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A typical computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other basic components on the motherboard. Other components of the computer such as external storage, control circuits for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via connectors or cables of some sort.

There is more information about IBM-compatible personal computers in PC motherboard.

1 Mainboards

All electrical devices have a board where logical processing begins when the device is powered on. In general, this would be identified as the mainboard. Usually, only devices where substantial, varied, and complex calculations occur have their mainboards referred to as motherboards. Computers, game consoles, and PDAs will usually be associated with the term motherboard, while TVs, home theater receivers, and home appliances normally will not.

2 Components of computer motherboards

2.1 Universal

All motherboards have either these core components or some alternative for providing their functionality.

• CPU socket (designed to hold a CPU)
• RAM slots
• Northbridge
• Southbridge

2.2 Expansion slots

The number and type of expansion slots are determined by the motherboard manufacturer subject to limitations of the core logic chipset . Common slot types include:

• ISA
• PCI
• AGP
• PCI-ExpressPCI-Express (formerly known as 3GIO for 3rd Generation I/O is a new implementation of the PCI computer bus that uses existing PCI programming concepts and communications standards, but bases it on a much faster serial communications system. It is being su

2.3 Optional peripheral interfaces

These components are entirely optional, although market economics has made some of them ubiquitous in modern computers.

• IDEAdvanced Technology Attachment ATA , is a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives inside personal computers. Many terms and synonyms for ATA exist, including abbreviations such as IDE ATAPI and UDMA . controller
• Serial ATAIn computer hardware Serial ATA (also SATA or S-ATA is a computer bus primarily designed for transfer of data to and from a hard disk. It is the successor to the legacy Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA a. IDE) standard, now known as Parallel ATA''. controller
• USB portsNote: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. Universal Serial Bus USB provides a serial bus standard for connecting devices, usually to a computer, but it also is in use on other devices such as set-top boxes, game consoles and PDAs. Overview A USB sy
• FireWireFireWire or iLink ( IEEE designation 1394 is a personal computer and digital video serial bus interface standard offering high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data services, developed primarily by Apple Computer, completing development in 1 ports
• BluetoothThis article is about the Bluetooth wireless specification. For King Harold Bluetooth, see Harold I of Denmark Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs) first developed by Ericsson, later formalized by the Bluetoo
• EthernetEthernet is a packet-based computer networking technology for local area networks (LANs). It defines wiring and signaling for the physical layer, and packet formats and protocols for the media access control (MAC)/ data link layer of the OSI model. Ethern interface
• SCSISCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface , and is a standard interface for transferring data between devices on a computer bus. SCSI is pronounced "scuzzy" when spoken aloud, while occasional attempts to promulgate the more flattering pronunciation