Also called the "system board," it is the main printed circuit board in an electronic device, which contains sockets that accept additional boards. In a desktop computer, the motherboard contains the CPU, chipset, PCI bus slots, AGP slot, memory sockets and controller circuits for the keyboard, mouse, disks and printer. It may also have built-in controllers for modem, sound, display and network, obviating the need to plug in a card. A laptop motherboard typically has all peripheral controllers built in. See CPU, chipset, PCI, AGP and controller.
Motherboard
This is a Baby AT style motherboard for a PC. The adapter cards (expansion boards) plug into the expansion slots on the motherboard.
The Mother of All Motherboards
This is the front and back of the prototype of the first IBM PC motherboard in 1981. The chips are wired together on a "breadboard" designed for making new system boards. (Images courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation. Unauthorized use not permitted.)
Motherboard
This is a Baby AT style motherboard for a PC. The adapter cards (expansion boards) plug into the expansion slots on the motherboard.
The Mother of All Motherboards
This is the front and back of the prototype of the first IBM PC motherboard in 1981. The chips are wired together on a "breadboard" designed for making new system boards. (Images courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation. Unauthorized use not permitted.)
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
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