Lesson Parts of the Computer System

2 Case, Internal System Unit, and

Motherboard!

Components of the Computer System Case

The computer case serves mainly as a way to physically mount and contain
all of the actual components inside of a computer, like a motherboard, hard drive,
optical drive, floppy disk drive, etc. They typically come bundled with a power supply.

Computer System Case is the enclosure for all the interior components of a
computer. It has ports, drives, and connection on the external part of the case to
connect other devices and peripherals. It is also called the system case or computer

Components of a System Case

1. Drive bay – is a standard-

sized area for adding
hardware to a computer.

2. Power supply – is an
electronic device that
supplies electric energy to
the computer.

3. Ports –refer to the female

part of the connection that is
used to connect a monitor,
webcam, speakers, or other
peripherals devices.

1
4. Connector –is a wire that
joins electrical circuits
together. It can either be a
male (with pins) or female
(with holes).

Computer System Case (Front and Back)

The Internal System Unit

The computer is a collection of different devices connected to a central

processing unit (CPU). The system unit encloses and connect some of the hardware
components that make up the computer system.

The Two Most Important Parts of the Internal System

1. Microprocessor – is the one that

controls and processes data
information.

2
2. Memory Units or Random Access
Memory (RAM) – is inserted or placed
in a slot on the motherboard.

Inside the System Unit

The system unit in the main case of a computer. The system unit contains the CPU
or microprocessor, disk drives, memory, power supply, sound card, video card, and
cooling fan.

3
 Parts of the Internal System Unit

Other Parts of the Internal System Unit

Three Kinds of Memory

1. RAM (Random Access Memory) is also called the main memory. Data and
programs are placed here while the CPU is processing them.

2. ROM (Read Only Memory) –stores important programs for example, to start
the computer. ROM information cannot be erased even when power is off.

3. CMOS – Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) stores the date,

calendar, and current time of the computer. It powered by batteries.

Common Types of Internal Storage

1. Hard Disk Drive or HDD - is spanning data storage device used for storing and
retrieving digital information.

2. Solid State Drive - is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit
assemblies as memory to store data while the computer system is off. It has no
moving (mechanical) components, unlike HDD.

Power Supply - provides power to the CPU, motherboard, hard disk, and
components inside the computer. It contains a transformer, voltage control, and a
cooling fan.

Video Card - also known as the graphic accelerator card or simply graphics card its
main function is to generate video and images to a display such as monitor.

Sound Card - is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates economical

input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer
programs.

4
Internal Buses - carry the data or information around different components in the
computer.

Types of buses

1. Internal Bus – is also called internal data bus, memory bus, system bus, or
Front-Side-Bus (FSB). It connects all the internal components of a computer
(such as CPU and memory) to the motherboard.
2. External Bus - connects the different external devices, expansion slots, I/O
ports, and drive connection to the computer. Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP),
Universal Serial Bus (USB), and FireWire are examples of the external busses.

Cooling System - is needed to ensure that the processor chip is cooled to a level that
it operates efficiently.

Heat sink – is a metal component attached to the CPU with fins designed to dissipate
heat and therefore cool processor.

Parts of the Motherboard

(Source: https://sites.google.com/site/websiteofchsg10/parts-of-motherboard)

5
Parts of the Motherboard

1. CPU
 Central processing unit or microprocessor is the
brain of the computer where most calculation take
place.
 The most common microprocessors are either made
by Intel Corporation or by Advanced Micro Devices
Incorporated (AMD).

2. Fan and Heat Sink - is an electronic device that

incorporates a fan and an active cooling solution to
keep the CPU cool.

3. BIOS Chip - Basic Input/ Output System or BIOS

contains program or code that helps the processor to
interact and control the other components in the
computer like monitor, printer, microphone, disc
drives, sound card, network cards, USB ports, hard
drives, and
other peripheral devices.

4. I/O System - is the communication or sig nals between an information

processing system (computer) and the outsi de world (people or
another
information processing system) via serial ports or parallel ports.
w you to add other
5. BUS/Expansion Slot - are PCI slots that allo functions
in the computer like modem, Ethernet card, cards. sound card, and other
add-in
the date, time and sets
6. CMOS Storage Chip - allows you to modify the
loading procedure when the computer starts . CMOS Setup allows
you to
activate or deactivate different hardware com ponents that are
connected to
the computer such as video card, sound card, USB, and other ports.

7. CMOS Backup Battery - is a small battery attached

directly to the motherboard that maintains the time,
date, hard disk, and other configuration settings in the
CMOS memory.

6
8. Northbridge Interface - connects the CPU to the RAM,
level 2 cache, the PCI video card, express bus, Ethernet,
Memory bus, and Front-side bus (FSB).

9. Southbridge Interface - handles all the inputs and

outputs to the many devices connected to the
computer. It coordinates the flow of data between the
CPU and peripherals and holds the PC express, PCI,
USB, SATA, BIOS, and I/O devices like keyboard,
mouse, USB, audio, video, etc.

10. IDE Disk Drive Connection - IDE or ATA is used to

connect hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, and similar
peripherals

11. SATA Port Connection - serial ATA or SATA is a single

cable with a minimum of four wires creates a point-to-
point connection between devices.

12. Memory Slots - allow computer memory (RAM)

chip/stick to be inserted into the computer. Examples:
DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, and DRAM

ed video card that

13. Video Card Slots - used to connect preferr shows the
output display of the computer to the monitor .

14. Power Connectors and Cables

supply to give power

the

Power Connectors are attached to the power motherboard

and the other components.

7
 ion to
various parts of the

Wires and Cables - to carry data or informat

computer system.

15. Back Panel Connectors - are plugs and ports used to

connect to the external elements and are located at the
back of the computer case. These are connectors for
external components like keyboard, mouse, monitor,
speakers, printer, scanner, etc.

16. Front Panel Connectors - are used to connect to the

external elements and are located in front of the
computer case such as power and reset buttons, audio
connectors (earphone and microphone), USB
connectors, and optical drive.