Motherboards

foundation that holds computer together allows us to expand functionality by adding expansion cards, routes power supply and allows components to communicate with each other

Every mother board has a few key characteristics:

• Chipset - decides how components talk to each other
  • Northbridge - interconnects RAM and video cards
  • Southbridge - maintains input/output (IO) controllers
• Expansion slots - give us the ability to increase functionality of our computer
  • Peripheral Component Interconnect Express or PCI Express (PCIe)
• Form Factor - determines amount we can put in and the amount of space we’ll have
  • Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) - most common form factor
  • Information Technology Extended (ITX) - much smaller than ATX
    • Mini ITX
    • Nano ITX
    • Pico ITX

Peripherals - external devices we connect to computer

• mouse
• keyboard
• monitor