CPU Sockets

A CPU socket or slot is an electrical component that attaches to a printed circuit board (PCB) and is designed to house a CPU (also called a microprocessor). It is a special type of integrated circuit socket designed for very high pin counts. A CPU socket provides many functions, including a physical structure to support the CPU, support for a heat sink, facilitating replacement (as well as reducing cost), and most importantly, forming an electrical interface both with the CPU and the PCB. CPU sockets can most often be found in most desktop and server computers (laptops typically use surface mount CPUs), particularly those based on the Intel x86 architecture  on the motherboard. A CPU socket type and motherboard chipset must support the CPU series and speed. Generally, with a newer AMD microprocessor, you need only select a motherboard that supports the CPU and not be concerned with the chipset.

Integrated peripherals
With the steadily declining costs and size of integrated circuits, it is now possible to include support for many peripherals on the motherboard. By combining many functions on one PCB, the physical size and total cost of the system may be reduced; highly integrated motherboards are thus especially popular in small form factor and budget computers.

For example, the ECS RS485M-M, a typical modern budget motherboard for computers based on AMD processors, has on-board support for a very large range of peripherals:
(1) disk controllers for a floppy disk drive, up to 2 PATA drives, and up to 6 SATA drives (including RAID 0/1 support)
(2) integrated ATI Radeon graphics controller supporting 2D and 3D graphics, with VGA and TV output
(3) integrated sound card supporting 8-channel (7.1) audio and S/PDIF output
(4) Fast Ethernet network controller for 10/100 Mbit networking
(5) USB 2.0 controller supporting up to 12 USB ports
(6) IrDA controller for infrared data communication (e.g. with an IrDA-enabled cellular phone or printer)
(7) temperature, voltage, and fan-speed sensors that allow software to monitor the health of computer components

Expansion cards to support all of these functions would have cost hundreds of dollars even a decade ago; however, as of April 2007 such highly integrated motherboards are available for as little as $30 in the USA.