motherboard,main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board.

1. The motherboard, also referred to as systemboard or mainboard, is the primary circuit board within a personal computer. Many other components connect directly or indirectly to the motherboard.
2. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board.
3. A motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, while providing connectors for other peripherals.
4. Motherboards usually contain one or more CPUs, supporting circuitry - usually integrated circuits (ICs) - providing the interface between the CPU memory and input/output peripheral circuits, main memory
5. A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane, it also connects the central processing unit and hosts other subsystems and devices.
6. An important component of a motherboard is the microprocessor's supporting chipset, which provides the supporting interfaces between the CPU and the various buses and external components.
7. A standard ATX motherboard will typically have one PCI-E 16x connection for a graphics card, two conventional PCI slots for various expansion cards, and one PCI-E 1x
8. Motherboards are generally air cooled with heat sinks often mounted on larger chips, such as the Northbridge, in modern motherboards.
9. Motherboards are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes called computer form factor, some of which are specific to individual computer manufacturers
10. Motherboards use electrolytic capacitors to filter the DC power distributed around the board. These capacitors age at a temperature-dependent rate, as their water based electrolytes slowly evaporate.