Motherboard

Alternatively referred to as the mb, mainboard, mobo, mobd, backplane board, base board, planar board, system board, or logic board on Apple computers. The motherboard is a printed circuit that is the foundation of a computer and allows the CPU, RAM, and all other computer hardware components to function with each other. Below is a graphic illustration of the ASUS P5AD2-E motherboard and some basic explanations of each of the major portions of the motherboard. Clicking on the below image will give you a larger more detailed version of the below picture.

Motherboard components

Below is a listing of links that describe each of the above mentioned motherboard components in additional detail. Links are listed in clockwise order going from the top-left corner of the image. Components not listed above or found on other motherboards are listed in the next section.