENTIONAL PCI TO
DISTINGUISH IT FROM ITS SUCCESSOR PCI
EXPRESS (PCIE, PCI-E OR PCI-E).
PCI EXPRESS IS A HIGH-SPEED SERIAL
COMPUTER EXPANSION BUS STANDARD
DESIGNED TO REPLACE THE OLDER PCI, PCI-X
AND AGP BUS STANDARD. IT IS A GENERAL-USE
MOTHERBOARD INTERFACE FOR THE GRAPHICS
CARD, SSDS, HARD DRIVES, WI-FI AS WELL AS
ETHERNET HARDWARE CONNECTIONS.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function
9. AGP (ACCELERATED GRAPHICS PORT) SLOT

AGP WAS DESIGNED AS A HIGH-SPEED POINT-

TO-POINT CHANNEL FOR CONNECTING A
VIDEO CARD (GRAPHICS CARD) TO A
COMPUTER SYSTEM. PRIMARILY, IT WAS USED
TO ASSIST IN THE ACCELERATION OF 3D
COMPUTER GRAPHICS. AGP IS ORIGINALLY
DESIGNED TO BE A DESCENDANT OF THE PCI
SERIES OF CONNECTIONS FOR VIDEO CARDS.
YET, IT WAS REPLACED BY THE PCIE SLOTS.

10. ISA (INDUSTRY STANDARD ARCHITECTURE)

SLOT

ISA IS THE 16-BIT INTERNAL BUS OF IMB PC/AT

AND SIMILAR COMPUTERS THAT ARE BASED ON
INTEL 80286 AND ITS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS
DURING THE 1980S. IT WAS BACKWARD
COMPATIBLE WITH THE 8-BIT BUS OF THE 8088-
BASED IBM PC LARGELY.
THERE ONCE WAS AN ATTEMPT TO EXTEND ISA
INTO A 32-BIT BUS, CALLED EXTENDED
INDUSTRY STANDARD ARCHITECTURE (EISA).
THE ATTEMPT WASN’T VERY SUCCESSFUL AND
THE EISA WAS LARGELY REPLACED BY THE LATER
VESA LOCAL BUS AND THE PCI BUS.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function11. PARALLEL PORT

A PARALLEL PORT IS A KIND OF INTERFACE FOR

ATTACHING PERIPHERALS ON DESKTOPS. THE
NAME OF THIS KIND OF PORT IS DERIVED FROM
THE WAY THE DATA IS SENT. THAT IS, THE
PARALLEL PORTS SEND MULTIPLE BITS OF DATA
AT THE SAME TIME. SERIAL INTERFACES, ON THE
CONTRARY, SEND BITS ONE DATA AT ONCE. TO
ACHIEVE PARALLEL DATA TRANSFER, THERE ARE
MULTIPLE DATA LINES IN THE PARALLEL PORT
CABLES. THE PARALLEL PORT CABLE IS LARGER
THAN THE CABLE OF A CONTEMPORARY SERIAL
PORT, WHICH ONLY HAS ONE DATA LINE
WITHIN.

12. FDC (FLOPPY-DISK CONTROLLER)

FDC IS A SPECIAL-PURPOSE CHIP AND

ASSOCIATED DISK CONTROLLER CIRCUITRY. IT
CONTROLS AND DIRECTS READING FROM AND
WRITING TO A COMPUTER’S FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
(FDD).

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function
13. IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS)
CONTROLLER

THE DEVICES USED FOR CONNECTING IDE,

ETHERNET, FIREWIRE, USB AND OTHER SYSTEMS
CAN BE CALLED HOST ADAPTER. SO, THE IDE
CONTROLLER REFERS TO THE HOST ADAPTER. A
HOST ADAPTER, ALSO CALLED A HOST
CONTROLLER OR A HOST BUS ADAPTER (HBA),
CONNECTS A COMPUTER (ACTING AS THE HOST
SYSTEM) TO OTHER NETWORK AND STORAGE
DEVICES.

14. CMOS (COMPLEMENTARY METAL-OXIDE-

SEMICONDUCTOR) BATTERY

CMOS BATTERY, ALSO CALLED MEMORY

BATTERY, CLOCK BATTERY OR REAL-TIME CLOCK
(RTC), IS GENERALLY A CR2032 LITHIUM COIN
CELL. THE LIFESPAN OF THE CMOS BATTERY IS
ESTIMATED TO BE THREE YEARS WHEN THE
POWER SUPPLY UNIT (PSU) IS UNPLUGGED OR
SWITCH OFF.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function
15. POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR

A POWER SUPPLY PROVIDES THE NECESSARY

ELECTRICAL POWER TO LET THE COMPUTER TO
WORK. IT TAKES STANDARD 110-VOLT AC
(ALTERNATIVE CURRENT) POWER TO DC (DIRECT
CURRENT) POWER OF 12 VOLT, 5 VOLT, 3.3 VOLT,
ETC.

16. MOUSE AND KEYBOARD PORTS

ALL COMPUTERS HAVE A KEYBOARD PORT

CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO THE MOTHERBOARD.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF CONNECTORS. THE
OLDEST ONE IS A SPECIAL DIN (DEUTSCHES
INSTITUT FÜR NORMUNG) CONNECTOR WHILE
THE NEWEST ONE IS THE MINI DIN PS/2-STYLE
CONNECTOR. MANY PCS USE THE PS/2-STYLE
CONNECTORS FOR BOTH KEYBOARD AND
MOUSE; AND THE CONNECTORS ARE MARKED
CLEARLY FOR DIFFERENT USAGE.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function
17. DIP (DUAL IN-LINE PACKAGE) SWITCH

A DIP SWITCH IS A MANUAL ELECTRIC SWITCH

PACKAGED WITH OTHERS IN A STANDARD DUAL
IN-LINE PACKAGE. THE TERM MAY REFER TO AN
INDIVIDUAL SWITCH OR THE WHOLE UNIT. THE
DIP SWITCH IS DESIGNED TO BE USED ON A
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (MOTHERBOARD)
TOGETHER WITH OTHER ELECTRONIC
MOTHERBOARD COMPONENTS. IT IS USUALLY
USED TO CUSTOMIZE THE BEHAVIOR OF AN
ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR SPECIFIC SITUATIONS.

18. JUMPER

A JUMPER IS A SHORT LENGTH OF CONDUCTOR

THAT IS USED TO CLOSE, OPEN OR BYPASS PART
OF AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT. TYPICALLY,
JUMPERS ARE USED TO SET UP OR CONFIGURE
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS LIKE THE
MOTHERBOARD.

 PARTS OF
MOTHERBOARD
and its function
19. HEAT SINK/HEATSINK (COOLING SYSTEM)

A HEAT SINK IS A PASSIVE HEAT EXCHANGER

THAT TRANSFERS THE HEAT GENERATED BY
PARTS OF MOTHERBOARD INTO A FLUID
MEDIUM LIKE LIQUID OR AIR. THE FLUID
MEDIUM WILL DISSIPATE AWAY FROM THE
DEVICE. THUS, THE TEMPERATURE OF THE
DEVICE IS KEPT WITHIN A TOLERABLE RANGE.
ON THE MOTHERBOARD, THE HEATSINK IS
USUALLY USED TO COOL CPU, GPU (GRAPHICS
PROCESSING UNIT), CHIPSETS AND RAM
MODULES.

20. CLOCK GENERATOR

A CLOCK GENERATOR IS AN ELECTRONIC

OSCILLATOR (CIRCUIT) THAT PRODUCES A
CLOCK SIGNAL FOR USAGE IN
SYNCHRONIZING A CIRCUIT’S OPERATION. THE
CLOCK SIGNAL RANGES BETWEEN HIGH AND
LOW FREQUENCIES, THUS CREATING A
METRONOME FOR THE COORDINATION OF
ACTIONS.