Computer System’s Components and

Technical Specifications
 Main Components of the PC

 System Board (Motherboard)

 Memory (RAM)
 Processor (CPU)
 Secondary Storage devices
 Hard Disk Drive
 Optical Drives

 Floppy Disk Drive

 Flash Drive
 Input/Output Ports and Devices
 Keyboards/Mice
 USB, Serial, Parallel Ports

 Other input/output devices

 Interface Cards
 Sound Card
 Video Card

 Network Interface Card (LAN)

 Modem

 Other Add-on interface cards

 Monitor
 Power Supply
 PC Casing
System Board (motherboard)
Motherboard Form Factors
The form factor refers to the physical dimensions (size and shape) as well as
certain connector, screw hole, and other positions that dictate into which type of
case the board will fit.

Obsolete Form Factors

■ Baby-AT
■ Full-size AT
■ LPX (semi-proprietary)

Modern Form Factors

■ ATX
■ Micro-ATX
■ Flex-ATX
■ NLX
■ WTX (no longer in production)
Form Factor Use
ATX Standard desktop, mini-tower, and full-tower systems; most
common form factor today; most flexible design for power
users, enthusiasts, low-end servers/ workstations, and higher-
end home systems; ATX boards support up to seven
expansion slots.
Mini-ATX A slightly smaller version of ATX that fits into the same case
as ATX. Many so called ATX motherboards are actually mini-
ATX motherboards; mini-ATX boards support up to six
expansion slots
Micro-ATX Mid-range desktop or mini-tower systems Flex-ATX Least
expensive or low-end small desktop or mini-tower systems;
entertainment or appliance systems
NLX Corporate desktop or mini-tower systems; fast and easy
serviceability
WTX Mid- to high-end workstations and servers (withdrawn)
 ATX, mini-ATX, & micro-ATX motherboard I/O Ports

PS/2 mouse port

Parallel Port

Line In

Line/Speaker
Out

Mic In

PS/2 Keyboard
port Serial
Ports
USB Ports
ATX Motherboard Parts I/O Ports
Chipset
BIOS
Chip AGP Slot

PCI Slots
CPU
Socket

ATX
CMOS Power
battery Supply
Connector

DIMM IDE Drive Floppy Drive

Memory Socket Connectors Connector
Motherboard Slots
 Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) standard
specifies a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a
computer motherboard. These devices can take the form of:
 integrated circuits fitted on the motherboard itself (called planar
devices in the PCI specification); or
 expansion cards that fit in sockets.

The PCI bus is common in modern PCs, where it has displaced

ISA and VESA Local Bus as the standard expansion bus, but it
also appears in many other computer types. The bus will
eventually be succeeded by PCI Express and other
technologies, which have already started to appear in new
computers.
32-bit PCI expansion slots on a motherboard
 The Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) (also called
Advanced Graphics Port) is a high-speed point-to-point
channel for attaching a graphics card to a computer's
motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D
computer graphics. Many classify AGP as a type of computer
bus, but this is something of a misnomer since buses generally
allow multiple devices to be connected, while AGP does not.
Some motherboards have been built with multiple independent
AGP slots. AGP is slowly being phased out by PCI Express.

As of 2004, newer versions of AGP increase the transfer rate

from two to eight times. Available versions include:

 AGP 1x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz resulting

in a maximum data rate of 266 megabytes per second, doubled
from the 133MBytes/s transfer rate of PCI bus 33MHz / 32bit;
3.3 V signaling.
 AGP 2x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz double
pumped to an effective 133 MHz resulting in a maximum data
rate of 533 megabytes per second; signaling voltages the same
as AGP 1x;
 AGP 4x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz quad
pumped to an effective 266 MHz resulting in a maximum data
rate of 1066 megabytes per second; 1.5 V signaling;
 AGP 8x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz octuple
pumped to an effective 533 MHz resulting in a maximum data
rate of 2133 megabytes per second; 0.8 V signaling.
AGP slot (maroon), although the color is usually brown.
 PCI Express, or PCIe, (formerly known as 3GIO for 3rd
Generation I/O, not to be mistaken for PCI-X) is an
implementation of the PCI computer bus that uses existing
PCI programming concepts, but bases it on a completely
different and much faster serial physical-layer
communications protocol.

 PCI Express is intended to be used as a local interconnect

only. As it is based on the existing PCI system, cards and
systems can be converted to PCI Express by changing the
physical layer only – existing systems could be adapted to PCI
Express without any change in software. The higher speeds on
PCI Express allow it to replace almost all existing internal
buses, including AGP and PCI.
PCI Express slots (from top to bottom: x4, x16, x1 and
x16), compared to a traditional 32-bit PCI slot
(bottom)
Memory (RAM)
Random Access Memory or RAM is a type of
computer storage whose contents can be accessed
in any order. This is in contrast to sequential
memory devices such as magnetic tapes, discs and
drums, in which the mechanical movement of the
storage medium forces the computer to access data
in a fixed order. It is usually implied that RAM can
be both written to and read from, in contrast to
Read-Only Memory or ROM. RAM is usually used
for primary storage in computers to hold actively-
used and actively-changing information, although
some devices use certain types of RAM to provide
long term secondary storage.
Common types of RAM

 SRAM or Static RAM

 NV-RAM or Non-Volatile RAM
 DRAM or Dynamic RAM
 Fast Page Mode DRAM
 EDO DRAM or Extended Data Out DRAM

 SDRAM or Synchronous DRAM

 DDR SDRAM or Double Data Rate Synchronous
DRAM
 RDRAM or Rambus DRAM
Types of RAM Package
 DIP (dual in-line package)
 SIPP (single in-line pin package)
 SIMM (singe in-line memory
module)
 30-pin module
 72-pin module (EDORAM)
 DIMM (dual in-line memory
module)
 168-pin module (SDRAM)
 184-pin module (DDR)
 240-pin module (DDR2)
 RIMM (Rambus in-line memory
module)
 184-pin or 232-pin RDRAM
RIMMs
Microprocessor (CPU)
The brain or engine of the PC is the processor (sometimes called
microprocessor), or central processing unit (CPU). The CPU performs the
system’s calculating and processing. In terms of computing power, the
CPU is the most important element of a computer system. The speed of the
CPU is measured in Megahertz (MHz) and Gigahertz (GHz)
Common microprocessors available for desktop PC’s are from Intel and AMD.

Integrated Electronics Corp. Advanced Micro Devices Corp.

 Examples of Microprocessor

Intel Pentium III

(Socket 370)

Intel Pentium 4 Socket T

(LGA-775)
AMD Athlon XP
(Socket A/462)

Intel Pentium 4
(µPGA 478)

AMD K6/III AMD Athlon 64 FX

(Socket 7 / Super 7) (Socket 939)
Cache Memory
Cache memory is a high-speed memory buffer that temporarily
stores data the processor needs, allowing the processor to
retrieve that data faster than if it came from main memory. But
there is one additional feature of a cache over a simple buffer,
and that is intelligence. A cache is a buffer with a brain. It
holds the data the processor is most likely to need in advance
of it actually being needed.
Internal Level 1 Cache
All modern processors starting with the 486 family include an
integrated L1 cache and controller. The integrated L1 cache
size varies from processor to processor, starting at 8KB for the
original 486DX and now up to 32KB, 64KB, or more in the
latest processors.
Level 2 Cache
Newer processors have integrated L2 cache that runs at the same
speed as the processor core, which is also the same speed as
the L1 cache. L2 cache holds data that the L1 cache missed,
therefore reducing the time it takes to access if it would be
from the main memory.
The organization of the cache memory in the 486 and MMX
Pentium family is called a four-way set associative cache,
which means that the cache memory is split into four blocks.
Each block also is organized as 128 or 256 lines of 16 bytes
each.
Processor Features
 SMM (Power Management) - Spurred on primarily by the
goal of putting faster and more powerful processors in laptop
computers, Intel has created power-management circuitry.
This circuitry enables processors to conserve energy use and
lengthen battery life.
 Superscalar Execution - The fifth-generation Pentium and
newer processors feature multiple internal instruction
execution pipelines, which enable them to execute multiple
instructions at the same time.
 MMX, Extended MMX, SSE, SSE2,SSE3 (Intel), 3DNow!,
Enhanced 3DNow!, Professional 3DNow! (AMD) – these are
instruction sets designed to enhance the processors
performance in terms of multi-media applications, such as
games.
 Hyper-threading
Hyper-Threading works by duplicating certain sections of the
processor - those that store the architectural state - but not
duplicating the main execution resources. This allows a Hyper-
Threading equipped processor to pretend to be two "logical"
processors to the host operating system, allowing the operating
system to schedule two threads or processes simultaneously.

 64-bit microprocessor architecture

AMD64 (also x86-64 or x64) is a 64-bit microprocessor architecture
and corresponding instruction set designed by Advanced Micro
Devices. It is a superset of the x86 architecture, which it natively
supports.
Extended Memory 64-bit Technology (EM64T) is Intel's
implementation of AMD64, a 64-bit extension to the IA-32
architecture.
CPU Sockets
Intel and AMD have created a set of socket and slot designs for their processors. Each socket or slot is
designed to support a different range of original and upgrade processors.

PAC611 PAC418 Socket T (LGA- Socket 604 Socket Socket 480 Socket 479 Socket 478
775) 603
Intel Intel Intel Pentium 4, Xeon Xeon Intel Pentium Intel Pentium Intel
Itanium Itanium Pentium D, M (Dual M (Single Pentium 4
Pentium core) core) & & Celeron
Extreme Celeron M
Edition, &
Celeron

Socket Socket Socket AM2 Socket F Socket S1 Socket 939 Socket 940 Socket 754
423 370
Intel Intel AMD "Orleans" AMD AMD AMD Athlon AMD AMD
Pentium 4 Celeron Athlon 64, Opteron Turion 64 64 / AMD Opteron Athlon 64 /
& AMD processors. mobile Athlon 64 Sempron
Pentium "Windsor" processors FX to
III Athlon 64 X2, 1GHz /
AMD Sempron
"Orleans4"
Athlon 64 FX.

Sorted by date (most recent to oldest).

 Continued..

Socket A Socket 563 Slot 2 Slot 1 Slot A Socket 8 Super Socket 7 Socket 7
(Socket
462)
Later AMD Low-power Intel Intel Early Intel AMD K6-2 & Intel
Athlon, Mobile Pentium Pentium II AMD Pentium AMD K6-III Pentium &
Athlon XP, Athlon XP- II Xeon & early Athlon & Pro (socket 7 with compatible
Duron and M (µ-PGA & Pentium III Alpha 100 MHz Front s from
Sempron Socket, Pentium 21264 side bus and Cyrix,
mostly III Xeon AGP interface AMD
mobile parts) compatibility)

Socket 6 Socket 5 Socket 4 Socket 3 Socket 2 Socket 1 486 Socket

Intel 486 Intel Intel Intel 486 Intel 486 Intel 486 Intel 486
Pentium 75- Pentium (3.3v and
133MHz and 60/66M 5v) and
compatibles Hz compatibles

Sorted by date (most recent to oldest).

Socket A (462)

Socket 478

Socket 939

Socket T
(LGA-775)
Processor Codenames

Code names have been used to identify microprocessors while in

development. In some cases, the code name became the
completed product's name, but most of these code names are
no longer used once the associated products are released.
Secondary Storage Devices
Hard Disk Drive
A rigid magnetic disk fixed permanently within a drive unit and
used for storing computer data. Hard disks generally offer
more storage and quicker access to data than floppy disks do.

Most desktop hard disks are IDE (ATAPI/EIDE), whereas SCSI

drives have traditionally been found on servers and high-
performance workstations. The SCSI advantage is that from
seven to 15 devices can be attached to the same controller
board, which uses only one slot in the PC. SCSI was the first
drive technology to employ fault-tolerant RAID systems.
Today, IDE drives are used in RAID arrays and in high-
performance machines. Hard disks provide fast retrieval
because they rotate constantly at high speed, from 5,000 to
15,000 rpm. In laptops, they can be turned off when not being
used to preserve battery life.
Parts of a Hard Disk Drive

Interface
Connector
Types of Hard Disk Drive
 IDE (IDE/ATAPI) – Integrated Drive Electronics/Advanced
Technology Attachment w/ Packet Interface - A single IDE
ATA channel can support up to two drives, master & slave. IDE
can only access one drive per channel at a time. There are four
IDE drive capabilities, IDE ATA33, IDE ATA66, IDE ATA100
and the latest IDE ATA133.

 SCSI – Small Computer System Interface. - SCSI (pronounced

“scuzzy”) stands for Small Computer System Interface and is a
general-purpose interface used for connecting many types of
devices to a PC. SCSI is a fast interface, generally suited to high-
performance workstations, servers, or anywhere the ultimate in
performance for a storage system interface is needed.

 Serial ATA (S-ATA) - is a computer bus primarily designed for

transfer of data to and from a hard disk. It is the successor to the
legacy Advanced Technology Attachment standard (ATA, also
known as IDE).
 IDE/ATAPI

Advanced Technology
Attachment (ATA), is a
standard interface for
connecting storage devices
such as hard disks and
CD-ROM drives inside
personal computers.
IDE ATAPI Cable
SCSI
SCSI is most commonly
used for hard disks and
tape storage devices, but
also connects a wide
range of other devices,
including scanners, CD-
ROM drives, CD writers,
and DVD drives. SCSI
remains popular on high-
performance
workstations, servers,
and high-end peripherals.
SCSI Cable & SCSI Host Adapter
Serial ATA

Serial-ATA is a serial link -- a

single cable with a
minimum of four wires
creates a point-to-point
connection between devices.
Transfer rates for Serial ATA
begin at 150MBps. One of
the main design advantages
of Serial ATA is that the
thinner serial cables
facilitate more efficient
airflow inside a form factor
and also allow for smaller
chassis designs.
Serial ATA connectors on
motherboard
Serial ATA Cable and
power supply adapter

Serial ATA PCI

Controller Card
Floppy Disk Drive

 The floppy disk drive

(FDD) was the primary
means of adding data to a
computer until the CD-
ROM drive became popular.
In fact, FDDs have been an
key component of most
personal computers for
more than 20 years.
 Basically, a floppy disk
drive reads and writes data
to a small, circular piece of
metal-coated plastic similar
to audio cassette tape.
floppy disks : Relatively slow and
have a small capacity, but they are
portable, inexpensive, and universal.
Basically, a floppy disk drive reads
and writes data to a small, circular
piece of metal-coated plastic similar
to audio cassette tape.
Optical Storage
The optical storage device that
most of us are familiar with is
the compact disc (CD). A CD
can store huge amounts of
digital information (783 MB)
on a very small surface that is
incredibly inexpensive to
manufacture. The design that
makes this possible is a simple
one: The CD surface is a
mirror covered with billions of
tiny bumps that are arranged in
a long, tightly wound spiral.
The CD player reads the
bumps with a precise laser and
interprets the information as
bits of data.
 When you play a CD, the
laser beam passes through
the CD's polycarbonate
layer, reflects off the
aluminum layer and hits
an optoelectronic device
that detects changes in
light. The bumps reflect
light differently than the
flat parts of the aluminum
layer, which are called
lands. The optoelectronic
sensor detects these
changes in reflectivity, and
the electronics in the CD-
player drive interpret the
changes as data bits.
Flash Storage
 A keydrive is a small
removable data storage device
that uses flash memory and a
USB connector. These storages
device are active only when
powered by a connection to a
computer, and require no
external power source or battery
power when not in use. To
access the data stored in a
keydrive, it must be connected
to a computer, either by direct
connection to its USB port or
via a USB hub.
 Most keydrives feature
the larger type-A USB
connection, although
some feature the
smaller "miniUSB"
connection. There is no
separate power
connection; keydrives
are run from the limited
supply afforded by the
USB connection.
Input Devices
Keyboard

One of the most basic system components is the

keyboard, which is the primary input device. It is
used for entering commands and data into the system.

The primary keyboard types are as follows:

 104-key Windows keyboard
 101-key Enhanced keyboard
 83-key PC and XT keyboard (obsolete)
 84-key AT keyboard (obsolete)
Keyboards are also classified according to their
design:
 Windows keyboard – keyboards with  key

 Ergonomic keyboard – a good example of

ergonomic keyboard is the MS natural keyboard.
(shown below)
 Specialized keyboards – are keyboards with
special keys or buttons added such as volume
controls for the audio, or launch the browser.
Keyboard Connectors

 5-pin DIN (PC/AT) PC/AT

 6-pin mini-DIN (PS/2)

 USB (Universal Serial Bus)

PS/2

USB
Mice
 A mouse is a handheld pointing device for
computers, involving 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 sits. The mouse's 2D motion is
typically translated into the motion of a cursor on the
display.
 It is called a mouse primarily because the cord on
early models resembled the rodent's tail, and also
because the motion of the pointer on the screen can
be mouse like. In popular usage, the plural can be
either mice or mouses.
The standard mouse consists of several components:

 A housing that you hold in your hand and move around on

your desktop
 A method of transmitting movement to the system: either
ball/roller or optical sensors
 Buttons (two or more, and often a wheel or toggle switch)
for making selections
 An interface for connecting the mouse to the system;
conventional mice use a wire and connector, whereas
wireless mice use a radio-frequency or infrared transceiver
in both the mouse and a separate unit connected to the
computer to interface the mouse to the computer
Opto-mechanical Mouse

Uses rollers and rubber ball to transfer mouse movement into

cursor movement on the screen.
Optical Mouse

Optical Mouse uses laser light to detect and transfer motion

instead of ball and rollers
Pointing Device Interface

 Serial
 PS/2
 USB
 Wireless
(via USB port)
Input/Output Ports
 USB – Universal Serial Bus is an external peripheral bus standard designed
to bring Plug and Play capability for attaching peripherals externally to the
PC. USB is a high-speed I/O port which enables you to connect several
devices on a single USB port. It has a data transfer rate up to 60Mbps.

Devices which connects to USB port:

 Printers, Scanners
Parallel Port
 External drives
 Digital cameras USB
Port

 Parallel Port - Parallel ports are normally used for connecting

printers to a PC. Even though that was their sole original
intention, parallel ports have become much more useful over the
years as a more general-purpose, relatively high-speed interface
between devices (when compared to serial ports).
 Serial Port - The asynchronous serial interface was designed as
a system-to-system communications port. Asynchronous means
that no synchronization or clocking signal is present, so
characters can be sent with any arbitrary time spacing. Serial
refers to data that is sent over a single wire, with each bit lining
up in a series as the bits are sent.

Devices that connects to a Serial Port

 Serial Mouse
 External Modem
Interface Cards
Sound Cards

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.
Sound Cards converts digital signals on your computer to analog
signal and send it out to the speakers. It can also accept sound from
external sources such as microphone or stereo system for recording.

Current sound cards usually

plug into a Peripheral
Component Interconnect
(PCI) slot, while some older
or inexpensive cards may
use the Industry Standard
Architecture (ISA) bus.
Many of the computers
available today incorporate
the sound card as a chipset
right on the motherboard.
This leaves another slot
open for other peripherals.
Sound Card Jacks MIDI / Game
Port (gold)
Line IN (blue or light blue)

Mic IN (pink Line Out (no

or red) Speaker Out standard
(lime or green) color)
 Video Cards
 A graphics card or video
card is a component of a
computer which is
designed to convert a
logical representation of an
image stored in memory to
a signal that can be used as
input for a display medium,
most often a monitor
utilizing a variety of
display standards.
Typically, it also provides
functionality to manipulate
the logical image in
Video Adapter Types
The three ways computer systems connect to either CRT
or LCD displays are as follows:
 Add-on video cards. This method requires the use of an
AGP or a PCI expansion slot but provides the highest
possible level of performance, the greatest amount of
memory, and the largest choice of features.
 Video-only chipset on motherboard. Performance is
generally less than with add-on video cards because older
chipset designs are often used.
 Motherboard chipset with integrated video. This has the
lowest cost of any video solution, but performance can also
be very low, especially for 3D gaming or other graphics-
intensive applications. Resolution and color-depth options
are also more limited than those available with add-on
video cards.
ATX Motherboard with on-board Video,
Sound, and Network Interface card.
Network Interface card
 A network card (also called
network adapter, network
interface card, NIC, etc.) is
a piece of computer
hardware designed to
provide for computer
communication over a
computer network.
 Most newer computers have
a network interface built
into the motherboard, so a
separate network card is not
required unless multiple
interfaces are needed or
some other type of network
is used.
Modem
 The word "modem" is a contraction of the words
modulator-demodulator. A modem is typically used
to send digital data over a phone line. The sending
modem modulates the data into a signal that is
compatible with the phone line, and the receiving
modem demodulates the signal back into digital data.
 Modems come in two forms: External modem which
are connected to your PC by means of Serial Port or
USB Port. USB modem doesn’t require external
power source, it get its power from the USB port.
Internal modems are installed on the expansion slot
on the motherboard, usually on the PCI slot.
 Typical 56K Internal Modem

External 56K USB Modem

Power Supply
 The basic function of the power supply is to
convert the type of electrical power available
at the wall socket to the type the computer
circuitry can use. The power supply in a
conventional desktop system is designed to
convert either 115-volt (nominal) 60Hz AC
(alternating current) or 230v (nominal) 50Hz
AC power into +3.3v, +5v, and +12v DC
(direct current) power.
Power Supply Form Factor
Form factor is used to describe the size and format of
PC motherboards, but also of hard drives, power
supplies, cases, and add-in cards. The term can also
be used refer to the shape of a housing or package or
mechanical connection associated with a device or
mechanism within the context of its interface with
other devices or mechanisms, also in regards to a
human interface.

Other power supply form factors are already obsolete,

below are the still available in modern PC:

 AT/Baby AT (being phased out)

 ATX (new PC’s have this type of power supply)
Power supply removed from the PC case
Power supply output voltage

AT power supply ATX power supply

All power supplies are generally sold based on their wattage
rating. What people don't know is that this is the combined
total wattage rating of the power supply at full load across
each of the individual voltage lines. Since the power supply
has multiple voltage outputs, each voltage rail will pull its own
current from the power supply.
Below is a chart of various PC case sizes and the recommended
ratings of a power supply for that size case with the number of
devices that could potentially be installed in the case:
Case Size Recommended Wattage Min. +12v Max Load
Mini-tower 330-350 W 15 A
Mid-tower 350-380 W 15 A
Full tower 380-450 W 18 A
Server tower 450-550 W 20A
Monitor
A computer display, monitor or screen is a
computer peripheral device capable of
showing still or moving images generated by a
computer and processed by a graphics card.
Monitors generally conform to one or more
display standards. Monitors can either be CRT
(cathode ray tube or LCD (liquid crystal
display)
CRT monitor

 The original display

technology, and still the most
popular, is cathode ray tube
(CRT) technology—the same
technology used in television
sets. CRTs consist of a
vacuum tube enclosed in
glass. One end of the tube
contains an electron gun
assembly that projects three
electron beams, one each for
the red, green, and blue
phosphors used to create the
colors you see onscreen; the
other end contains a screen
with a phosphorous coating.
LCD monitor

 LCD or flat panel computer

displays are the latest and
greatest offerings in the
desktop computer industry.
They have been used for
years in the portable and
notebook computing markets,
but recent developments have
increase performance and
size while reducing costs
making them viable in the
desktop environment. LCD
displays are lightweight,
extremely thin and use much
less power than CRT based
monitors.
Resolution is the amount of detail a monitor can render. This
quantity is expressed in the number of horizontal and vertical
picture elements, or pixels, contained in the screen. The greater
the number of pixels, the more detailed the images. The
resolution required depends on the application. Character-based
applications (such as DOS command-line programs) require little
resolution, whereas graphics intensive applications (such as
desktop publishing and Windows software) require a great deal.
Casing
The PC case also has form factors. These includes:
 Full Tower
 Mid-Tower
 Mini Tower
 Desktop
 Cube

Cube Cases are designed for micro-ATX

motherboards.
Different case form factors:
(right to left) desktop case, mini-tower, full-tower, mid-towers,
END !!!