Basic PC Hardware Technology

Service Operation Dept. Lenovo China 23rd Feb

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Index
Basic Concepts The PCs system main components How does a PC work Interface and Controllers The motherboard CPU System memory Chipset Buses and Ports The PCs I/O system Storage Devices BIOS References

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Basic Concepts
Concept
Bus Bus width Clock frequency Band width (bits/s) MHz (Megahertz) Million cycles per second. The more MHZ, the more data operations can be performed per second. A system which can transfer data from one component (or subsystem) to another. An interface connects two components (e.g. a hard disk and a motherboard). Interfaces are responsible for the exchange of data between two components. At the physical level they consist of both software and hardware elements. A circuit which controls one or more hardware components. The controller is often part of the interface. A collection of one or more controllers. Many of the motherboards controllers are gathered together into a chipset, which is normally made up of a north bridge and a south bridge.

Definition
set of wires used for data transfer The size of the packet of data which is processed (e.g. moved) in each work cycle. This can be 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256 bits. The rate at which data is transferred, which varies quite a lot between the various components of the PC. Usually measured in MHz. The data transfer capacity: bandwidth(bits) x clock frequency (MHz)

Interface

Controller

Chipset

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

The PCs system main components

CPU (or Microprocessor) Random Access Memory(RAM) Storage Devices Motherboard Chipset BIOS Display Video Card Display Devices Optical Devices Sound Card Modem Wireless card Keyboard Mouse/ Touchpad

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

How does a PC work

A PC consists of 5 main subsystems: Digital Data Processor (CPU) Input subsystem (Keyboard) Output subsystem (Display) Working Storage (RAM) Permanent Storage (Hard Drive)

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Interfaces and Controllers

The PC is the sum of subsystems. At each boundary between one subsystem and another, we find an interface

The controllers are small programmable electronic circuits which control the movement of data to and from the device. The program embedded into the controller is called firmware
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The Motherboard
The motherboard is the hub of all data exchange

All traffic originates from or ends up in the motherboard

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Motherboard schematics
The CPU process all the data and instructions The chipset groups most of controller functions to regulate buses and rest of hardware devices

The busses handle all data transfer.

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Motherboard example

SB

NB RAM CPU HDD

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The Control Processor Unit : CPU

Three basic characteristics differentiate microprocessors: Instruction set: The set of instructions that the microprocessor can execute. Bandwidth : The number of bits processed in a single instruction. Clock speed : Given in megahertz (MHz), the clock speed determines how many instructions per second the processor can execute.

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

CPU classification: RISC AND CISC

On the basis of BANDWIDTH & CLOCK SPEED, microprocessor can be classified in to two categories: RISC : Reduced Instruction Set Computer Simple instructions, faster to execute

Processor requires less transistors, cheaper

CISC : Complex Instruction Set Computer Most PCs use this architecture

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

CPU Information

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Memory in the PC

Volatile

Non Volatile

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Random Access Memory

The RAM is the main system memory where the computer stores the instructions and data (programs) that the processor processes. The data is loaded into chips that are arranged in a row of the RAM stick

Two types of RAM: Dynamic RAM (DRAM) contains chips that must be constantly re-energized. Static RAM (SRAM) does not need to re-energized as much as DRAM, and are more reliable.
Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)

SDRAM operates synchronously with the system bus waits for a clock signal before responding to control inputs Speed limited by CAS latency, the delay time (in number of clock cycles) which elapses between the moment a memory controller tells the memory module to access data, and the moment the data is read from the module's output pins

Double Data Rate (DDR) interface increases the bandwidth.

In DDR SRAM, the clock signal is used twice. Data is transferred both when the signal rises, and when it falls. This makes it possible to perform twice as many operations per clock pulse
Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM

DDR2 transfer twice the data rate of DDR Two data per memory cycle I/O at 4X the data rate of the memory cells it contains (four operations per clock pulse)

DDR3 transfer twice the data rate of DDR2

I/O at 8X the data rate of the memory cells it contains (8 operations per clock pulse)

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

DDR2 and DDR3 chips and modules

Standard name
DDR2-400 DDR2-533 DDR2-667 DDR2-800 DDR2-1066 DDR3-800 DDR3-1066 DDR3-1333 DDR3-1600

Memory clock
100 MHz 133 MHz 166 MHz 200 MHz 266 MHz 100 MHz 133 MHz 166 MHz 200 MHz

Cycle time
10 ns 7.5 ns 6 ns 5 ns 3.75 ns 10 ns 7.5 ns 6 ns 5 ns

I/O Bus clock

200 MHz 266 MHz 333 MHz 400 MHz 533 MHz 400 MHz 533 MHz 667 MHz 800 MHz

Data transfers Module per second name

400 Million 533 Million 667 Million 800 Million 1066 Million 800 Million 1066 Million 1333 Million 1600 Million PC2-3200 PC2-4200 PC2-5300 PC2-6400 PC2-8500 PC3-6400 PC3-8500 PC3-10600 PC3-12800

Peak transfer rate

3200 MB/s 4266 MB/s 5333 MB/s 6400 MB/s 8533 MB/s 6400 MB/s 8533 MB/s 10667 MB/ 12800 MB/s

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Memory Information

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Chipset
The north-bridge implements the faster capabilities of the motherboard handles communications among the CPU, RAM, PCI Express bus, and the southbridge. The south-bridge implements the slower capabilities of the motherboard handles the transfer of data to and from the hard disk and all the other I/O devices, and passes this data into the link channel which connects to the north bridge The chipset determines the limits for clock frequencies, bus widths, et. The chipsets built-in controllers determines which types of devices can be connected to the PC. Extra functions that can be found in the chipset Video card (north-bridge) Sound card (south-bridge) Modem (south-bridge)

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Chipset and buses

Bus North bridges buses South-bridge buses ISA PCI PCI Express USB ATA SCSI FireWire All other devices Typically 10-33 MHz. Typically 20-500 MB/sec. per bus

Variants

FSB RAM PCI Express

Connects Clock freq. Maximum capacity

CPU RAM Video Ethernet 66 - 1066 MHz > 3 GB/sec.

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

The PCs I/O system

The I/O controllers are located in the south-bridge and allow communication between the CPU and RAM and external devices

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

I/O Devices
Bus LPC Max. data rate 16.6 MB/s Devices BIOS Sensors

PATA SATA
PCI

133 MB/s 150 MB/s

133 MB/s 500 MB/s

HDD ODD
Network card SCSI controller Sound card Video Card Mouse Scanner printer Modem Bluetooth External HDD Scanner DV camera External HDD

PCI Express

USB

1.2 MB/s (1.1) 40 MB/s(2.0)

Firewire
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40 MB/s

Storage Devices
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Electromechanical device Rotating platters with magentic surfaces Spindle Motor Fragile Audible noise Power consuming Solid State Drive (SSD) - Solid- state electronics device Flash memory chips No moving parts Less fragile Silent Light Low access time and latency

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HDD formats and sizes

5.25

3.5

2.5

1.8

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HDD interfaces: SATA and PATA

Hot -swapping

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BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

EEPROM/ Flash memory Electronic Erasable Memory On virtually every computer available, the BIOS makes sure all the other chips, hard drives, ports and CPU function together

Common tasks that the BIOS performs include the following:

The BIOS performs a Power On Self Test (POST) for all of the different hardware components in the system to make sure everything is working properly. The BIOS activates other BIOS chips on different cards installed in the computer. For example, SCSI and graphics cards often have their own BIOS chips. The BIOS provides a set of low-level routines that the operating system uses to interface to different hardware devices.

The BIOS manages a collection of settings for the hard disks, clock, etc.

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

BIOS and the Booting process

When you turn on your computer, the BIOS completes a sequence of operations: Checks the CMOS Setup for custom settings Seek for other BIOS (video), loads the interrupt handlers and device drivers Initializes registers and power management Performs the power-on self-test (POST) Displays system settings Determines which devices are bootable Initiates the bootstrap sequence

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

BIOS and the software layer model

Layer #

Layer Application

2 1 0

OS BIOS / Drivers Hardware

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BIOS Setup Utility

Functions: View and set system parameters. Set password features (supervisor,HDD, user) Press F2 at power on to access BIOS setup utility Menus: Main - use this menu for basic system configuration. Advanced - use this menu to control system ports and components.

Security - use this menu to establish system passwords and protect the boot sector of the hard disk drive against infection by some virus types.
Boot - use this menu to set the boot sequence. Exit - use this menu to exit the Setup utility with various save or discard options.
Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

BIOS Setup Boot Sequence

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Notebook display

(*) Because of the wide variety of different computer manufacturers with this BIOS, the beep codes may vary.

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo

Lenovo Confidential | 2009 Lenovo