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motherboard Last modified: Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The main circuit board of a microcomputer. The motherboard contains the connectors for attaching additional boards. Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive. Collectively, all these chips that reside on the motherboard are known as the motherboard's chipset. On most PCs, it is possible to add memory chips directly to the motherboard. You may also be able to upgrade to a faster PC by replacing the CPU chip. To add additional core features, you may need to replace the motherboard entirely. Motherboard is sometimes abbreviated as mobo. See "What You Need to Know About Motherboards" in the Quick Reference section of Webopedia. Also see From AT to BTX: Motherboard Form Factors  in Webopedia's "Did You Know...?" section.

Motherboard Integrated Components Describes several motherboard components, such as sockets, connectors, regulators, capacitors, chips, pins, battery, and jumpers. This page is from "The PC Guide". Parts of the motherboard Describes some of the components on motherboards, such as I/O cables and connectors, floppy drive cables, and ATA/IDE cables. This page is from "The PC Guide". PC motherboard and system device reference Comprehensive motherboard reference, covering all the major motherboard components. Looks at the physical motherboard, chipset, system buses, system cache, system resources, and the system BIOS. Guide to choosing a motherboard This sites hosts an extensive collection of information on motherboards. Geared towards the motherboard purchaser, this site provides introductory information, as well as links to various motherboard product pages and manufacturer home pages. Webopedia's "Did You Know... AMD & Intel Processor Lineups" It never fails. Just after you upgrade your CPU, Intel or AMD announces a new processor, pushing technology to new limits — at least its next processor. Webopedia's Quick Reference Section Use this Webopedia reference section for information on common Internet and computer facts and occurrences. Your PC's Second Most Important Silicon: The Chipset If the CPU is the brain of a personal computer, the motherboard is its nervous system.