Let's start with an older motherboard, an Asus P5WDH Deluxe. Many of them may exist across different motherboard designs, however. In one or two instances, there is some overlap but for the most part, connectors are mentioned only once.
Since no single motherboard contains every type of connectors, I've used photos of four different boards to illustrate key examples. I won't cover server- or workstation-class boards here, just what you might find in a typical midrange or high-end home PC.įor a similar discussion of the ports that you're likely to encounter on the exterior of a PC case, see ' Multiple Ports on Your PC: What Do They Do for You?' In this guide I'll identify some of the most common (and a few uncommon) connectors on motherboards used in most home PCs.
If you've ever opened a PC case and stared inside, or looked at a bare motherboard, you may be taken aback by the number and variety of connectors, pins, and slots that exist on a modern PC motherboard.
