Internal Computer Components

Internal Computer Components

Motherboard

• Main printed circuit board (PCB) in computers
• Contains significant subsystems
• Allows communication among many of the crucial internal electronic components
• Enables communications and power distribution for peripherals and other components

Chip sets

• A set of electronic components in an integrated circuit
• Manage data flow
• Have two distinct parts: the northbridge and the southbridge
• Manage communications between the CPU and other parts of the motherboard

Chip sets: Northbridge and southbridge

• Northbridge – the first half of the core logic chip set on a motherboard
  • Directly connected to the CPU
  • Responsible for tasks that require the highest performance
• Southbridge – the second half of the core logic chip set
  • Implements slower-performance tasks
  • Not directly connected to the CPU

What is a bus?

• A high-speed internal connection on a motherboard
• Used to send control signals and data internally
• The front-side bus carries data between the CPU and the memory controller hub (northbridge)

Sockets

“Components not directly attached to a motherboard connect via sockets”

• Array of pins holding a processor and connecting the processor to the motherboard

• Differ based on the motherboard

  

Power connectors

• Found on a motherboard
• Allow an electrical current to provide power to a device
• ATX-style power connectors are larger than most
• Join the power supply to the motherboard

Data Processing and Storage

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• Silicon chip in a special socket on the motherboard
  • Billions of microscopic transistors
  • Makes calculations to run programs
  • 32-bit is like a two-lane information highway
  • 64-bit is like a four-lane information highway

Memory (RAM)

• Typically used to store working data
• Volatile: Data existing in RAM is lost when power is terminated
• Is cold pluggable (cold swappable)
• Speed measured in Megahertz (MHz)
• Available in varying speeds
• Available in varying storage capacities

Types of Memory

• Choice depends on the motherboard
  • Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM)
  • Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (SDRAM)
  • Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR-SDRAM)
  • Double Data Rate 3 Synchronous Dynamic Access Memory (DDR3 and DDR4)
  • Small outline Dual Input Memory Module (SO-DIMM)

Memory Slots

• Hold RAM chips on the motherboard
• Allow the system to use RAM by enabling the motherboard to communicate with memory
• Most motherboards include two to four memory slots
• Type determines which RAM is compatible

Expansion Slots

• Use PCI or PCIe slots
• Add additional capabilities
  • Peripherals (such as sound cards)
  • Memory
  • High-end graphics
  • Network interfaces

• Availability depends on the motherboard configuration

  

Disk Controllers

• Circuit that enables the CPU to communicate with hard disk drive
• Interface between the hard disk drive and the bus
• Integrated Drive Electronics is a standard
• IDE controller-circuit board guides how the hard disk drive manages data
• Have memory that boosts hard drive performance

BIOS (Basic Input Output System)

• Manages your computer’s exchange of inputs and outputs
• Preprogrammed into the motherboard
• Needs to always operate
• Update in a flash
• Use the System Summary window

CMOS: Battery and chip

• Uses a coin-sized battery
• Is attached to the motherboard
• Powers the memory chip that stores hardware settings
• Replace the computer’s system data, time, and hardware settings

Internal Storage

Hard drive characteristics

Introduced by IBM in 1956, internal hard drives provide: - Stable, long-term data storage - Fast access time - Fast data transfer rates

Traditional hard drive technology

IDE and PATA drives

1980s to 2003:

• Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard drives and Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) drives were popular industry standard storage options
  • Early ATA drives: 33 Mbps

  • Later ATA drives: 133 Mbps

    

SATA drives

2003 to today:

• Serial advanced technology attachment drives (SATA) became an industry standard technology
• Communicate using a serial cable and bus
• Initial data processing of 1.5 Gbps

• Current processing of 6 Gbps

  

• Available in multiple sizes
• Spin at 5400 or 7200 rpm
• Capacity: 250 GB to over 30 TB
• Still dominate today’s desktop and laptop market
• Each SATA port supports a single drive
• Most desktop motherboards have at least four SATA ports

SCSI drives

1986:

• Small computer system interface, pronounced “scuzzy” (SCSI) drives

• Historical speeds: 10,000 or 15,000 rpm

  1994:

• Discontinued usage

  

Solid-state drives

1989:

• Solid-state drives (SSDs) came to market
• Consist of nonvolatile flash memory
• Provide faster speeds: 10 to 12 Gbps
• Capacity: 120 GB to 2 TB

• Cost: More expensive than SATA or SCSI drives but also more reliable

  

• Available as internal, external, and hybrid hard drives
• As part of an internal hybrid configuration:
  • SSD serves as a cache
  • SATA drive functions as storage
  • Hybrid drives tend to operate slower than SSD drives

  

Optical Drives

1992:

• Invented in the 1960s, but came to the market in 1992.
• CDs and DVDs provide nonvolatile storage.
• Optical drives use low-power laser beams to retrieve and write data.
• Data is stored in tiny pits arranged in a spiral track on the disc’s surface.

CDs and DVDs compared

Blu-ray discs

• Media specific for movies and video games
• Provide high resolution
• Single-sided, but with up to four layers
• Store 25 GB per layer
• Writable Blu-ray discs exist in 100 GB and quad-layer 128 GB formats

• Writable Blu-ray discs require BD-XL-compatible drives

  

Expansion Slots

• Locations on the motherboard where you can add additional capabilities, including hard drive storage

Display Cards and Sound Cards

Video card

• An expansion card installed in an empty slot on the motherboard
• Or a chip built into a system’s motherboard
• Allows the computer to send graphical information to a video display device
• Also known as a display adapter, graphics card, video adapter, video board, or video controller

Graphics processing unit (GPU)

• Specialized processor originally designed to accelerate graphics rendering
• Process many pieces of data simultaneously
• Machine learning, video editing, and gaming applications
• Several industries rely on their power processing capabilities

Audio card

• Also known as a sound card
• Integrated circuit that generates an audio signal and send it to a computer’s speakers
• Can accept an analog sound and convert it to digital data
• Usually built into PC motherboard
• Users desiring higher-quality audio can buy a dedicated circuit board

MIDI controller

• A simple way to sequence music and play virtual instruments and play virtual instruments on your PC
• Works by sending musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) data to a computer or synthesizer
• Interprets the signal and produces a sound
• Frequently used by musicians

Network Interface Cards

• A hardware component without which a computer cannot connect to a network
• A circuit board that provides a dedicated network connection to the computer
• Receives network signals and translates network signals and translates them into data that the computer displays

Types of NIC

• Provides a connection to a network
  • Usually, the Internet
• Onboard: built into motherboard
• Add-on: fit into expansion slot
• No significant difference in speed or quality

Wired and wireless network cards

• Wireless – use an antenna to communicate through radio frequency waves on a Wi-Fi connection
• Wired-use an input jack and a wired LAN technology, such as fast Ethernet

Modems

• Connects your system to the Internet.
• Translates ISP signals into a digital format.
• Then feeds those digitized signals to your router, so you can connect to a network.

Cooling and Fans

System cooling

• Computers generate heat
• Excessive heat can damage internal components
• Never operate a computer w/out proper cooling
• Designed to dissipate heat produced by the processor
• Allow the accumulated heat energy to flow away from vital internal parts

Cooling methods

• Passive
• Active
  • Fans draw cool air through front vents and expel warm air through the back
• Forced convection
• Using thermal paste and a baseplate

Cooling methods – heat sink

• Heat sink
• Use heat sink compound to fill gaps
• Place the heat sink over the CPU
• Excess heat is drawn away

• Before warm air can damage the internal components

  

Liquid-based cooling

• Quieter and more efficient than fans
• Water blocks rest atop the chip
  • Cool liquid in the blocks cool the chip
• Heated fluid is pumped to a radiator-cooled by fans.
  • That fluid goes back to the water block to repeat the cycle.