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Chapter 1
Parts of System
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Unit

B y : N a v a l , R a c h e l l e P.
I - BTLEd - ICT
 System Unit
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• system unit is the part of a computer that houses the

primary devices that perform operations and produce
results for complex calculations. It includes the
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motherboard, CPU, RAM and other components, as

well as the case in which these devices are housed.
This unit performs the majority of the functions that a
computer is required to do.
• The term system unit is generally used to differentiate
between the computer itself and its peripheral
devices, such as the keyboard, mouse and monitor.
 PARTS OF SYSTEM 3

UNIT
>> There are 6 Main parts of System Unit
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1. Motherboard
2. Processor
3. RAM (Random Access Memory)
4.Hard Drive
5. Video Card
6. Power Supply
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1. Motherboard
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motherboard is one of the most essential parts of a computer system. It holds together
many of the crucial components of a computer, including the central processing unit
(CPU), memory and connectors for input and output devices. The base of a
motherboard consists of a very firm sheet of non-conductive material, typically some
sort of rigid plastic. Thin layers of copper or aluminum foil, referred to as traces, are
printed onto this sheet. These traces are very narrow and form the circuits between the
various components. In addition to circuits, a motherboard contains a number of
sockets and slots to connect the other components.
 2. Processor ( Central Processing 5

Unit)
processor is an essential part of any computer
since, without such a chip unit, it's unable to
perform any operations or run any software.
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Computer software is encoded in machine

language, which is a numeric code that CPUs
understand and process as a series of simple
commands. CPUs communicate with other
devices installed on a computer, such as input
4 Function of CPU and output devices and memory chips.
1. Fetch
2. Encode
3. Execute
4. Store
3. RAM (Random Access Memory)
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computer's Random Access Memory

stores data for short-term use. RAM
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works in conjunction with the hard drive,

which takes care of long-term storage, to
provide quick access to files that the
computer is actively reading or writing.
Unlike hard drive memory, however,
program data stored in RAM is erased
when you reboot the computer or when
another program needs the space for its
own use.
 4. HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 7

hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or

fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage
device that uses magnetic storage to store and
retrieve digital data using one or more rigid
rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic
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material. The platters are paired with magnetic

heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator
arm, which read and write data to the platter
surfaces.Data is accessed in a random-access
manner, meaning that individual blocks of data
can be stored and retrieved in any order. HDDs
are a type of non-volatile storage, retaining
stored data even when powered off.
 5. Video Card
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video card is a printed circuit board (like a

motherboard) and contains its own processing
unit and memory. It is like a kind of computer
in itself. This essentially takes the load off the
motherboard's CPU and memory to process
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images. The processing unit on a video card is

referred to as a graphics processing unit
(GPU). This is very similar to a CPU, but its
design is optimized to work with images. The
memory on a video card is very similar to the
regular random-access memory (or RAM) on a
motherboard. A video card connects to the
motherboard of a computer system using a
slot, typically an Accelerated Graphics Port
(AGP) or a Peripheral Component Interconnect
Express (PCIe) connection.
 6. Power 9

Supply

Power Supply is an electronic device of the computer

hardware that has the shape of a square / box and
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located at the rear of the computer case. The function of

the power supply itself to change the electric current
from the AC voltage into DC voltage to be supplied to the
computer hardware. Power Supply has an output voltage
that varies depending on the needs of individual
hardware components of the computer. Any type of
power supply there are two kinds: power supply AT and
ATX power supply type.
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Chapter 2
Parts of
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Motherboard

By: Naval , Rachelle

P.
I BTLEd - ICT
 Motherboard
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motherboard is one of the most essential parts of a

computer system. It holds together many of the crucial
components of a computer, including the central
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processing unit (CPU), memory and connectors for input

and output devices. The base of a motherboard consists
of a very firm sheet of non-conductive material, typically
some sort of rigid plastic. Thin layers of copper or
aluminum foil, referred to as traces, are printed onto this
sheet. These traces are very narrow and form the
circuits between the various components. In addition to
circuits, a motherboard contains a number of sockets
and slots to connect the other components.
 Parts of Motherboard
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 •Rom
Short for read-only memory, ROM is a storage medium that is used 13

with computers and other electronic devices. As the name indicates,

data stored in ROM may only be read.

•Southbridge
Southbridge is a reference to a chipset on a PC motherboard. It is a
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group of microchips designed for a single function and manufactured as

a single unit. This chipset controls or manages input and output (I/O).

• PCI Slots
PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interface (or interconnect,
depending on who you talk to). This means that it allows you to
insert expansion cards into your computer. These can come in the
form of sound cards, RAID cards, SSDs, graphics cards, Coprocessors,
and several other functional computer parts.
 •BackUp Battery
Modern personal computer motherboards have a backup battery to run14
the real-time clock circuit and retain configuration memory while the
system is turned off. This is often called the CMOS battery or BIOS
battery.
•AGP Slot
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An accelerated graphics port (AGP) is a point to point channel that is used

for high speed video output. This port is used to connect graphic cards to a
computer's motherboard. The primary purpose of an AGP is to accelerate
3D graphics output for high definition video.

• Connector for Peripherals

It holds, and allows, communication between many of the crucial
electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit
(CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals.
 • CPU socket 15
The processor socket (also called a CPU socket) is the connector on the
motherboard that houses a CPU and forms the electrical interface and contact
with the CPU. Processor sockets use a pin grid array (PGA) where pins on the
underside of the processor connect to holes in the processor socket.
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• CPU Heat Sink

A heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink) is a passive heat exchanger that
transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid
medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the
device, thereby allowing regulation of the device's temperature at optimal
levels.

•Power Connector
Power connectors are devices that allows an electrical current to
pass through it for the exclusive purpose of providing power to a
device (not a data stream, for example, or anything more complex).
 •Ram Memory Slot
memory slot or RAM slot is what allows computer memory (RAM) chip/stick 16
to be inserted into the computer. Depending on the motherboard, there will
usually be 2 to 4 memory slots (sometimes more on high-end motherboards)
and are what determine the type of RAM used with the computer.

•Hard Disk Slot

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Connect solid-state drives to the high-speed SATA slots and mechanical disk drives to
the lower-speed slots. Older motherboards might have parallel advanced technology
attachment slots. PATA slots resemble PCI and PCIe slots more than they resemble
SATA slots.

• North bridge
A northbridge or host bridge is one of the two chips in the core logic
chipset architecture on a PC motherboard, the other being the
southbridge. Unlike the southbridge, northbridge is connected
directly to the CPU via the front-side bus (FSB) and is thus responsible
for tasks that require the highest performance.
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The End
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