Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
This topic will introduce computer and its components. A computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions. Computer systems and its operating system as well as the hardware and software will also be introduced in this unit.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this topic are to: 1. Understand the computer and its components. 2. Know the computers operating system and its hardware and software.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this unit, the students should be able to: 1. Understand the personal computer (PC), its operating system and its hardware and software
1-1
DAC 10203
Figure 1.1: An Idealized Personal Computer Internal Hardware Component Basic knowledge of this internal hardware component of Personal Computer will enable us to visualize the operation of any computer systems. Even though it might look different from the usual specification given out by computer shop today, this is the foundation of any Personal Computer available today. The next section will expand this basic Internal Hardware Component knowledge into the existing Personal Computer specification. Exercise 1.1 Q1. Using the Internet, find more information regarding the history of PC and its operating system. Q2. DDR3 is currently the new RAM for Personal Computer available in the market. List two advantages of this new RAM compared with SD RAM. Q3. Compare and contrast Window XP over Window Vista.
1-2
DAC 10203
Table 1.1: The overall mapping of PC components Items System Unit Component(s) Casing, Power Supply, Motherboard installed with CPU, RAM and Drive Controller, Hard Disk Drive (HDD) , CDROM Drive, Floppy Disk Drive (FDD), Video Card Stand alone component Notes All these components are assembled as System Unit. HDD, CD-ROM Drive and FDD are connected to the motherboard using IDE cables. Monitor is connected to the System unit (video card) Keyboard is connected to the motherboard USB connector Mouse is connected to the motherboard USB connector Printer is connected to the motherboard USB connector Scanner is connected to the motherboard USB connector
Monitor
Stand alone component Stand alone component Stand alone component Stand alone component
1-3
DAC 10203
1.2.1 System Unit System Unit consists of several components: Casing or computer Case
Casing or computer case is used to place components such as Power Supply, motherboard installed with: Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Random Access Memory (RAM), Hard Disk, Floppy Disk Drive (FDD) and Compact Disk (CD) Drive. Two models of casings are available in the market: tower and desktop model. Tower model stands upright in a vertical position that allows easy placement on the floor. Three towers design are available: mini-tower (2 CD ROM Drive slots), mid-tower (3 CD ROM Drive slots), and full tower case (5 CD ROM Drive slots). The selection on type of tower design usually depends on the number of components required for each PC. For example, a user who required, two CD ROM Drives, two hard Disk Drive and two CPU installed with the motherboard will choose full tower case.
1-4
DAC 10203
The desktop model sits on a desk horizontally. The monitor can be set on top of the casing and can be a space saver.
Computer power supply comes with the case. Two types of power supply available are AT Model and ATX model. AT power supply is an old model and has been replaced with ATX model which enable the computer to be shutdown using the operation system such windows XP. The old power supply model (AT), required the user to physically push the on/off button to shut down the computer.
1-5
DAC 10203
Motherboard
This is where the core components of the computer reside. The cards for video, sound, networking and more are also mounted into this board. Figure 1.5 shows the example of motherboard.
Figure 1.5: Motherboard The major components on the motherboard include the chipset, CPU socket, expansion sockets, Input/Output (I/O) support, Basic Input Output System (BIOS), RAM sockets, power supply socket, Complementary Metal-oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) chip, dipswitches and jumpers, and the memory cache.
1-6
DAC 10203
This is the brain of the personal computer. It performs commands and instructions and controls the operation of the computer. Two main manufacturers of CPU in the market now are Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Corporation. Every year, both of them produces new CPU model and specification which offer new design and faster processing power. Four common specifications for CPU are: Processor type, Processor speed (in Gigahertz (GHz)), Bus speed (Megahertz (MHz)): and L2 Cache Size (in Kilobytes (KB)). As an example, a PC specification which related to the PC in the market is listed in Table 1.2. Figure 1.6 shows an example of Intels Pentium II CPU. Table 1.2: Example of CPU specification for a PC CPU Specification Processor Type Processor Speed Bus Speed Values Xeon 1.4 GHz 400 MHz Explanation This is one of the Intel Corporations Family of CPU The CPU speed of 1.4 Gigahertz The Bus Speed must be supported by the motherboard Higher size of L2 Cache enhanced the processing ability of the CPU
1-7
DAC 10203
The RAM in PC system is mounted on the motherboard. This is memory that must be powered on to retain its contents. Random Access Memory (RAM) is considered temporary, or volatile memory. The contents of RAM are lost when the computer power is turned off. RAM chips on the computer hold the data and programs that the microprocessor is processing. In other words, RAM is memory that stores frequently used data for rapid retrieval by the processor. A computer with higher RAM can hold and process large programs and files. The amount and type of memory in the system can make a big difference in the system performance. There are two classes of RAM that are commonly used today. Static RAM (SRAM) and Dynamic RAM (DRAM). SRAM is relatively more expensive, but it is fast. It will maintain data only as long as voltage is available. SRAM is used for cache memory. DRAM is inexpensive and somewhat slow, but very dense for the size. DRAM stores data in tiny capacitors that must be refreshed to maintain the data. Once the power is turned off, the data is lost. The current type of RAM available in the market is Double Data Rate 3(DDR3) Synchronous Dynamic (SD) RAM. The advancement in the development of RAM and other PC components are very fast and one model of RAM or other components usually lasted less than two years. Table 1.3 gives further explanation of DDR3 SDRAM.
Table 1.3: Example of DDR3 SDRAM specification for a PC. RAM Specification RAM Type Capacity Values DDR3 SDRAM 512 Megabyte Explanation New generation of RAM called Double Data Rate 3 Synchronous Dynamic RAM. Allows for RAM capacities of 512 Megabyte (MB) to 8 Gigabyte (GB)
1-8
DAC 10203
Cache Memory
Cache is a specialized form of computer chip that is designed to enhance memory performance. Cache memory stores frequently used information and transfers it to the processor much faster than RAM. Most personal computers have two separate memory cache levels: Level 1 (L1) cache is located on the CPU and Level 2 (L2) cache is located between the CPU and DRAM Cache Memory. L1 cache is faster than L2 because it is located within the CPU and runs at same speed as the CPU. It is the first place the CPU looks for its data. If data is not found in L1 cache, the search will then continue with L2 cache, and then on to RAM. As an example, Intel XEON CPU has L2 Cache size of 256 Kilobit as part of the CPU which can be used to speed up the processing time of the computer. Drive controllers
The drive controllers control the interface of your system to hard disk drives and the CD ROM Drives. The controllers let your hard drives and CD ROM Drives work by controlling their operation. On most PCs, they are included on the motherboard and each of their feature(s) is described in the motherboard manual which comes with the PC when we purchased them. Additional controllers for faster or other types of drives such as Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) can also be added to the motherboard when SCSI Hard Disk is added to the PC. Hard disk drive(s)
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is used to stored data and the Operating System on the PC. It has a more complex design and provides a greater speed of access. The HDD has a much larger storage capacity than the floppy for longterm storage. Typically, the HDD is installed inside the Casing as an internal drive and cannot be seen outside the System Unit.
1-9
DAC 10203
Figure 1.7: Hard Disk Drive (Internal) Every motherboard can support up to four hard disk drives if CD ROM drive is not installed (One master and one slave at IDE1 and IDE2). Otherwise, three Hard Disk Drives can be installed with one CD ROM Drive (One master and one slave HDD on IDE1) and one master HDD on IDE2 and one slave CDROM Drive on IDE2. The setting for this configuration is usually available in the motherboard manual supplied with each PC. Table 1.4 gives example of hard disk drive specification.
Table 1.4: Example of Hard Disk Drive specification for a PC Hard Disk Drive Model Specification Model Quantum Capacity 80 Gigabyte (GB) Explanation A common type of Hard Disk Drive installed with PC The Hard Sizes is getting bigger as the technology for this component improves over time
1-10
DAC 10203
This is normally a read only drive where files are permanently stored. There are now read/write CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives that use special software to allow users to read from and write to these drives. CD-ROM Drive with writable capability has become important for data backup purpose. Exiting CD-ROM Drive can be used to backup data up 700 Megabytes (MB) of data in a single CD. Slowly, CD-ROM drive is replacing the functionality of Floppy Disk Drive (FDD). Figure 1.8 shows example of CD-ROM drive.
A Floppy Disk Drive uses floppy disk which is a small disk storage device that today typically has about 1.4 Megabytes of memory capacity. The introduction of cheaper Thumb Drives (storage size can varies from 128 MB to 1 GB) has slowly replaced the usage of floppy disk as the common device for storing data for backup purpose.
1-11
DAC 10203
Video Cards
The video card or video adapter is the interface between the computer and monitor. The video card tells the monitor which pixels to light up, what color the pixels should be and the intensity of the color. The video card is either an expansion card (installed into one of the motherboard expansion slots) or it can be built into the motherboard. The display capabilities of a computer depend on both the video adapter and the monitor. A 64-bit AGP video card with 4 MB of RAM should be enough, but more graphic intensive games may perform better with a video card having 32 MB or more video RAM. Some video cards even include a graphics coprocessor for performing graphics calculations. These adapters are referred to as graphics accelerators. A newer form of VRAM is WRAM (Windows RAM). The Pentium IV has an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) expansion slot for installing a video card. AGP is designed exclusively for video cards. An AGP card allows game and 3D applications to store and retrieve finer, more realistic textures in system memory rather than video memory, without incurring any performance problems. A significant advantage of the AGP is that the PCI bus is relieved of handling graphics data, so that the PCI slot can concentrate on other demanding duties. AGP also doubles the PCI transfer speed. Figure 1.10 shows the example of AGP video card.
1-12
DAC 10203
Monitor
This device which operates like a TV set lets the user see how the computer is responding to our commands. Monitors are available in different types, sizes, and characteristics. Understanding the characteristics of a good monitor will help determine which is best suited for a specific system. Some key monitor-related terms are: pixels, dot pitch, refresh rate, colour depth, resolution, and size. Pixels are picture elements. The screen image is made of pixels (tiny dots), which are arranged in rows across the screen. Each pixel consists of three colors: red, green, and blue (RGB). Dot pitch is a measurement of how close together the phosphor dots are on the screen. The finer the dot pitch, the better image quality you will have. Look for the smaller number. Most monitors today have a 0.25mm dot pitch. Some have a 0.22mm dot pitch, which gives a very fine resolution. The refresh rate is the rate per seconds that the screen image is refreshed. Refresh rates are measured in Hertz (HZ), which means times per second. The higher the refresh rate, the more steady the screen image will be. It may look like a steady picture, but actually it flickers every time the electron beam hits the phosphor-coated dots. Refresh rate is also called vertical frequency or vertical refresh rate. Colour Depth refers to the number of different colors each pixel can display. This number is measured in bits. The higher the depth, the more colors that can be produced. Resolution varies based on the number of pixels. The more pixels in the screen, the better the resolution. Better resolution means a sharper image. The lowest screen resolution on modern PCs is 640 x 480 pixels, which is called VGA (Video Graphics Array). There are now SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array) and XGA (Extended Graphics Array) with resolutions all the way up to 1600 x 1200. Monitor screen sizes are measured in inches, just like televisions. The most common sizes are 14," 15," 17," 19," and 21" screens, measured diagonally. Note that the visible size is actually smaller than the measurement size. Have this in mind when shopping for a monitor for the computer. Keyboard
1-13
DAC 10203
Some other devices are also important in personal computer. The following items summarize the devices: n A Modem is a device that converts the digital data used by computers into analog signals that are suitable for transmission over a telephone line and converts the analog signals back to digital signals at the destination n A Network Interface Card (NIC), also known as a network adapter, is used to connect a local computer to a group of other computers so they can share data and resources in a networked environment. n Universal Serial Bus (USB) port allows user to connect up to 127 external PC peripherals, including USB keyboards, mice, printers, modems, scanners, and external disk drives. Figure 1.11 shows example of USB port. n A FireWire, also known as i.LINK or IEEE 1394 is a high-speed, platformindependent communication bus that interconnects digital devices such as digital video cameras, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and hard drives. Figure 1.12 shows example of FireWire. n
1-14
DAC 10203
Exercise 1.2 Q1. Using the Internet, find more information regarding the personal computer (PC) and its components. Q2. What is the difference between DVD ROM and CD ROM? Q3. Compare and contrast handy drive over hard drive.
1-15
DAC 10203
Figure 1.13: Operating System as a platform for other applications and devices Operating system is also the most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers. Some of the examples of operating system are listed in Table 1.5.
1-16
DAC 10203
Table 1.5: Examples of Operating System UNIX System V, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris (SunOS), IRIX, Unix/BSD List of BSD operating systems Operating system GNU/Linux Microsoft Windows DOS Mac OS List of Linux distributions, Comparison of Linux distributions Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows CE, Windows 7 86-DOS (QDOS), PC-DOS, MS-DOS, FreeDOS Mac OS classic, Mac OS X
Exercise 1.3 Q1. Using the Internet, find more information regarding the operating systems. Q2. Operating system (OS) is also known as a heart of a computer. What happen if OS is mal-function or does not working? Q3. Compare and contrast Unix Operating System over Window Operating System.
1-17
DAC 10203
We can buy software at the computer shops. Some examples of software include Microsoft Visual C++, Adobe Dreamweaver, Micromedia Flash and Adobe Illustrator.
1-18
DAC 10203
Exercise 1.4 Q1. Using the Internet, find more information about hardware and software. Q2. Give 5 examples of hardware and software. Q3. Compare and contrast hardware over software.
SUMMARY In this topic, we have reviewed about PC and its components. An operating system of a computer is also reviewed. The hardware and software of a computer are also reviewed. REFERENCES 1. The Complete Idiots Guide to Computer Basics, 4th Edition, Joe Kraynak, Alpha Books, 2007. 2. PCs for Dummies, 11th Edition, Dan Gookin, Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2007. 3. PC Hardware: A Beginners Guide, Ron Gilster, Osborne, 2001.
1-19
DAC 10203