Computer Hardware

National Institute of Business Management - NIBM

 Contents…
• Computer Hardware Components
• PC Assembly
• Computer Troubleshooting and Maintenance
• Computer Security
Hardware Components
Hardware & Software
Hardware
All of the electronic and mechanical equipment in a
computer is called the hardware. Examples include:

• Motherboard
• Hard disk
• RAM
• Power supply
• Processor
• Case
• Monitor
• Keyboard
• Mouse
Hardware & Software
Software
The term software is used to describe computer
programs that perform a task or tasks on a computer
system. Software can be grouped as follows:

• System software - Operating System etc.

• Utility programs - BIOS, Partition, Antivirus etc.
• Applications Software - Word, Photoshop, etc.
PC Components
Computer system - collection of electronic and
mechanical devices operating as a unit. The main
parts are:
1. System unit
2. Monitor
3. Keyboard
4. Mouse
5. Speakers
2 1

3 4
System Unit
The system unit is the main container for system
devices. It protects the delicate electronic and
mechanical devices from damage. Typical system
unit devices include:

• Motherboard
• CPU (Processor)
• Memory
• Disk drives
• Ports - USB etc.
• Power supply
• Expansion cards - sound card, network
card, graphics card etc.
Peripherals
Peripherals are devices that connect to the system
unit using cables or wireless technologies. Typical
peripherals include:

• Monitor
• Keyboard
• Printer
• Plotter
• Scanner
• Speakers
Plotter
 The Computer System
Input Devices Mother Board Output Devices
Processor
• Key board RAM
VGA Adaptor • Monitor
• Mouse
Hard Disk • Printer
• Microphone
Power Supply • Speakers
• Scanner
• Web Cam
• MODEM
• MODEM
• Touch Screen
• Touch Screen
Monitors
Monitors System Unit • USB Pen
• USB Pen
drives
drives
• CD/DVD RW
• CD/DVD RW
• Floppy Drive
• Floppy Drive
 Basic Component Of a Computer
System Unit
 Casing  Storage devices
 Power Supply  Floppy disk
 Hard Disk
 Mother Board
 CD/DVD ROM
 Processor
 Sound Card
 Memory (RAM)
 Network Interface
 Display Adaptor
 Monitor
 AGP
/Keyboard/Mouse
 PCI Express
 Operating System
Casing

• Outer cover
• Two types: Desktop type casing

– Desktop type
– Tower type
• Ventilation is very
important.

Tower type casing

 Power Supply Unit (PSU)

• Power distribution unit.

• Inputs AC-240V/60Hz
• Outputs DC with
deferent voltages
• Wattage is very
important
– 350W
– 450W
 Power Supply Unit (PSU)
• Uses advances power management (APM) to allow
the computer go into a standby mode
• Some have a switch to toggle between 240 volt
supplies and 110 volt supplies.

• The main connections are:

3 4

1 2

Connects to the motherboard and supplies the 3.3 and 5

1 Main connector
volt supply for the board.

2 Molex connector Connects IDE hard drives and optical drives.

3 Berg connector Connects floppy disk drives

4 SATA connector Connects SATA drives

 Motherboard

Mainboard or system board - the main circuit board

for the computer system. All device in the computer
system will either be part of the motherboard or
connected to it.
Memory
Sockets
Processor
Socket
Chipset

PCI Slots
Ports
Graphics Slot
Motherboard
Chipset of MB
Chipset of MB
BIOS
• Basic Input / Output • Components
System (BIOS) – BIOS ROM
– boot the computer by • PC startup program (POST)
providing a basic set of – BIOS CMOS memory
instructions • house the configuration
– load the operating system information of individual PC
after turning on the computer
– perform POST (Power-On Self
Test)
– provide set-up program for
changing BIOS parameters
– provide low-level routines for
the communications between
OS and hardware devices
 Ports
Computer ports are interfaces between peripheral devices
and the computer. They are mainly found at the back of the
computer but are often also built into the front of the computer
chassis for easy access.
Ports at the rear of the computer

Ports at the front of the computer

Back panel of a Motherboard
• Serial port - a 9-pin port. Often called Com
ports - Com1, Com2 etc. Mice and external
modems were connected to these ports. They
are turquoise in colour.

• Parallel port - a 25-pin port used to connect

printers, scanners, external hard disks, zip
drives etc. to the computer. Burgundy in
colour, they are often called LPT ports -
LPT1, LPT2 etc.
• Video port - used to connect a monitor to the
computer system. There are two types:
• VGA port - This is a 15-pin port and is blue in
colour. It is an analogue port and is being replaced by
the DVI port.

• DVI port - white in colour, it is a digital port. This

means that no conversion is necessary between the
computer and the monitor and that means that images
can be produced more quickly on the monitor
• PS/2 port - used to connect keyboards and
mice to the computer. The keyboard port is
purple and the mouse port is green

• Modem port - used to connect a modem to a

telephone line. RJ11 is the technical term for the
port.
 • USB port - intended to replace Serial, Parallel
and PS/2 ports with a single standard. 127
devices can be connected to a single USB port.
Hot swappable - devices can be connected
and disconnected while the computer is on

There are different USB standards in use:

• USB 1 - original standard - transfer data of 1.5MBps.
• USB 2 - current standard - transfer rate of 60MBps.
• USB3 - future standard (2009) transfer rate of 600MBps.
• FireWire port - (IEEE 1394) is an Apple
technology There are two versions available
and a third is planned:

• FW 400 - transfer rate of 50MBps.

• FW 800 - transfer rate of 100MBps.
• FW S3200 - transfer rate of 400MBps.

• USB devices must be connected to a host

computer while FireWire devices can be
connected to each other without using a
computer.
• Ethernet port - used to connect to a network.
Known as RJ45, it is larger than a modem port.

• Audio ports - used to input and output audio

from the computer. Three mini jack ports but
there may be more:

• Light blue - Line in - connect external devices

• Lime - Connect the speakers to this port.
• Pink - Connect a microphone to this port.
PROCESSOR
• The processor installed
on a motherboard is the
primary component
that determines the
computing power of the
system
• Two major
manufacturers of
processors are:
– Intel (www.intel.com)
– AMD (www.amd.com)
Main Socket Types

PGA socket LGA Socket

Main Socket Types

• A pin grid array (PGA) socket

– Early Intel processors used PGA sockets, but they
caused problems because the small delicate pins
on the processor were easily bent as the
processor was installed in the socket.
• A land grid array (LGA) socket
– LGA sockets generally give better contacts than
PGA sockets, and the processor doesn’t have the
delicate pins so easily damaged during an
installation.

30
Processor Frequency

• The speed at which the processor operates

internally is called the processor frequency or
clock rate.
• For example:
– If the processor operates at 3.2 GHz

31
Three categories of processors currently
used
• 32-bit processors:
– These older processors are known as x86 processors
because Intel used the number 86 in the model number of
these processors. 32 bit OS
• Processors that can process 32 bits or 64 bits:
– These hybrid processors are known as x86-64 bit
processors.
– 32-bit OS or a 64-bit OS.
• 64-bit processors:
– Intel makes several 64-bit processors for workstations or
servers that use fully implemented 64-bit processing.

32
MEMORY SLOT
• Memory slots
– DIMM slots for
DRAM. (DDR RAM)

RAM
Random Access Memory (RAM)
• Random Access Memory (RAM) temporarily holds
data and instructions as the CPU processes them
• Memory modules used on a motherboard currently
are made of dynamic RAM /DRAM
• DRAM loses its data rapidly, and the memory
controller must refresh it several thousand times a
second.
Different types of DRAM
1. DIP - Dual in-line Package
2. SIPP - Single In-line Pin Package
3. SIMM (30-pin) - Single In-line
Memory Module
4. SIMM (72-pin) – Single In-line
Memory Module
5. DIMM (168-pin) - Dual In-line
Memory Module
6. DDR DIMM (184-pin) - Double
Data Rate Dual In-line Memory
Module
7. SO-DIMM – Simple Outline Dual
Inline Memory Module
 PC Assembly
• Random Access Memory (RAM) temporarily holds
data and instructions as the CPU processes them
• Memory modules used on a motherboard currently
are made of dynamic RAM /DRAM
• DRAM loses its data rapidly, and the memory
controller must refresh it several thousand times a
second.
• Things to Prepare before Assembly
• Anti-static wrist strap
• Set of screwdrivers and pliers
• Piece of cloth
• CPU Thermal compound (recommended)
• PC components
Step 1: Installing the motherboard
• Make sure you have all the components
in place and a nice, clean and big enough
place to work with.
• Put your antic-static wrist strap on to
prevent your components from getting
affected. Make sure your hands are clean
before starting.
• Unscrew and open the side doors of the
cabinet
• Lay the cabinet on its side
• Put the motherboard in place
• Drive in all the required screws on the
motherboard screw mounting points.
Step 2: Installing the CPU
• CPU is the heart of a computer so make
sure you handle it properly and do not
drop it or mishandle it.
• DO NOT touch the pins.
• Get hold of your motherboard and CPU
manual
• Lift the CPU lever on the motherboard
• Place the CPU properly on the
motherboard
• Pull down the lever to AMD

secure the CPU in place Processor

Step 3: Installing the heat sink
• After installing the processor we
proceed to installing the heat sink.
There are different kinds of heat
sinks that are bundled with the
processor and each has a different
way of installation.
• Place the heat sink on the processor
• Secure the heat sink with the lever
or screws.
• After this you will need to connect
the cable of the heat sink fan on the
motherboard.
Step 4: Installing the RAM
• The newer RAMs ie. DDR RAMs are easy to install as you
don’t have to worry about placing which side where into
the slot.
• DDR RAM terminals are split into 2 lengths to fit in to the
RAM connector.
• Push down the RAM into the slot
• Make sure the both the clips hold the RAM properly
Step 5: Installing the power
supply
• We will now install the
power supply as the
components we install after
this will require power
cables to be connected to
them.
• Place the PSU into the case
bracket
• Put the screws in place
tightly
Step 6: Installing the video card
• First you will need to find out whether your
video card is AGP or PCI-E. AGP graphics cards
have become redundant and are being phased
out of the market quickly.
• Remove the back plate on the case
corresponding to the graphics card
• Push the card into the slot
• Secure the card with a screw
Step 7: Installing the hard disk
• Hard disks are fragile and needs to handled
carefully.
• Place the hard drive into the bay
• Secure the drive with screws
• Connect the power cable from PSU to hard
disk
• Connect the PATA (IDE) or SATA cable from
motherboard into the drive
Step 8: Installing optical drive
• The installation an optical drive is exactly similar to an hard
drive.
• Place the optical drive into the bay
• Drive in the screws
• Connect the power cable and data cable
• Tip: When installing multiple optical drives take care of
jumper settings. Make sure you make one as primary and
other slave by using the jumper. This is not applicable if the
drives are SATA drives.
Step 9: Connecting various cables
• You will need to consult your motherboard manual
for finding the appropriate port for connecting
various cables at the right places on the
motherboard.
• Connect the large ATX power connector to the
power supply port on your motherboard
• Next get hold of the smaller square power connector
which supplies power to the processor and connect
it to the appropriate port by taking help from your
motherboard manual
• Connect the ATX case cables for power, reset button
in the appropriate port of the motherboard
• Connect the front USB/audio panel cable in the
motherboard
• Plug the cable of ATX case cooling fans
Step 10:
• Get the rest of the PC components like
monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers etc. which
we will connect now.
• Connect the VGA cable of the monitor into the
VGA port
• If mouse/keyboard are PS/2 then connect
them to PS/2 ports or else use the USB port
• Connect the speaker cable in the audio port
• Plug in the power cable from PSU into the UPS
• Also plug in the power cable of the monitor
Step 11: Installing the OS and drivers
• Insert OS CD/DVD into CD/DVD rom drive.
• Set the first boot device to CD/DVD drive in BIOS
• Pop in the OS disk
• Reboot the PC
• Install the OS
• Install drivers from motherboard CD (applicable only to
Windows OS)