HOW TO IDENTIFY A MOTHERBOARD

When examining a motherboard, look for the following clues to properly identify the board:
1) Look for the CPU chip (i.e., 8088, 80286, 80386, etc.). This is the biggest single clue.
2) Look at the bus connectors: if there are only 8-bit connectors, it is an XT-class (8088 based) motherboard. If there are
8-bit and 16-bit bus connectors, it is an AT-class motherboard
(at least an 80286-based motherboard). If there are lightbrown
colored bus connectors that look sort of like 16-bit connectors, it's probably an EISA bus motherboard (with an
80386DX or higher CPU).
If there is a small brown connector at the end of a 16-bit bus connector, that would be a VESA Local-bus (32-bit)
connector. If there is a small white bus connector on the board, that would be a PCI (32/64-bit) local bus connector.

These are found on 80486 and Pentium-class motherboards.
3) Also look for signs of conservative design; is the power supply connector standard, is the keyboard plug standard, etc.
Non-standard motherboards have options like video cards or drive controllers built into the motherboard, or have nonstandard
connectors. This will be an issue for upgrading the PC.
4) Look for proprietary connections to the motherboard, like a special 32-bit memory card that only Everex '386 computers
use that provides room for more memory on the motherboard. Many manufacturers use proprietary devices on their
motherboards that won't work on motherboards built by other computer