This motherboard has a lot of connections on the back of it. Aside from the PS/2, serial, parallel ports which are common to most motherboards there is also onboard video, 7.1 audio, gigabit NIC, 10/100 NIC, and four USB 2.0. Onboard video is nice for lower end systems which will save some people money on buying a separate video card. The socket is one of the biggest changes that comes with the new LGA775 standard. There are now shorter capacitors around the socket and four holes for mounting the heatsink.