Motherboard Diagram Without Labels – To Print, With a Key

All 14 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Top half 6

Rear I/O ports USB, video, network and audio plugs go in here.
CPU socket A load plate, locked by a lever, holds the processor down.
Memory slots The modules are DIMMs. Latches at the ends of a slot hold one in.
24-pin ATX power connector It is the board's main power connector.
ATX 12V power connector It takes a second cable from the power supply.
CPU fan connector Also called the CPU fan header.

Bottom half 8

PCI Express x16 slot PCI Express is written PCIe for short.
PCI Express x1 slot The same kind of slot as the long one, only shorter.
M.2 slot It takes solid-state drives, and on some boards a Wi-Fi card.
Chipset It sets much of what the board can do.
SATA connectors Also called SATA ports. SATA is short for Serial ATA.
CMOS battery It backs up the small memory where the settings are stored.
USB header The boards in the manuals read for this page each have three.
Front panel header Some makers call it the system panel header.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it: Wikipedia, text only, Motherboard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard (CPU socket, memory slots and DIMMs, chipset, PCI Express x16 and x1 slots, M.2 slots, power connectors, SATA connectors, CMOS battery); a board maker's user manual with a table of motherboard components, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5684804 (CPU socket, memory slots, 24-pin ATX power connector, ATX 12V power connector, CPU fan connector, Serial ATA connectors, PCI Express x16 and x1 slots, USB 2.0 headers, front panel header, the I/O ports in the rear panel, battery-backed settings); two manuals from a second and a third maker, https://archive.org/details/manuallib-id-2440851 and https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5920279, counted together as one source because the two companies were once one (ATX 12V power connector, CPU fan connector, USB 2.0 header, system panel header, rear panel ports, chipset); and Maximum PC magazine, read through the full-text search of https://archive.org/details/maximum-pc-almost-complete (CPU socket, memory slots, PCIe x16 slot, PCIe x1 slot, chipset, SATA ports, M.2 slot, CMOS battery as a coin cell, CPU fan header, front-panel header, 24-pin main power connector, rear I/O ports). Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; a generic board, no maker's layout, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A motherboard diagram without labels to print and fill in. Nine lines lead from the small parts to blank space, and five large parts have room for a name on the part itself.

Read the full guide

Nine names at the ends of lines

From the top of the board down: ATX 12V power connector, CPU fan connector, 24-pin ATX power connector, PCI Express x16 slot, SATA connectors, PCI Express x1 slot, CMOS battery, USB header and front panel header. The last two lines end on pin blocks on the bottom edge; the block in the right corner is the front panel header.

Five names written on the part

Rear I/O ports on the blocks down the left edge, CPU socket on the large square, memory slots on the four upright slots, M.2 slot inside the dashed outline and chipset on the ridged block.

A class sheet may print DIMM slots for memory slots, SATA ports for SATA connectors and system panel header for front panel header.
Drawn with no line: the heat sinks beside the CPU socket and the front panel audio header, the pin block at the bottom left.

Questions and answers

What is another name for a motherboard?

Mainboard, system board and logic board all mean the same board, and mobo is the informal short form. Baseboard is also used in technical documents.

Why is it called a motherboard?

The name points to its size and importance beside the boards and parts attached to it: the mother of all boards in the computer. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the word to 1965.

How many slots does a motherboard have?

It depends on the board's size standard. A standard ATX board typically has two or three PCI Express x16 slots, one or two x1 slots and one or more M.2 slots. This drawing has two long slots, two short, one M.2 and four memory slots.

What is a motherboard form factor?

The board's size and shape. Boards are made in a variety of them, and most desktop boards follow the ATX standard. This diagram shows a full-size desktop board in the usual arrangement, copied from no maker's board.

Can I print the motherboard labeled and not labeled?

Yes. The sheet has no names, and its answer key is the same board with all fourteen written in. The key writes some short: Rear ports, Memory, 24-pin power, Battery and Front panel.