Especially since all of these peripherals are COMPLETELY modular for desktop form factors, since you could theoretically buy motherboards without these optional

Especially since all of these peripherals are COMPLETELY modular for desktop form factors, since you could theoretically buy motherboards without these optional hardware features, and purchase them as completely separate devices, implying that they are assuredly unpluggable, and therefore, without question "switch-off-able" in very real terms. So, yeah, why all the solder and "chip" modifications?