CompTIA A+ Complete Deluxe Study Guide Recommended Courseware: Exams 220-801 and 220-802, 2nd Edition

Identifying Components of Motherboards

The spine of the computer is the motherboard, otherwise known as the system board and mainboard. This is the printed circuit board (PCB)—a conductive series of pathways laminated to a nonconductive substrate—that lines the bottom of the computer and is often of a uniform color, such as olive, brown, or blue. It is the most important component in the computer because it connects all the other components together. Figure 1-1 shows a typical PC system board, as seen from above. All other components are attached to this circuit board. On the system board, you will find the central processing unit (CPU), underlying circuitry, expansion slots, video components, random access memory (RAM) slots, and a variety of ...