The ATX form-factor pretty much dictates where components can and will be positioned on the motherboard. As we've seen in many adaptations, there are some components that have their orientation altered, but are more or less in the same place. Of particular note is the single Parallel IDE connector which is now largely a vendor specific add-on since Intel has cut PATA support from the chipsets native list of supported interfaces.

A splash of color on the memory modules does more than just add art-deco to the motherboard, it helps the system builder identify the pairs of slots to install the DRAM modules into to ensure dual-channel operation. The RAM slots are far enough away from the north-bridge heat sink and the CPU socket. The CPU socket clearance is of great concern because we don't want larger coolers blocking RAM slots. 

Pretty much all of the performance boards in today's motherboard market utilize heat pipe cooling. First off, that means that cooling fans on each and every chipset component are a thing of the past. Instead, we get heat ducts which traverse the motherboard in whichever way the vendor can feasibly route them. Generally made of copper, the heatpipes can add a little bling to an otherwise boring landscape.

As usual, the bottom of the motherboard is packed with all of our peripheral connectors.  We've got a printer port, a serial port, the SPD/IF input, a fan header, two USB headers and a Firewire header. Add to all of this six SATA connectors and the bottom-most PCI slot if you wish to use it.