Motherboard Headers

[HockeyDevil07]

I'm thinking about building my first computer and I'm wondering what the point of all the headers on motherboards are for. I see motherboards with many headers and some without. I know there are headers for many different parts but what do they do and should I want a motherboard with more headers, certain headers, or do they not matter. Also on some web pages do they have them listed as connectors or ports? Thanks.

 

[HockeyDevil07]

Also if it could be explained to me some of the different headers and what I can connect to them and what it does for my PC it would help a lot.

 

[TheMajor]

What's headers? Do you mean stuff like DDR, PCI-E, etc?

 

[HockeyDevil07]

I'm talking about things like USB headers, FDD headers, IDE headers, IEEE 1394 headers, RAID headers, SATA 3.0Gb/s headers. Are these what I'm connecting my internal drives and components to?

 

[TheMajor]

Yes, you have to make sure to get a CPU (processor) that fits in the socket the motherboard uses.
You need IDE (ATA or PATA) hard disks to connect to a motherboard with IDE controller, or SATA hard disks to connect to the SATA connection on a motherboard. Most motherboards come with both so you can choose wich hard disk type to buy, preferably SATA.

IEEE 1394 = FireWire. You can connect things like camera's or external hard disks. Same with USB. USB is more widely used.
FDD is a connection for a floppy disk drive.

 

[HockeyDevil07]

thanks a lot, now i look forward to other parts of my new computer!

 

[TheMajor]

What are you going to use the computer for? Gaming? Office?

What's your budget? There's plenty of people on here with knowledge about the most recent parts.