Motherboards - CompTIA A+ 220-1201 - 3.5

If you were to look around at the different computing platforms that we use, we have our larger desktop computers, but you might also have much smaller computer, perhaps one that you would use in a small office or one that you would use next to your television. Both of these have the same type of

components inside. There's CPU, memory, storage, network connections, and other components that are very similar between these two platforms. But obviously these platforms are very different in their total footprint. The desktop computer is much larger and the computer next to our media center or that we use at work is a much smaller system. Obviously the

motherboard in this much smaller system is not going to be the same form factor. So it is useful to make some differentiations between one type of motherboard and another. Physical size is certainly something to consider when you're looking at different motherboards. We also have to look at the overall layout of the components that are on the motherboard

itself. Larger motherboards tend to have more flexibility and can have a larger number of components than a smaller motherboard. We also have to think about power. Fortunately, most motherboards have a standard power connection, but not all motherboards have exactly the same power connection. We have to think about air flow. All of these systems do

get warm and we need to make sure that whatever cooling system we use is able to keep up with the heat that's being generated by this motherboard. Fortunately, we don't have to memorize or know about every possible motherboard that was ever created. If we look at Wikipedia, there are over 40 different motherboard types. Fortunately, for your