16 min read

The Motherboard

The CPU socket, RAM slots, chipset, expansion slots, storage connectors, firmware chip and rear ports.

The Main Circuit Board

Motherboard parts and what they do
Motherboard parts and what they do

Common motherboard sizes

$Size$	$Best for$
$ATX (about 30 \times 24 cm)$	$Towers with many cards and drives; workstations$
$Micro-ATX (about 24 \times 24 cm)$	$Ordinary office desktops — fewer slots, lower cost$
$Mini-ITX (17 \times 17 cm)$	$Small form factor PCs, kiosks and POS units$

When you switch on, the CPU first runs a small program stored on the motherboard's firmware chip . Older computers used BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). Modern computers use UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which starts faster, supports large disks and adds Secure Boot to block unsafe start-up software. Windows 11 needs UEFI with Secure Boot capability and a TPM 2.0 security chip. You will follow the full start-up process in the Operating Systems course.

Practice

What is stored on the motherboard's firmware chip?

The Main Circuit Board

Motherboard parts and what they do
Motherboard parts and what they do

Size

Best for

ATX (about 30 \times 24 cm)

Towers with many cards and drives; workstations

Micro-ATX (about 24 \times 24 cm)

Ordinary office desktops — fewer slots, lower cost

Mini-ITX (17 \times 17 cm)

Small form factor PCs, kiosks and POS units

Firmware: BIOS and UEFI

When you switch on, the CPU first runs a small program stored on the motherboard's firmware chip . Older computers used BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). Modern computers use UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which starts faster, supports large disks and adds Secure Boot to block unsafe start-up software. Windows 11 needs UEFI with Secure Boot capability and a TPM 2.0 security chip. You will follow the full start-up process in the Operating Systems course.

Practice

What is stored on the motherboard's firmware chip?