Motherboard ID

MOTHERBOARD CONNECTIONS

This is a brief description of the common connectors that you will see on a motherboard.

On-board Cluster
Keyboard connector AT - large 5-pin PS/2 - small Mouse connector Printer plug Sound ports Ethernet (RJ45) USBs And others

Capacitors and BLOWN CAPS

 * The capacitors or caps
 * on the motherboard are able to store small amounts of electrical charge within for use at times when there is a : sudden demand for power from one of the devices.  If they become overloaded, they puff up on top and so can be   :  identified as blown.  The motherboard may continue to function for awhile with a blown cap but it will soon            :  break down, so Freegeek will not build a system if there is a blown cap present.

ZIF socket or processor slot

 * The socket
 * lies flat on the motherboard and the gold pins on the CPU fit down into its holes, with its heat sink and fan on : top.  ZIF stands for Zero Insertion Force, the amount of force that is acceptable when sliding the pins back    :  into their holes.


 * The slot processor
 * stands up sideways on the motherboard in a slot that looks similar to a card slot. The Pentium II and early    :  Pentium III processors are this type, but noone is manufacturing them any more.  It too has a heat sink and fan     :  attached to the side to keep the CPU from overheating.

Drive connectors
IDE SATA (Serial ATA) SCSI Optical drives such as CD and DVD Floppy

Bridges and communication facilitators
Northbridge Southbridge AMR and related type slots

Exercises

What type of keyboard connector does it have?

Does it have both IDE and SATA hard drive connectors?

See how many motherboards you can find that have blown caps.