Lesson 1 – Basic Concepts of a PC

Lesson Overview

This lesson provides trainees with an overview of structural and functional aspects of different
hardware components of a PC such as processors, hard drives, motherboards and RAM. It also
covers various peripheral components attached to a PC such as monitor, printer, scanners etc.

Lesson Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the trainee will be able to:

 To recognize PC components and understand their function in the system.

 To define and identify terms related to personal computer systems.
 To define and identify concepts and practices related to the operation and maintenance of
a personal computer system.
 Computer Parts
●
Core Components ●
Peripherals
– Motherboard – Keyboard
– Power Supply – Mouse
– Casing – Monitor
– Memory ●
Secondary Components – Speaker
– Hard Disk – Video Card – Printers
– Floppy Drive – Scanners
– CD/DVD ROM Drive
– Sound Card
– Modem
– LAN Card
Personal
Computer

A PC is a general-purpose information processing device. It can take

information from a person (through the keyboard and mouse), from a
device (like a floppy disk or CD) or from the network (through a modem
or a network card) and process it. Once processed, the information is
shown to the user (on the monitor), stored on a device (like a hard disk)
or sent somewhere else on the network (back through the modem or
network card).
 Outside The Computer
Monitor
System Unit

Speaker

Microphone

Keyboard
Mouse
Inside The Computer
 The Motherboard
This is the main circuit board that all of the other internal
components connect to.
The Motherboard
 CPU Interface

Socket 754 - for AMD Sempron and some AMD Athlon processors
●
 CPU Interface

●
Socket 939 - for newer and faster AMD Athlon processors
 CPU Interface

Socket LGA755 – Pentium 4 processors

●
 Chipset
●
The chipset is the "glue" that connects the
microprocessor to the rest of the motherboard
and therefore to the rest of the computer. On a
PC, it consists of two basic parts -- the
northbridge and the southbridge. All of the
various components of the computer
communicate with the CPU through the chipset.
Chipset
Chipset
 IDE or SATA Interface
●
IDE - older PCs have the two IDE interface which
are parallel 44 pin connectors but as the
motherboard cannot access two devices connected
on the same IDE port simultaneously, this has
caused a drawback in speed of hard drives and
DVD-drives.
●
Serial ATA (SATA) interface has 4 separate slots
that allow independent access and thus increases
the speed of which hard drives work.
IDE or SATA Interface
 Expansion Slot Interfaces
●
AGP - for graphics cards (ranging from AGP
1x, 2x, 4x and 8x)
●
PCI - for expansion cards and obsolete low end
graphics cards
●
PCI-Express 16x - for mainstream graphics
cards (4 times speed of AGP 8x)
●
PCI-Express 1x - for faster expansion cards
(replacing older PCI)
 Other Connectors
●
USB - the number and version of USB
connectors (USB 1.0, 1.1 or 2.0)
●
On-Board Sound Card - Stereo, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1,
7.1, 8.1
●
On-Board Graphics Card (Phasing Out)
●
On-Board Base 100 LAN Card
●
Serial COM or Parallel Printer Ports
●
On-Board IEEE 1394 Firewire
CPU's
 CPU (Processor)

●
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the heart
of your computer as it performs nearly all
functions that require extensive processing
power. Therefore, it is very important that you
choose a suitable CPU for your function as the
choice of CPU directly affects the speed and
stability of your system.
 CPU Properties
●
Clock Speed, measured in Gigahertz (GHz),
or Megahertz (MHz) on older systems is the
number of calculation cycles that your CPU
can perform per second.
●
IPC, or Instructions Per Cycle is the amount
of work a CPU can do in a cycle.
●
Front Side Bus Speed (FSB) is the rate at
which the CPU communicates with the
motherboard
 CPU Properties
●
Interface: Where the CPU connects to the
motherboard.
●
Bit-Rate: 32 or 64 bit, which may allow faster
CPU processing capabilities due to the larger
band-width, but not all operating systems
are compatible with the newer 64-bit format
-- they will still run, but without a major
performance boost.
 CPU Properties
●
Hyper Threading (HT): Hyper-threading is a
new technology of parallel processing which
instead of one single core, your CPU is able
to have separate cores working on different
tasks which greatly speeds up the system
speed.
●
Manufacture and Model: There are two
main manufactures of CPUs Intel and AMD.
 CPU Properties
●
L2-Cache: the amount of Memory dedicated
for the CPU in MB, generally, the larger the
L2 cache, the faster your system would run.
●
The Core of the CPU is the heart of the CPU.
Often several cores will be marketed under
the same name, so look at what core you are
buying
Power Supply
Power Supply
 Power Supply
Power supply converts the alternating current (AC) line
from your home to the direct current (DC) needed by the
personal computer.

●
The typical voltages supplied are:
– 3.3 volts
– 5 volts
– 12 volts
●
The 3.3- and 5-volts are typically used by digital
circuits, while the 12-volt is used to run motors in disk
drives and fans. The main specification of a power
supply is in watts.
Power Supply Wattage
PC Ite m Watts
Accelerated Graphics Port (A GP) card 20 to 30W
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card 5W
small computer system interface (SCSI) PCI card 20 to 25W
floppy disk drive 5W
network interface card 4W
50X CD-ROM drive 10 to 25W
RAM 10W per 128M
5200 RPM Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disk
5 to 11W
drive
7200 RPM IDE hard disk drive 5 to 15W
Motherboard (without CPU or RAM) 20 to 30W
550 MHz Pentium III 30W
733 MHz Pentium III 23.5W
300 MHz Celeron 18W
600 MHz Athlon 45W
 Computer Case
A computer case (also known as the computer chassis, box or
housing) is the enclosure that contains the main components of
a computer. Cases are usually constructed from steel,
aluminum, or plastic
Computer Case
 Memory
Random-access memory (commonly known by its acronym
RAM) refers to data storage formats and equipment that allow
the stored data to be accessed in any order — that is, at
random

●
RAM (Random Access
Memory)
 Memory
●
SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM) is
labeled by its clock speed in megahertz (MHz).
For example, PC133 RAM runs at 133MHz.
SDRAM is nearly obsolete as nearly all
motherboards have withdrawn support for
SDRAM. It is now superseded by the more
efficient DDR RAM.
●
128MB SD-133 = 128MB PC133 RAM
 Memory
●
184-pin DDR DIMM RAM
●
DDR RAM can be labeled in two different ways. It
can be labeled by approximate bandwidth; as an
example, 400MHz-effective DDR RAM has
approximately 3.2GB/s of bandwidth, so it is
commonly labeled as PC3200. It can also be labeled
by its effective clock speed; 400MHz effective DDR
RAM is also known as DDR-400. There is also DDR
and DDR2 labeled as PC and PC2.
– 256MB DDR-400 = 256MB PC 3200 RAM

– 256MB DDR2-400 = 256MB PC2 3200 RAM

 Memory

Read-only memory (ROM), also known as firmware, is

an integrated circuit programmed with specific data
when it is manufactured.
Hard Drive
 Hard Disk Drive
A hard disk drive (HDD, or also known as hard drive) is a
non-volatile data storage device that stores data on a magnetic
surface layered onto hard disk platters.

●
Interface
– IDE – 40pin, 7200rpm
– SATA – Serial Interface, 10,000 rpm
– SCSI – Expensive, High Performance workstations
and Servers
– USB-IEEE1394 – External drives
 Hard Drive

●
Form Factors
– 3.5 inches is usually used in desktops
– 2.5 inches is usually used in laptops
 Hard Drive
●
A typical desktop machine will have a hard disk with a
capacity of between 10 and 40 gigabytes. Data is stored
onto the disk in the form of files.
●
Rotational Speed - the speed that the hard drives
platters spin at. However drives above 7,200 RPM
usually have limited capacity, and a much higher price
than 7,200RPM drives of the same capacity, making
drives above 7,200RPM not ideal for the desktop.
 Video Card
A graphics/video card takes a computer's digital information
and turns it into images for display.
Video Card Interface

●
Integrated
●
PCI
●
AGP
●
PCI-Express
 Floppy Disk Drive
Floppy Disk Drive (FDD), a disk drive that can read and
write to floppy disks.
 CD/DVD ROM Drive
CD / DVD ROM drive, a device that can read
information from a CD / DVD ROM.

●
CD ROM - 700MB Max Storage
●
DVD ROM – 9G Max Storage
 Sound Card
An expansion board that enables a computer to manipulate
and output sounds. Sound cards are necessary for nearly all
CD-ROMs and have become commonplace on modern
personal computers. Sound cards enable the computer to
output sound through speakers connected to the board, to
record sound input from a microphone connected to the
computer, and manipulate sound stored on a disk.
 Modem

Short for modulator-demodulator. A modem is a device that

enables a computer to transmit data over, for example,
telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored
digitally, whereas information transmitted over telephone
lines is transmitted in the form of analog waves. A modem
converts between these two forms.
 Modem
●
A modem is needed in order to connect to a dial up
internet connection. A modem can also be used for
faxing. Modems can attach to the computer in different
ways, and can have built-in processing or use the
computer's CPU for processing.
Modem

●
Serial Modem
 Modem

●
USB Modem
 Modem

●
Internal Modem
 Modem

●
DSL Modem
 Ethernet (LAN) Card
Ethernet Card, LAN Card, network card, network adapter,
network interface card or NIC is a piece of computer
hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over
a computer network.

●
An Ethernet (LAN) card is required in order to connect to a local
area network or a cable or DSL modem. These typically come in
speeds of 10mbps, 100mbps, or 1000mbps (gigabit); these are
designated as 10Mbps, 10/100Mbps, or 10/100/1000Mbps
products. The 10/100 and 10/100/1000 parts are most
commonly in use today.
Ethernet (LAN) Card

●
Ethernet card on PC
Ethernet (LAN) Card

●
100 Mbps Ethernet Card
Ethernet (LAN) Card

●
Gigabit Ethernet Card
 Keyboard
A computer keyboard is a peripheral modelled after the
typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are designed for the input of
text and characters, and also to control the operation of the
computer.
 Monitor
A computer display, monitor or screen is a computer peripheral
device capable of showing characters and/or still or moving
images generated by a computer and processed by a graphics
card.

●
CRT – Cathode Ray Tube ●
LCD – Liquid Crystal Display
Common Display Standards
Standar d Resolution Typical Use
15- and 17-inch CRT
XGA (Extended
1024x768 monitors
Graphics Array)
15-inch LCD monitors
15- and 17-inch CRT
monitors
SXGA (Super XGA) 1280x1024
17-and 19-inch LCD
monitors
19-, 20-, 21-inch CRT
UXGA (Ultra XGA) 1600x1200 monitors
20-inch LCD monitors
21-inch and larger CRT
QXGA (Quad XGA) 2048x1536
monitors
Wide aspect 15.4-inch
WXGA (Wide XGA) 1280x800 laptops
LCD displays
WSXGA+ (Wide Wide aspect 20-inch LCD
1680x1050
SXGA plus) monitors
WUXGA (Wide Wide aspect 22-inch and
1920x1200
Ultra XGA) larger LCD monitors
 Aspect Ratio and Viewable Area
●
Two measures describe the size of your display:
the aspect ratio and the screen size.
Historically, computer displays, like most
televisions, have had an aspect ratio of 4:3. This
means that the ratio of the width of the display
screen to the height is 4 to 3.
 Aspect Ratio and Viewable Area

●
For CRT monitors, screen size is measured diagonally from outside
edges of the display casing. In other words, the exterior casing is
included in the measurement as seen below.
 Aspect Ratio and Viewable Area

●
For LCD monitors, screen size is measured diagonally from the inside of
the beveled edge. The measurement does not include the casing as
indicated in the image below.
 Speakers
A loudspeaker or speaker, is an electromechanical transducer which converts an
electrical signal into sound.

7.1 Speaker 5.1 Speaker

 Mouse
A mouse is a handheld pointing device for computers, being a
small object fitted with one or more buttons and shaped to sit
naturally under the hand. The underside of the mouse houses a
device that detects the mouse's motion relative to the flat
surface on which it moves. The mouse's 2D motion is typically
translated into the motion of a pointer on the display.

The main goal of any mouse

is to translate the motion of
your hand into signals that the
computer can use.
Mouse

1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball.

2: X and Y rollers grip the ball and transfer movement.
3: Optical encoding disks include light holes.
4: Infrared LEDs shine through the disks.
5: Sensors gather light pulses to convert to X and Y velocities.
 Printers
– is a device that produces hard copy (permanent human-readable
text and/or graphics of documents stored in electronic form,
usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies).
– Many printers are primarily used as computer peripherals, and are
permanently attached to a computer which serves as a document
source.
– Other printers, commonly known as network printer, have built-in
network interfaces (typically wireless or Ethernet), and can serve
as a hardcopy device for any user on the network.
– Many modern printers can directly interface to electronic media
such as memory sticks or memory cards, or to image capture
devices such as digital cameras, scanners; some printers are
combined with a scanners and/or fax machines in a single unit.
– A printer which is combined with a scanner can essentially
function as a photocopier.
 Scanners
– is a device that analyzes a physical image (such as a
photograph, printed text, or handwriting) or an object and
converts it to a digital image
– A scanner works by digitizing an image -- dividing it into a grid
of boxes and representing each box with either a zero or a
one, depending on whether the box is filled in.
– Optical scanners do not distinguish text from illustrations; they
represent all images as bit maps. Therefore, you cannot
directly edit text that has been scanned. To edit text read by an
optical scanner, you need an optical character recognition
(OCR ) system to translate the image into ASCII characters.
Most optical scanners sold today come with OCR packages.