Motherboard

A motherboard, also known as a main board, mainboard, logic board or system board, and sometimes abbreviated as mobo, is the central or primary circuit board making up a complex electronic system, such as a computer.

A typical computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other basic components on the motherboard. Other components of the computer such as external storage, control circuits for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via ribbon cables, other cables, and power connectors.

Full definition of motherboards at Wikipedia

The motherboard is the most easily recognized board in the computer. It's the largest, and everything else either connects to it or plugs into it in some way or another. Not to be confused with PCI, AGP or riser boards, the motherbord actually holds the CPU and is physically screwed into the case.

When building a new PC, the motherboard is the single most important consideration as it will determin the CPU, the type of memory and determin the expandabilty of the system. Shop carefully and get a motherboard that has some of the lesser features (extra USB ports, firewire and Ethernet) build in so you will not need to spend extra money or use valuable PCI slots to gain minimal functionalty that would be built into most boards.

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