Motherboard

The motherboard is the foundational hardware component in most computers, determining the internal layout and facilitating the connection of various components into a functional unit. Its primary purpose is to connect and power the individual parts of the computer. The motherboard consists of printed circuits and is specifically designed to support a particular processor. It includes numerous connectors and slots that either plug directly into the motherboard or are connected by special cables. A typical motherboard supports the connection of a processor and RAM, while other components such as graphics cards, sound cards, hard drives, and optical drives are connected via expansion slots or cables that plug into corresponding connectors. The motherboard also contains non-volatile ROM that stores the BIOS, which initializes the computer on startup. The most important integrated circuits are contained within the chipset, which handles communication between the processor, buses, slots, controllers, and other components on the motherboard. The chipset dictates which processor and RAM are compatible with the motherboard. In some systems, the chipset is divided into two parts: the northbridge and the southbridge. Other key components include the CPU socket, PCIe slots for connecting graphics cards, and RAM slots. The latest SATA III interface, with transfer rates up to 6 Gb/s, is the standard for connecting new hard drives.