What is motherboard?

A motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers. It is sometimes alternatively known as the main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board. It is also sometimes casually shortened to mobo.

The computer components included in the motherboard are the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive.

 

The motherboard is easily compared to the human body's nervous system. The wires (nerves) on it transfer data between all of the other components. Having a high-quality motherboard (not described in retail computers) is essential to a reliable computer.

 

See: CPU, Memory, Mass Storage Device, Input Device, Output Device, BIOS