Connectors of the motherboard of

your PC – Types and

characteristics

 Robert Sole  Follow on TwitterSend an email15 April 2020

1 33.473 10 reading minutes

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Motherboards have a large number of different connectors with a certain shape. These
types of ports and connectors are intended for power supply, installation of basic hardware,
and expansion devices. And it is that a computer in the end is a set of elements that are
connected to a controller board or motherboard and that are managed (mostly) by the
processor.

So that you can easily distinguish them when you mount a computer, we have cataloged
and explained them a bit. All the ports and connectors of the motherboard, both internal
and external, give a lot to talk about them, that's why we give touches of them. Each of the
PC ports located on the motherboard has an image that allows it to be easily distinguished.

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Table of Contents

 Internal motherboard
o socket
o EPS + 12V
o DIMM socket / RAM slot
o ATX 24 Pins
o PCI Express (PCIe) connectors
o 3-pin and 4-pin fan connectors (PWM)
o SATA connectors
o U.2
o M.2 connectors
o USB connectors
o Audio
 o RGB
o Thunderbolt
o RGB
 External motherboard
o USB connectors
o RJ45
o Thunderbolt
o HDMI
o DisplayPort
o DVI
o Audio jacks
o USB Type-C
o S / PDIF
o SMA connectors
o VGA
o COM port
o Parallel port
o Game Port or Game Port
o FireWire (IEE 1394)

Internal motherboard
socket
EPS + 12V
Power
connec
tor for
the
proces
sor.
This
connec
tor is
charact
erized
by
having
4 pins
or 8
pins,
which
send
the
voltag
e to
the
VRM
phases
, from
where
they
are
distrib
uted to
the
proces
sor.

High-
end
mother
boards
are
design
ed for
powerf
ul
proces
sors or
for
overcl
DIMM socket / RAM slot
ATX 24 Pins
This
conne
ctor is
intend
ed to
power
the
mothe
rboard
.
Moder
n
mothe
rboard
s are
based
on the
20 +
4-pin
conne
ction,
it is
rare to
see
mothe
rboard
s with
the
20-pin
ATX
conne
ctor.

It is
used
for
chipse
t
power
,
intern
al
conne
ctivity
, and
extern
al
PCI Express (PCIe) connectors
3-pin and 4-pin fan connectors (PWM)
Specia
l
conne
ctions
for
fans
built
into
the
mothe
rboard
.
Moder
n
mothe
rboard
s
usuall
y
imple
ment
the 4-
pin
PWM
conne
ctor
that
allows
to
regula
te the
speed
of the
fan.
The 3-
pin
conne
ctor
makes
the
fan
run at
rated
speed
consta
ntly.
SATA connectors
U.2
Hybri
d port
betwe
en
SAT
A and
M.2
that
has
never
been
very
succe
ssful.
It was
devel
oped
as an
impro
veme
nt to
the
SAT
A
port,
but
with
the
arriva
l of
the
M.2 it
has
fallen
into
disuse
. Note
that
most
manuf
acture
rs of
mothe
rboar
ds and
hard
drive
M.2 connectors
USB connectors

Special
connection
PC
connectors
that are
usually
found in
the lower
part of the
motherboar
d. This type
of port is
designed
for the
USB ports
that we
usually find
on the front
of
computer
towers.

Motherboar
ds usually
have two of
these
connectors.
Modern
motherboar
ds offer
support for
the USB
3.0
standard or
higher.
Audio
RGB
Mode
rn
mothe
rboar
ds
usuall
y
imple
ment
in the
same
RGB
type
lighti
ng.
Norm
ally
mothe
rboar
ds
that
have
this
type
of
lighti
ng
have
a
specia
l
conne
ctor
to
conne
ct
additi
onal
RGB
strips.

This
conne
ctor
offers
Thunderbolt
RGB
Evolut
ion of
RGB
lightin
g. The
ARGB
(Adres
sable
RGB)
is a
lightin
g
system
that
allows
each
led to
be
control
led
indepe
ndentl
y.

Its
connec
tion
port is
differe
nt
from
RGB,
althou
gh the
purpos
e is the
same.
It
External motherboard
USB connectors
RJ45
Comm
unicati
on
interfa
ce for
compu
ter
networ
ks and
interne
t
connec
tion. It
is
charact
erized
by
having
eight
electric
al
connec
tions
that
are
used as
ends of
twisted
pair
cables
(UTP)

All
mother
boards
have
Thunderbolt
HDMI
Video
PC
conne
ctor
devel
oped
specif
ically
for
video
outpu
t.
This
conne
ctor
usuall
y
appea
rs in a
large
numb
er of
moth
erboa
rds to
take
advan
tage
of the
integr
ated
graph
ics in
the
proce
ssor
that
integr
ates
it.

The
last u
pdate
is
HDM
I
DisplayPort
DVI
Norm
ally,
moth
erboa
rds
inten
ded
for
mid-
range
and
entry-
level
gami
ng
usuall
y
integr
ate
this
video
conne
ctor.
It is
imple
mente
d to
take
advan
tage
of the
integr
ated
graph
ics in
the
proce
ssor,
as
long
as the
proce
ssor
integr
ates
graph
ics.
Audio jacks
USB Type-C
Dual
rotati
on
symm
etric
PC
conne
ctors,
also
know
n as
revers
ible
USB
conne
ctor.
This
conne
ctor
can
offer
suppo
rt for
Displ
ayPor
t,
HDM
I and
DVI
video
interf
aces,
depen
ding
on the
type
of
conne
ctor.

This
type
of
conne
ctor
also
allow
S / PDIF
SMA connectors
These
PC
conne
ctors
are
used
for
the
conne
ction
of
WiFi
anten
nas on
high-
end
mothe
rboar
ds. It
is
used
as a
screw
type
coupli
ng
syste
m that
offers
great
hold
and
securi
ty.
The
conne
ctor
offers
an
imped
ance
of 50
ohms
and is
especi
ally
suitab
VGA
COM port
It is
comm
only
know
n as a
serial
port
and
this
port is
no
longer
used
or
usuall
y
imple
mente
d on
mothe
rboar
ds.
This
port
was
replac
ed by
the
USB
port,
which
offere
d
better
transf
er
rates
and
Parallel port
Game Port or Game Port
This
PC
conn
ector
was
intro
duce
d to
IBM
PC-
comp
atible
comp
uter
syste
ms
durin
g the
1980
s and
1990
s. It
was
used
tradit
ional
ly for
joysti
ck
conn
ectio
n and
occas
ional
ly for
MID
I
devic
es.
Initia
lly it
was
on a
dedic
ated
expa
nsion
FireWire (IEE 1394)
Connector

Function

Voltage(s)

Wattage

24-pin (20+4 pin) ATX main power

Supplies power to the motherboard

+3.3V, +5V, and +12V

300W

4-pin ATX 12V power

Supplies power to the low-powered CPU

+12V

120W

8-pin (4+4 pin) EPS12V

Supplies Extra Power to the CPU

+12V

336W

8-pin (6+2 pin) PCIe power

Supplies power to graphics cards

+12V

150W

SATA power connector

Supplies power to SATA drives

+5V, +12V

54W

Molex power connector

Supplies power to older IDE drives

+5V, +12V

132W