Hardware Components

&
Communications
 Motherboard
• Different speeds
• Different makes

• But all do the same, heart of the computer

that link all the components of a computer
together
 CPU
• The brain of the main chip on the
motherboard.
• Speeds in Ghz and how many bits.
• E.g 2.66ghz dual core means 2 X 2.66 twice as
fast as a single core.
• Different makes and speeds.
 Heat Sink and Fans
• Is a block made of heat absorbing metal which
absorbs the heat made from the CPU and
efficiently sends it in another direction stopping
the CPU from over heating.
• Fans with heat sinksare called active heat sinks,
heat sinks without a fan are called passive heat
sinks.
• Fans blow the heat in other directions and some
fans take the heat completely out of the
computer.
• A thermal paste is normally attached to the
bottom before connecting with the CPU, this
is added to help absorb the heat from the
CPU.
• If the CPU is kept cooler it will continue to
work faster.
 RAM
• Random Access Memory (RAM) is a volatile
memory storage bank.
• Dynamic RAM: Stores data for less than a
second at a time. (slower)
• Static RAM: Stores data for as long as power is
flowing through it. (faster)
• Largest memory a board can take is 16gig
depending on the motherboard.
 ROM
• Read Only Memory is used to tell the
computer how to boot, data stored here
cannot be modified.
 Cache
• Fast static memory, stored data between the
CPU and the main memory.
• Modern computers have 2 or 3 layers of cache
memory.
 PCI, Expansion Slots and Buses
• PCI (Peripheral components interconnect) is a
bus for inserting different hardware devices to
a motherboard.
• Sound cards, network adapters etc can be
placed into these.
• PCI Express replaced the original PCI slots and
are used for graphic cards. PCI 1 has a speed
of 250MB per lane and PCIe 2 ha speeds of
500MB.
 Northbridge Memory
• Northbridge memory controls all the data sent
between the CPU, RAM and the AGP (video
card). The northbridge chip contains the
graphics controllers for the computer.
• It tells us the number, speed and type of RAM
and CPU that can be used
 Southbridge Memory
• Manages the input/output such as IDE, clock,
Usb, power management, storage devices and
many more.
• Both the North and Southbridge are designed
to work together.
 IDE
• IDE (Integrated drive electronics) the parallel
cables used between the motherboard and
the storage devices.
• IDE is also called ATA (advanced technology
attachment).
 SATA
• Follows on from the parallel cables, Sata is
rounded and can be up to 1 metre long.
• Sata transfers information at 300Mbps.
 USB
• Universal Serial Bus is a way of connecting a
computer to a device.
• Connects printers, phones, MP3 players,
keyboards and many more.
• USB is generally plug and play and speeds vary
depending on USB 1/2/3.
• USB 1 – 12 Mbs, USB 2 – 480Mbps, USB 3 –
due for release 4.8Gbs.
 Sound
• Onboard sound is a sound card already built
into the motherboard.
• Not all motherboards have onboard.
 Front Side Bus
• Frontside bus carries data to the Northbridge
chip via the CPU.
 Address Bus
• Is the bus that sends the address of data
between the CPU and the RAM.
 BIOS
• Basic Input and Output System is the first code
read by the computer when you switch it on.
• It detects, tests and starts the computer
hardware.
• BIOS is stored on the motherboard chipset.
• It can be flashed and updated to support
newer hardware.
 CMOS RAM
• CMOS RAM is the memory for the BIOS, it acts
the same way as normal ram does but only for
the BIOS settings.
• It is controlled by the small battery.
• The battery also controls the clock on the
computer even if it is turned off.
 Graphics Card
• Are used to create images to the
screen/monitor.
• They come in different sizes and have
different features.
• Graphics cards have there own CPU called
(GPU) Graphic processing unit, some are much
more powerful than the main CPU on the
system and have their own memory as well.
• NVIDIA and ATI are the main two companies
that make graphic cards.

• NVIDIA XFX GEFOCE 260 graphics card with

896MB GDDR3 memory, 640MHz CORE
processor on it. Supports DirectX 10 and HD