Types of Slots On a Motherboard
The various slots on a motherboard serve a vital purpose for your computer. Each slot allows a number of various components to interface with your computer. Without these slots you would not have the ability to easily upgrade your computer. Some slots must be filled or the computer will not be usable.
RAM slots
The random access memory (RAM) slot on a motherboard is located at the upper right-hand area of the board, when you observe the board as it is mounted in the computer case. These are vertical slots, and there are normally three or four of these. These slots house the RAM sticks that your computer uses to store transient data from the hard drive on its way to the central processing unity (CPU). Your computer will not function without RAM, so you must have at least one stick of RAM filling one slot.
AGP Slot
The accelerated graphics port (AGP) was designed for video cards. The video card is what processes everything that is displayed on your computer monitor. This port is not on every computer's motherboard but is found from time to time. This is a horizontal brown slot normally above all the other horizontal slots on the lower left of the motherboard. It is normal to have only one of these slots, but occasionally there may be two.
PCI slots
The peripheral component interface (PCI) slot is the main motherboard slot that is used to upgrade computers. This slot is a standard interface for nearly any component you wish to add to your computer. The PCI slots are horizontal, light tan slots at the lower left of the motherboard, normally located below the AGP slot (if your motherboard has one).
PCI Express Slots
Newer motherboards normally contain one, two or three PCI express slots. They are basically a souped up PCI slot. They can be a number of different colors (usually a yellow color). The PCI express slots are horizontal slots normally located above the regular PCI slots. A computer will usually contain the PCI express slot or an AGP slot. The newer your computer is, the more likely it is to contain a PCI express slot. These slots are capable of running at a much faster rate then normal PCI slots. Therefore, PCI express slots are usually used primarily for video cards.
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