Chapter 1: Personal Computer

Personal Computer Systems
1. Cases
  1. Computer cases are typically made of plastic, steel, or aluminum and are available in a variety of styles.cases also provide an environment designed to keep the internal components cool. All computers need a power supply to convert alternating-current (AC) power from the wall socket into direct-current (DC) power.The motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer.The size and shape of the computer case is usually determined by the motherboard, power supply, and other internal components. The specifications and dimensions of these components is called the form factor.
  2. Several factors while choosing a case:
    1. Size of the motherboard.
    2. Available space.
    3. Number of external or internal drive locations, called bays.
2. Power Supply
  1. The power supply converts Alternating Current (AC) power into Direct Current (DC) power. DC power is required for all components inside the computer. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can protect a computer from problems caused by changes in power. A UPS uses a power inverter. A power inverter provides AC power to the computer from a built-in battery by converting the DC current of the UPS battery into AC power. This built-in battery is continually charged via DC current that is converted from the AC supply.
    1. There are 3 main form factors for power supplies, Advanced Technology (AT), AT Extended (ATX), and ATX12V. The ATX12V is the most common form factor used in computers today.
  2. Connectors
    1. A Berg keyed connector connects to a floppy drive. A Berg connector is smaller than a Molex connector.
    2. A SATA keyed connector connects to an optical drive or a hard drive. The SATA connector is wider and thinner than a Molex connector.
    3. A Molex keyed connector connects to optical drives, hard drives, or other devices that use older technology.
    4. A 20-pin or 24-pin slotted connector connects to the motherboard. The 24-pin connector has two rows of 12 pins each, and the 20-pin connector has two rows of 10 pins each.
    5. A 4-pin to 8-pin auxiliary power connector has two rows of two to four pins and supplies power to all areas of the motherboard. The auxiliary power connector is the same shape as the main power connector but smaller. It can also power other devices within the computer.
    6. A 6/8-pin PCIe power connector has two rows of three to four pins and supplies power to other internal components.
    7. Older standard power supplies used two connectors called P8 and P9 to connect to the motherboard. P8 and P9 were unkeyed connectors
3. Electricity and Ohm's Law
  1. Basic units of electricity:
    1. Voltage: It is measured in volts (V).
    2. Current: It is measured in amperes, or amps (A).
    3. Resistance (R)
    4. Power: It is measured in watts(W)
    5. Basic equation
      1. V = IR
      2. P = VI
      3. I = P/V
Internal PC Components
1. Motherboard
  1. It is the main printed circuit board and contains the buses, or electrical pathways, found in a computer.These buses allow data to travel between the various components that comprise a computer. A motherboard is also known as the system board or the main board.
  2. An important set of components on the motherboard is the chipset. The chipset is composed of various integrated circuits attached to the motherboard. They control how system hardware interacts with the CPU and motherboard.
  3. Most chipsets are divided into two distinct components:
    1. Northbridge
      1. Northbridge controls access to the RAM, video card, and the speeds at which the CPU can communicate with them. The video card is sometimes integrated into the Northbridge.
    2. Southbridge
      1. Southbridge allows the CPU to communicate with the hard drive, sound card, USB ports, and other I/O ports.
2. CPU
  1. The central processing unit (CPU) is considered the brain of the computer. It is sometimes referred to as the processor. Most calculations take place in the CPU.CPU is the most important element of a computer system. CPUs come in different form factors.Common CPU manufacturers include Intel and AMD. Current processors use a 32-bit or 64-bit FSB. Overclocking is a technique used to make a processor work at a faster speed than its original specification. The amount of data that a CPU can process at one time depends on the size of the front side bus (FSB).
  2. These CPUs are capable of processing multiple instructions concurrently:
    1. Single Core CPU - One core inside a single CPU that handles all the processing. A motherboard manufacturer might provide sockets for more than one single processor, providing the ability to build a powerful, multiprocessor computer.
    2. Dual Core CPU - Two cores inside a single CPU in which both cores can process information at the same time.
    3. Triple Core CPU - Three cores inside a single CPU that is actually a quad-core processor with one of the cores disabled.
    4. Hexa-Core CPU - Six cores inside a single CPU.
    5. Quad Core CPU - Four cores inside a single CPU.
    6. Octa-Core CPU - Eight cores inside a single CPU.
3. Cooling system
  1. A case fan installed in the computer case makes the cooling process more efficient. In addition to a case fan, a heat sink draws heat away from the CPU core. A fan on top of the heat sink moves the heat away from the CPU. Computers with extremely fast CPUs and GPUs might use a water-cooling system.
4. ROM
  1. Read-only memory (ROM) chips are located on the motherboard and other circuit boards. ROM is sometimes called firmware.A ROM chip cannot be erased or re-written and is obsolete. Types of ROM:
    1. Programmable read-only memory. Information is written to a PROM chip after it is manufactured. A PROM chip cannot be erased or re-written.
    2. Erasable programmable read-only memory. Information is written to an EPROM chip after it is manufactured. An EPROM chip can be erased with exposure to UV light. Special equipment is required.
    3. Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. Information is written to an EEPROM chip after it is manufactured. EEPROM chips are also called Flash ROMs. An EEPROM chip can be erased and re-written without having to remove the chip from the computer.
5. RAM:
  1. RAM is the temporary storage for data and programs that are being accessed by the CPU. RAM is volatile memory, which means that the contents are erased when the computer is powered off. Types of RAM
    1. Dynamic RAM is a memory chip that is used as main memory. DRAM must be constantly refreshed with pulses of electricity in order to maintain the data stored within the chip.
    2. Static RAM is a memory chip that is used as cache memory. SRAM is much faster than DRAM and does not have to be refreshed as often. SRAM is much more expensive than DRAM.
    3. Fast Page Mode DRAM is memory that supports paging. Paging enables faster access to the data than regular DRAM. FPM memory was used in Intel 486 and Pentium systems.
    4. Extended Data Out RAM is memory that overlaps consecutive data accesses. This speeds up the access time to retrieve data from memory, because the CPU does not have to wait for one data access cycle to end before another data access cycle begins.
    5. Synchronous DRAM is DRAM that operates in synchronization with the memory bus. The memory bus is the data path between the CPU and the main memory. Control signals are used to coordinate the exchange of data between SDRAM and the CPU.
    6. Double Data Rate SDRAM is memory that transfers data twice as fast as SDRAM. DDR SDRAM increases performance by transferring data twice per clock cycle.
    7. RAMBus DRAM is a memory chip that was developed to communicate at very high rates of speed. RDRAM chips are not commonly used.
    8. Double Data Rate 3 SDRAM expands memory bandwidth by doubling the clock rate of DDR2 SDRAM. DDR3 SDRAM consumes less power and generates less heat than DDR2 SDRAM.
    9. Double Data Rate 2 SDRAM is a faster than DDR-SDRAM memory. DDR2 SDRAM improves performance over DDR SDRAM by decreasing noise and crosstalk between the signal wires.
6. Memory Modules
  1. Memory modules can be single-sided or double-sided. Single-sided memory modules contain RAM only on one side of the module. Double-sided memory modules contain RAM on both sides. Different types of memory modules
    1. Dual Inline Package is an individual memory chip. A DIP has dual rows of pins used to attach it to the motherboard.
    2. Single Inline Memory Module is a small circuit board that holds several memory chips. SIMMs have 30-pin or 72-pin configurations.
    3. Dual Inline Memory Module is a circuit board that holds SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, and DDR3 SDRAM chips. There are 168-pin SDRAM DIMMs, 184-pin DDR DIMMs, and 240-pin DDR2 and DDR3 DIMMs.
    4. RAMBus Inline Memory Module is a circuit board that holds RDRAM chips. A typical RIMM has a 184-pin configuration.
    5. RAMBus Inline Memory Module is a circuit board that holds RDRAM chips. A typical RIMM has a 184-pin configuration.
  2. Cache
    1. Static RAM (SRAM) is used as cache memory to store the most recently used data and instructions. SRAM provides the processor with faster access to the data than retrieving it from the slower dynamic RAM (DRAM), or main memory.
      1. L1 cache is internal cache and is integrated into the CPU.
      2. L2 cache is external cache and was originally mounted on the motherboard near the CPU. L2 cache is now integrated into the CPU.
      3. L3 cache is used on some high-end workstations and server CPUs.
  3. Error Checking
    1. Memory errors occur when the data is not stored correctly in the RAM chips.
      1. Nonparity memory does not check for errors in memory.
      2. Parity memory contains eight bits for data and one bit for error checking. The error-checking bit is called a parity bit.
      3. Error Correction Code memory can detect multiple bit errors in memory and correct single bit errors in memory.
7. Adapter Cards and Expansion Slots
  1. Adapter cards increase the functionality of a computer by adding controllers for specific devices or by replacing malfunctioning ports.
    1. Some common adapter cards that are used to expand and customize the capability of a computer:
      1. NIC Card
      2. Wireless NIC
      3. Sound adapter
      4. Video adapter
      5. Capture card
      6. TV tuner card
      7. Modem adapter
      8. Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter
      9. Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) adapter
      10. Universal Serial Bus (USB) port
      11. Serial port
      12. Parallel port
  2. The different types of expansion slots:
    1. PCI
    2. AGP
    3. PCIe
    4. ISA
    5. EISA
    6. MCA
    7. PCI - X
    8. Mini PCI
8. Storage Devices and Raid
  1. Some storage drives can connect to the computer using a USB port, a FireWire port, eSATA, or a SCSI port. Here are some common types of storage drives:
    1. A floppy drive, or floppy disk drive, is a storage device that uses removable 3.5-inch floppy disks. Can store 720 KB or 1.44 MB of data. The floppy drive is usually configured as the A: drive. The floppy drive can be used to boot the computer if it contains a bootable floppy disk.
    2. A hard drive, or hard disk drive, is a magnetic device used to store data. The hard drive is usually configured as the C: drive.The storage capacity of a hard drive ranges from gigabytes (GB) to terabytes (TB). The speed of a hard drive is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM). You can replace a magnetic drive with an SSD.
    3. Magnetic tapes are most often used for backups or archiving data. The tape uses a magnetic read/write head. Common tape capacities vary between a few gigabytes to many terabytes.
    4. An optical drive uses lasers to read data on the optical media. There are three types of optical drives:
      1. Compact disc (CD)
      2. Digital versatile disc (DVD)
      3. Blu-ray disc (BD)
  2. RAID provides a way to store data across multiple hard disks for redundancy.The following terms describe how RAID stores data on the various disks:
    1. Parity - Detects data errors.
    2. Striping - Writes data across multiple drives.
    3. Mirroring - Stores duplicate data on a second drive.
9. Internal Cables
  1. A power supply might have SATA power connectors for SATA drives, Molex power connectors for PATA drives, and Berg connectors for floppy drives. Here are some common types of data cables:
    1. Floppy disk drive (FDD) data cable - Has up to two 34-pin drive connectors and one 34-pin connector for the drive controller.
    2. PATA (IDE/EIDE) 40-conductor data cable - The 40-conductor ribbon cable uses 40-pin connectors. The cable has two connectors for the drives and one connector for the controller.
    3. PATA (EIDE) 80-conductor data cable - As the data rates available over the EIDE interface increased, the chance of data corruption during transmission increased. The 80-conductor cable uses 40-pin connectors.
    4. SATA data cable - This cable has seven conductors, one keyed connector for the drive, and one keyed connector for the drive controller.
    5. SCSI data cable - There are three types of SCSI data cables. A narrow SCSI data cable has 50 conductors, up to seven 50-pin connectors for drives, and one 50-pin connector for the drive controller, also called the host adapter. A wide SCSI data cable has 68 conductors, up to 15 68-pin connectors for drives, and one 68-pin connector for the host adapter. An Alt-4 SCSI data cable has 80 conductors, up to 15 80-pin connectors for drives, and one 80-pin connector for the host adapter.
CAx Workstations
1. CAx is used to develop the computer parts used in CAx workstations. A computer used to run CAx software must support the needs of the software and the I/O devices. CAx software is often complex and requires robust hardware. Consider the following hardware when you need to run CAx software:
  1. Powerful processor - CAx software must make enormous amounts of calculations very quickly. You must meet the needs of the software when choosing a CPU.
  2. High-end video card - Some CAx software is used to create 3D models. Realistic shading and texturing add to the complexity of the models, and a video card that can handle high resolutions and high detail is needed.
  3. RAM - Because of the high amount of data processed by a CAx workstation, RAM is very important. The more RAM that is installed, the more data the processor can calculate before needing to read from slower storage, such as hard drives.
2. Audio and Video Editing Workstations
  1. An audio and video editing workstation is used during many stages of development when creating audio and video material. An audio editing workstation is used to record music, create music CDs, and CD labels. A video editing workstation can be used to create television commercials, prime-time programming, and movies for the theater or home movies.Consider the following hardware when you need to run audio and video editing software:
    1. Specialized audio card - When recording music to a computer in a studio, multiple inputs from microphones and many outputs to effects equipment may be needed. An audio card capable of handling all these inputs and outputs is needed. Research different audio card manufacturers and understand the needs of your customer to install an audio card that will meet all the needs of a modern recording or mastering studio.
    2. Specialized video card - A video card that can handle high resolutions and multiple displays is necessary to combine and edit different video feeds and special effects in real time. You must understand the needs of the customer and research video cards to install a card that can handle the high amounts of information that comes from modern cameras and effects equipment.
    3. Large, fast hard drive - Modern video cameras record in high resolution at fast frame rates. This translates into a high amount of data. A large, fast hard drive is necessary to record high-end video without errors or missed frames. RAID levels such as 0 or 5, where striping is used, can help to increase storage speed.
    4. Dual monitors - When working with audio and video, three, or even more monitors can be very helpful to keep track of everything that is going on with multiple tracks, scenes, equipment, and software. If multiple monitors are required, specialized video cards are necessary when building an audio or video workstation.
3. Virtualization Workstations
  1. There is another type of virtualization called Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). VDI allows users to log in to a server to access their own virtual computers.Low-powered devices, known as thin clients, use a server that is much more powerful to perform difficult calculations. A thin client meets the minimum requirements for running windows and runs basic applications from the server.These are some other functions of virtual computing:
    1. Use other operating systems on one computer, such as Linux or Mac OS X.
    2. Browse the Internet without harmful software hurting your main installation.
    3. Test software or software upgrades in an environment that does not hurt your current operating system environment.
    4. Run old applications that are not compatible with modern operating systems.
    5. Virtual computing requires more powerful hardware configurations because each installation needs its own resources.This is some of the hardware required to run virtual computers:
      1. Maximum RAM - You need enough RAM to meet the requirements of each virtual environment and the host computer. A standard installation using only a few virtual machines might require as little as 64 MB of RAM to support a modern operating system such as Windows XP. With multiple users, supporting many virtual computers for each user, you might need to install as much as 64 GB of RAM or more.
      2. CPU cores - Although a single core CPU can perform virtual computing, a CPU with additional cores increases speed and responsiveness when hosting multiple users and virtual machines. Some VDI installations use computers that have multiple CPUs that have multiple cores.

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Chapter 1: Personal Computer

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