Motherboard, Motherboard Contents and Its Functions

Motherboard is a also one of the important parts of the CPU. It is a Main Circuit board. Motherboard connects all the parts of CPU. Motherboard Consist of Processor Socket, RAM slots, PCI slots, AGP slot, IDE connectors and Ports.

Mecury 845 Chipset Motherboard

Every motherboard has connectors and slots to connect all the remaining parts of CPU. here the list of all the slot and connector of motherboard. CPU Socket North Bridge South Bridge RAM Slots AGP Slot PCI Slots CNR Slot Floppy Connector Primary and Secondary IDE Connectors SATA connectors Power Connector BIOS CMOS battery Ports

CPU Socket:
CPU Socket or Processor Socket. Which is used to install or insert the processor. we have two types of sockets. LIF sockets and ZIF socket. LIF stands for Low Insertion Force, this is the old model sockets and ZIF stands for Zero Insertion Force, this is the present model sockets.

LIF socket or slot type processor socket

ZIF socket or PGA sockets

North Bridge:
North Bridge is always near the processor socket. which is one of the important component of a motherboard. It is a focal Point of Motherboard and It is also called as Memory Controller Hub. North Bridge interconnects Processor socket, RAM slots and AGP slot. here Gigabyte chip is north bridge it is near Processor socket.

South Bridge:
North bridge and south bridge are the two main poles of a motherboard. South Bridge interconnects Primary and Secondary IDE interfaces, SATA connectors, Floppy Drive Connector, PCI slots and BIOS.

RAM Slots:
RAM slots are used to insert RAMs. there are so many types of ram slots. they are SD ram slots, DDR ram slots, DDR2 and DDR3 ram slots. SD stands for synchronize Dynamic and DDR Stands for Double Data Rate.

AGP slot:
AGP slots are used to insert or install AGP Cards. AGP full form is Accelerated Graphics Port. This slot is for graphics and 3d gaming purpose. it is always beside the PCI slots

PCI slots:
PCI slots are used to Insert or install Add-on cards, such as LAN cards, Sound cards, Capture cards and TV tuner cards. PCI full form is Peripheral Component Interconnect.

Floppy Drive Connector:

Floppy Drive Connector is used to connect floppy drives. It supports two floppy drives. so that A and B drives are reserved for two floppy drives in My computer. it has 32 pins.

Primary and Secondary IDE Interfaces:

Primary and Secondary IDE interfaces are also called as IDE connectors or PATA connectors. IDE full form is Integrated Device Electronics. it supports IDE devices, such as Hard disks and CD and DVD drives.

SATA Connectors:
SATA connectors are also called as Serial ATA connectors. SATA full form is Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. These are connect with serial ATA devices, such as Hard disk drives and CD or DVD drives.

Power Connector:
This power connector is ATX power connector. it has 20 or 24 pin connector. mother takes the power from this connector to work.

BIOS:

BIOS stands for Basic input and Output system. This is also one of the important chips. it conducts the POST (Power On Self Test).

CMOS battery:
There is a battery in the motherboard, which is used to power the south bridge and the BIOS to save the setting, data and time.

Ports:
Ports are used to connect input and output devices. they are attached and come with motherboard and they are in backside of CPU.

Types
Serial ports: Data is transferred one bit at a time. Very good for long distance.

Mouse, keyboard and video uses serial ports. Parallel ports:

To connect external devices that sends lot of data over a short distance. Sends 8 bit data simultaneously over 8 pins. Mostly used in printers. Ethernet ports:

Also called as RJ45 ports. Most computer and laptop includes one built-in Ethernet port for connecting to a wired Local Area Network (LAN). Data rate speed varies from 10 MBPS - 1000 MBPS depending upon the type of port used like 10BaseT - 10 MBPS, 100BaseT - 100 MBPS and Giga Ethernet - 1000 MBPS. USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports:

Consists of 4 pins : Pin 1 - Vcc(+5V) Pin 2,3 - Data Pin 4 - Ground Supports plug-and-play and hot plugging. Max speed USB 1.0 - 12 MBPS USB 2.0 - 60 MBPS USB 3.0 - 4.8 GBPS

SMPS
Stands for Switch Mode Power Supply Supplies power supply to every single part of the computer system. Main function is to convert 230 Volts AC into 3.3V, 5V, 12V DC power. Also ensures that system doesn't run unless the power supply is enough to operate the system properly.

Uses
To convert analog current to direct current using rectifiers and vice-versa using invertors. Similarly AC-AC using frequency changer and DC-DC using convertors. To step up or step down unregulated dc input voltage to produce regulated dc output voltage. To inverting and producing multiple dc output voltage for required parts using various converter. Protection from short circuit and over load.