Components Layout

( Asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard shown below)

A. PCI Slot - This board has 2 PCI slots. These can be used for components such as

Ethernet cards, sound cards, and modems'

B. PCI-E I6x Stot- There are2 of them on this motherboard diagram, both are blue.
These are used for your graphics card. With two of them onboard, you can run 2
graphics cards in SLI. You would only need this if you are a gamer, or working
with high end video / graphics editing. These are the 16x speed versions, which are
currently the fastest.

C. 4CI-E lx Slot - There are 3 of these smaller PCI-E slots, and they are the slower lx
speed. These can be used for expansion cards such as Sound Cards, or Ethemet
Cards.

D. Northbridge - This is the Northbridge for this motherboard. This allows
communicaiion between the CPU and the system memory and PCI-E slots.

E. ATX 12V 2X and 4 Pin Power Connection Power Connection - This is one of two
power connections that supply power to the motherboard. This connection will
come from your Power Supply'

F. CPU-Fan Connection - This is where your CPU fan will connect. Using this
connection over one from your power supply will allow the motherboard to control
the speed of your fan, based on the CPU temperature'

G. Socket - This is where your CPU will plug in. The orange bracket that is
surrounding it is used for high end heat sinks. It helps to support the weight of the
heat sink.

H. Memory Slots - These are the slots for your RAM. Most boards will have 4 slots,
but some will only have 2. The color coding you see on the motherboard diagram is
used to match up RAM for Dual-Channel. Using them this way will give your
memory a speed boost.

I. ATX Power Connector - This is the second of two power connections. This is the
main power connection for the motherboard, and comes from the Power Supply.

J. FDD Connection - The FDD is the Floppy Disk controller. If you have a floppy
disk drive in your computer, this is where you will hook it up.

K. Southbridge - This is the controller for components such as the PCI slots, onboard
audio, and USB connections.

L. SATA Connections - These are 4 of the 6 SATA connections on the motherboard.
These will be used for hard drives, and CD / DVD drives.

M. Front Panel Connections - this is where you will hook in the connections from
your case. These are mostly the different lights on your case, such as power on
hard drive activity etc.

N. IDE Connection - The IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) is the connection for
your hard drive or CD / DVD drive. Most drives today come with SATA
connections, so you may not use this.

O. External USB Connections - This is where you will plug in external USB connections for your case or USB bracket

P. CMOS battery - This is the motherboards battery. This is to allow the CMOS to keep its settings.

Full Computer lessons>>>