K13-03-04 DIGITAL TEHNIQUES / ELECTRONICS INTRUMENT SYSTEM .

NAMA :
NDP :
LE 2 : RECOGNIZE THE BASIC COMPUTER STRUCTURE

MOTHERBOARD
The motherboard is a sheet of plastic that holds all the circuitry to connect the various
components of a computer system. Learn how the motherboard functions to make all the other
components work together.

Definition
A motherboard is one of the most essential parts of a computer system. It holds together many of
the crucial components of a computer, including the central processing unit (CPU), memory and
connectors for input and output devices. The base of a motherboard consists of a very firm sheet
of non-conductive material, typically some sort of rigid plastic. Thin layers of copper or aluminum
foil, referred to as traces, are printed onto this sheet. These traces are very narrow and form the
circuits between the various components. In addition to circuits, a motherboard contains a
number of sockets and slots to connect the other components.

Parts of a Motherboard

A CPU socket - the actual CPU is directly soldered onto this socket. Since high speed
CPUs generate a lot of heat, there are heat sinks and mounting points for fans right next
to the CPU socket.

A power connector to distribute power to the CPU and other components.

Slots for the system's main memory, typically in the form of DRAM chips.

A chip forms an interface between the CPU, the main memory and other components. On
many types of motherboards this is referred to as the Northbridge. This chip also contains
a large heat sink.

A second chip controls the input and output (I/O) functions. It is not connected directly to
the CPU but to the Northbridge. This I/O controller is referred to as the Southbridge. The
Northbridge and Southbridge combined are referred to as the chipset.

Several connectors, which provide the physical interface between input and output
devices and the motherboard. The Southbridge handles these connections.

Slots for one or more hard drives to store files. The most common types of connections
are Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
(SATA).

A Read-only memory (ROM) chip, which contains the firmware, or startup instructions for
the computer system. This is also called the BIOS.

A slot for a video or graphics card. There are a number of different types of slots,
including Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) and Peripheral Component Interconnect
Express (PCIe).

Additional slots to connect hardware in the form of Peripheral Component Interconnect

(PCI) slots.

PROCESSOR
The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of your computer. It handles all the instructions you
give your computer, and the faster it does this, the better. Learn about how a CPU processes
instructions and how computer engineers are continuously coming up with ways to make it go
faster.

Definitions
The central processing unit (CPU) of a computer is a piece of hardware that carries out the
instructions of a computer program. It performs the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output
operations of a computer system. The CPU is like the brains of the computer - every instruction,
no matter how simple, has to go through the CPU. So let's say you press the letter 'k' on your
keyboard and it appears on the screen - the CPU of your computer is what makes this possible.
The CPU is sometimes also referred to as the central processor unit, or processor for short. So
when you are looking at the specifications of a computer at your local electronics store, it typically
refers to the CPU as the processor.

Components
A typical CPU has a number of components. The first is the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which
performs simple arithmetic and logical operations. Second is the control unit (CU), which
manages the various components of the computer. It reads and interprets instructions from
memory and transforms them into a series of signals to activate other parts of the computer. The
control unit calls upon the arithmetic logic unit to perform the necessary calculations.
Third is the cache, which serves as high-speed memory where instructions can be copied to and
retrieved. Early CPUs consisted of many separate components, but since the 1970s, they have
been constructed as a single integrated unit called a microprocessor. As such, a CPU is a
specific type of microprocessor. The individual components of a CPU have become so integrated
that you can't even recognize them from the outside. This CPU is about two inches by two inches
in size.
CPUs are located on the motherboard. Motherboards have a socket for this, which is specific for
a certain type of processor. A CPU gets very hot and therefore needs its own cooling system in
the form of a heat sink and/or fan.
The ALU is where the calculations occur, but how do these calculations actually get carried out?
To a computer, the world consists of zeros and ones. Inside a processor, we can store zeros and
ones using transistors. These are microscopic switches that control the flow of electricity
depending on whether the switch is on or off. So the transistor contains binary information: a one
if a current passes through and a zero if a current does not pass through.
Transistors are located on a very thin slice of silicon. A single silicon chip can contain thousands
of transistors. A single CPU contains a large number of chips. Combined, these only cover about
a square inch or so. In a modern CPU, however, that square inch can hold several hundred
million transistors - the very latest high-end CPUs have over one billion! Calculations are
performed by signals turning on or off different combinations of transistors. And more transistors

means more calculations. You may be interested to know that the material silicon used in chips is
what gave the Silicon Valley region of California its name.

HARD DRIVE
The hard drive of a computer is a device that stores all the software installed on a computer, as
well as all the data files created and used by this software. This includes any documents you
have created and downloaded, such as photos and music. The hard drive is a form of permanent
storage, rather than temporary memory such as random-access memory (RAM). This means that
when you turn off the computer the files remain safely stored on the drive so you can use them
again the next time you start your computer.
There are two general types of hard drives: hard disk drives (HDD), which use one or more
rotating discs and rely on magnetic storage, and solid-state drives (SDD), which have no
moving mechanical parts, but use flash memory like the kind found in USB flash drives. If you
have a regular desktop computer, you most likely have a hard disk drive. Solid-state drives are
more typical for high-end, expensive laptops.

CD ROM

CD-ROM (Compact Disc, read-only-memory) is an adaptation of the CD

that is designed to store computer data in the form of text and graphics,
as well as hi-fi stereo sound. The original data format standard was
defined by Philips and Sony in the 1983 Yellow Book. Other standards are
used in conjunction with it to define directory and file structures, including
ISO 1660, HFS (Hierarchal File System, for Macintosh computers), and
Hybrid HFS-ISO. Format of the CD-ROM is the same as for audio CDs: a
standard CD is 120 mm (4.75 inches) in diameter and 1.2 mm (0.05
inches) thick and is composed of a polycarbonate plastic substrate
(underlayer - this is the main body of the disc), one or more thin reflective
metal (usually aluminum) layers, and a lacquer coating.
The Yellow Book specifications were so general that there was some fear
in the industry that multiple incompatible and proprietary formats would
be created. In order to prevent such an occurrence, representatives from
industry leaders met at the High Sierra Hotel in Lake Tahoe to collaborate
on a common standard. Nicknamed the High Sierra Format, this version
was later modified to become ISO 9660. Today, CD-ROMs are standardized
and will work in any standard CD-ROM drive. CD-ROM drives can also read
audio compact discs for music, although CD players cannot read CD-ROM
discs.

RAM

Random-access memory (RAM) is a type of computer data storage. A RAM device makes it
possible to access data in random order, which makes it very fast to find a specific piece of
information. Certain other types of storage are not random-access. For example, a hard disk
drive and a CD will read and write data in a predetermined order. The mechanical design of these
devices prescribes that data access is consecutive. This means that the time it takes to find a
specific piece of information can vary greatly depending on where it is located on the disk.
RAM devices are used in computer systems as the main memory. RAM is considered volatile
memory, which means that the stored information is lost when there is no power. So, RAM is
used by the central processing unit (CPU) when a computer is running to store information that
needs to be used very quickly, but it does not store any information permanently.
Present-day RAM devices use integrated circuits to store information. This is a relatively
expensive form of storage and the cost per unit of storage is much higher than for devices like a
hard drive. However, the time to access data is so much faster for RAM that speed outweighs
cost. A computer therefore uses a certain amount of RAM for fast-access, temporary storage of
information and a much larger amount of non-random, permanent mass storage, like a hard disk
drive. For example, a typical computer system may have two to eight GB (gigabytes) of RAM,
while the storage capacity of the hard disk drive can be several hundred GB or even one TB
(terabyte).

POWER SUPPLY

A power supply is an electronic device that supplies electric energy to an electrical load. The
primary function of a power supply is to convert one form of electrical energy to another and, as
a result, power supplies are sometimes referred to as electric power converters. Some power
supplies are discrete, stand-alone devices, whereas others are built into larger devices along
with their loads. Examples of the latter include power supplies found in desktop
computers and consumer electronics devices.
Every power supply must obtain the energy it supplies to its load, as well as any energy it
consumes while performing that task, from an energy source. Depending on its design, a power
supply may obtain energy from various types of energy sources, including electrical energy
transmission systems, energy storage devices such as a batteries and fuel cells,
electromechanical systems such as generatorsand alternators, solar power converters, or
another power supply.
All power supplies have a power input, which receives energy from the energy source, and
a power output that delivers energy to the load. In most power supplies the power input and
output consist of electrical connectors or hardwired circuit connections, though some power
supplies employ wireless energy transfer in lieu of galvanic connections for the power input or
output. Some power supplies have other types of inputs and outputs as well, for functions such
as external monitoring and control.

FLOPPY A-DRIVE

A floppy disk is a magnetic storage medium for computer systems. The floppy disk is composed
of a thin, flexible magnetic disk sealed in a square plastic carrier. In order to read and write data
from a floppy disk, a computer system must have a floppy disk drive (FDD). A floppy disk is also
referred to simply as a floppy. Since the early days of personal computing, floppy disks were
widely used to distribute software, transfer files, and create back-up copies of data. When hard
drives were still very expensive, floppy disks were also used to store the operating system of a
computer.
A number of different types of floppy disks have been developed, the size of the floppy got
smaller, and the storage capacity increased; however, in the 1990s, other media, including hard
disk drives, ZIP drives, optical drives, and USB flash drives, started to replace floppy disks as the
primary storage medium.

Types of Floppy Disks

The first floppy disks that came on the market were 8 inches (200 mm) in diameter. The disk was
protected by a flexible plastic jacket. An 8-inch disk back in the late 1970s could store about 1
MB of data. This was quickly followed by a smaller version of the same design, the 5.25-inch
(133 mm) floppy, which could store about the same amount of information using higher-density
media and recording techniques.
In the early 1980s, the 3.5-inch (90 mm) floppy, or micro floppy, came on the market, and this
type became the dominant storage medium for personal computers for many years. Each of
these floppy disks required a different type of floppy disk drive. These were typically built into the
computer case itself.
Floppy disks were quite vulnerable. The disk medium was very sensitive to dust, moisture, and
heat. The flexible plastic carrier was also not very sturdy. The hard plastic case of the 3.5-inch
floppy presented a substantial improvement in this respect. The most common format of this
floppy became the double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB disk drive.