1. The streets of the computer
Motherboard
The streets of the computer

2. What is it? The motherboard is the main circuit board of the computer
All other components of the computer are connected to the motherboard in some way
The motherboard contains the “streets” on which all the communication between the other parts travels

3. Form Factor Refers the shape and layout of the motherboard
Determines what components your computer can use
Examples AT
Baby AT
ATX
BTX

4. Chipsets Connects the CPU to the motherboard
Determines how fast the CPU can communicate with the rest of the computer
The are two parts the northbridge and southbridge
The other components of a computer talk to the CPU via the chipset
CPU are optimized to work with specific chipsets

5. Buses
Buses are the circuits that connect one computer component to another
Determines how fast components communicate with each other
The front side bus connects the CPU to the northbridge
Other buses
Back side bus
Memory bus
IDE, ATA
AGP
PCI
PCIe

6. Memory RAM – Random Access Memory
Determines how fast a computer can access information
In general, the more RAM the better
Examples
DRAM – Dynamic RAM
SDRAM – Synchronous DRAM
DDR – Dual Data Rate
RDRAM – Rambus DRAM

7. Onboard Accessories
Newer motherboards now come with onboard peripherals eliminating the need to buy extra peripheral cards
These offer convenience at a potential cost of performance
Examples
Sound
Video
Ethernet