Motherboards

The motherboard is the computer backbone providing electrical connections and allowing communication through all components of the computer. The motherboard houses the central processing unit, or CPU. All electrical devices present on a computer system, including peripheral devices, are routed through the motherboard. The word ?motherboard? usually implies a computer motherboard, but these boards are also present in cell phones, stopwatches, and many other electronic devices. The components of computer motherboards are: 1. a clock generator 2. power connectors 3. input device connectors and expansion slots 4. CPU slots 5. main memory slots 6. Chipset interface 7. non-volatile memory chips

The computer microprocessor is housed on the motherboard. Sometimes the motherboard contains more than one processor. The CPU is the area of the computer where programs are executed. The CPU is sometimes referred to as the brain of the computer.

Motherboards contain the sockets for the system?s main memory, usually comprised of dual inline memory modules. These are also called DIMM modules. They contain dynamic random access memory chips. These are also known as DRAM chips.

Motherboards contain chipsets, which are a group of integrated circuits creating an interface between the main memory and peripheral buses. The chipset is normally referred to in two parts the Northbridge and the Southbridge. Northbridge links high-speed devices, such as graphics controllers. The Southbridge connects to lower-speed peripheral buses such as printers and other hardware devices. The strength of a motherboard is in the Northbridge and Southbridge chipset it contains.

Motherboards contain non-volatile memory chips, such as the basic input/output system (BIOS). The BIOS is a type of firmware that is run by the computer when it is booted. The BIOS identifies, tests, and initializes system devices to make sure they are present and working properly.

The clock generator is also present on the motherboard. This generator synchronizes the computer by making a signal. The clock generator can control the speed of the CPU and RAM; computer gurus often modify it.

Motherboards usually contain expansion slots, or sockets. These are areas where computer owners can add expansion cards to increase the functionality of the computer system. These expansion slots can be used for adding things like graphic cards, sound cards or input/output devices.

Motherboards contain components known as power connector flickers. These flickers take power from the main supply and dispense power throughout the computer. These flickers provide power to the CPU, chipsets, main memory, and expansion cards.

Like any electrical device, a motherboard can malfunction. A few signs that your computer motherboard has stopped functioning properly include: 1. a locked up computer 2. a computer that makes one long beep followed by 3 short beeps 3. the system clock displaying the wrong time 4. error messages with reference to DMA, CMOS battery, or RAM failure 5. a computer completely failing to boot up, but the power light is on

Craig Stephenson is an expert in laptop technology. If you would like more information about motherboards or are looking for cheap motherboards please visit http://www.ebuyer.com

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