PARTS AND

FUNCTIONS OF
MOTHERBOARD

VEE JAY S. BLANCIA, LPT, ECT

 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the Lesson the student
must be able to:
1.identify different parts of
motherboard,
2.identify the location of internal parts
into the motherboard, and
3.examine the motherboard in detail
and its components.
1. I/O ports
- this is located in the rear panel of the CPU. This use to
connect the outside hardware or peripherals of the
computer.
• PS/2 ports- these are used to connect the mouse(green
color)and the keyboard(purple color)
• DB 25 female connector(printer port)-this is use to connect
the impact printer, one of that the DOT MATRIX printer, ex.
the Epson LX 300 +
• DB 9 male connector (Serial or com1 port)-this use to
connect a serial device of the computer, such as the serial
mouse and external modem.
• VGA port(built-in)- this is use to interface the DB cord of
the monitor screen or to connect the monitor screen of the
computer. The fastest video card versions are based on the
standard of the VGA slots, ex: the AGP and PCIe card.
• USB 2.0 × 2 ports- these are the ports of the USB devices of
the computer. Attached externally of the system unit, one
of that is the USB flash drive. As of now the versions or
speed of the USB are the 1.0 and 2.0 compatible.
• LAN port- this called as Local Area Network of the
computer. This is use to connect the numbers of node or
workstations (PC) to form a local area network of the
computer with in their area. Using the type of
communication media such as the network switch and
router.
• Audio Port- this is use to connect the speaker, mic, and
MIDI(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) device of the
computer
2. ATX Power connector (4 pin)
- this is use to connect the 4 pin of the power supply unit (PSU)
.This is separate of the 20 or 24 pin of ATX power supply to
provide DC voltage of computer processor.

3. Processor’s ZIF Socket

- part of MOBO use to hold the processor or CPU chip (Zero
Insertion Force).The compatibility of the socket depend of the
computer processor type. Such as the AM2 socket of the
AMD and the socket 775 of the Intel company.

4. Memory slot (DIMM)

- this is called as Dual Inline Memory Module, this is the slot of
computer memory or what we called RAM. The memory slot
depend of the type of the memory. Such as the PC 133
SDRAM and PC 400 SDRAM-DDR 1.
5. ATX Power connector (24 or 28 pin)
- a group of connector of the MOBO, This is separate of the 4
pin power assignments. Its provide a DC power output to the
system board(SB)from the output of the Power Supply Unit.

6. Name of the Vendor

- this is the manufacturer name. This is important to know the
manufacturer or vendor. So you can download through the
internet site the drivers software of the MOBO.

7. CMOS/BIOS BATTERY
- In this part, the CMOS/BIOS battery is hold, So that it can
provide 3 volts direct current/voltage to the CMOS IC. To
preserve the BIOS settings of the computer. Such as the time
module, hardware information and settings/parameter, etc.
 – CMOS-Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
– BIOS- Basic Input/Output System. Is a set of a program
stored in CMOS IC, use to preserved the BIOS
configuration of the computer
– CMOS BATTERY PART NUMBER- lithium dry cell CR 2032 3
volts

8. IDE connector (Integrated Drive Electronics)

- this connector is use to connect the IDE cable of the
HDD(Hard Disk Drive) or CD/DVD ROM to the Motherboard
IDE.

9. Front panel connectors (F-Panel)

- this is use to connect the Power LED, HDD LED, Power Switch
and Reset switch of the computer system unit(CPU).
10. SATA connector
-this is Serial Advance Technology Attachment. The new
standard of the IDE connection array of the computer
HDD(SATA HDD)to the motherboard system.

11. CMOS/BIOS jumper

-this is use to disable the BIOS default setup. Such as to
disabled the supervisor password of the BIOS.

12. USB connector (header)

-this is use to connect the USB port of the front panel USB 2.0
x 2 port.
13. FDD connector
- the connector of the FDD cable through the system board.
Normally there are 34 pins out of it to connect the 3.5”
1.44mb Floppy Disk Drive.

14. PCI slots

- a part of the computer motherboard use to connect the I/O
cards of the computer. Such as LAN card, WIFI card, USB
expansion card and Sound card.

15. Motherboard Version number

- here you can get the version of the motherboard driver
software. So that you can download it exactly to the
manufacturer website.
16. CMOS/BIOS IC
- this is the type of BIOS IC being use by the computer MOBO.A
set of a program being installed in this IC to preserved the
BIOS configuration settings of the computer. Such as the
speed of the CPU chip and RAM, etc.

17. AMR slot

- this is the AUDIO Modem Riser. Being use to demodulate and
modulate the analog audio of the computer.

18. PCI express slot

- a part of the computer that hold the computer video
card(VGA), the PCIe card. The latest and the most fastest card
being installed and most compatible with 3d and 4g gaming of
the computer. The old video card type is the AGP or
Accelerated Graphic Ports and the standard of the PCIe.
19. North Bridge IC
- is a passion name as being north of the PCI buses or the PCI
slots of the MOBO. The true name of the north bridge is MCI
or Memory Controller Hub. Assigned to manage and control
the computer memory before the processing of the CPU chip.

20. South Bridge IC

-is a passion name as being south of the PCI buses or PCI slots.
The true name of the south bridge is I/O Controller HUB(ICH).
Its is a type of microchip task to control all the Input and output
devices of the computer. Such as the keyboard and mouse. And
the monitor screen of the computer, that commonly found at
the rear back of the CPU or system unit.
Interactive Motherboard Explorer
ACTIVITY I
ACTIVITY II
 Process Question
1. As CSS student, how does understanding
of components of motherboard helpful in
your field?
RUBRICS
 Assignment
• Research about the different types of
motherboard.