Function and types of Computer cards

Computer cards are devices which are used to connect peripheral components. They are a printed circuit board used to accomplish a specific task. These types of cards can be connected to a computer in two ways:

Using the PCI slots on a motherboard

This is a typical interface used mostly. If the onboard card fails to work, it is possible to plug a new card on the PCI slot and continue your work. This is one of the advantages of having PCI slots on a motherboard.

Built-in on a motherboard

Current computer already have all the main cards integrated with the main board, no need to buy additional cards. Unless for better performance specially if you are in video gaming and graphical applications.

Several kinds of cards can be fitted on a computer. Modern computer incorporates at least graphics, sound and network cards on the main board means they are built with the motherboard.

Internal modem and TV cards are the other types of cards which can be hooked on PCI slot.

Types of PC cards
Graphics card enables to display images and videos on screen Sound card enables to play music on a computer

Network card allows computers to communicate each other Modem card used to connect to a telephone line to get dialup internet service

How Sound Cards Work

Computer Hardware Image Gallery

A sound card allows a computer to create and record real, high-quality sound. See more computer hardware pictures. Photo courtesy HowStuffWorks Shopper

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Before the invention of the sound card, a PC could make one sound - a beep. Although the computer could change the beep's frequency and duration, it couldn't change the volume or create other sounds. At first, the beep acted primarily as a signal or a warning. Later, developers created music for the earliest PC games using beeps of different pitches and lengths. This music was not particularly realistic -- you can hear samples from some of these soundtracks atCrossfire Designs. Fortunately, computers' sound capabilities increased greatly in the 1980s, when several manufacturers introduced add-on cards dedicated to controllingsound. Now, a computer with a sound card can do far more than just beep. It can produce 3-D audio for games or surround sound playback for DVDs. It can also capture and record sound from external sources.

In this article, you'll learn how a sound card allows a computer to create and record real, high-quality sound.
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A sound card must translate between sound waves and bits and bytes.

Analog vs. Digital

Sounds and computer data are fundamentally different. Sounds are analog - they are made of waves that travel through matter. People hear sounds when these waves physically vibrate their eardrums. Computers, however, communicate digitally, using electrical impulses that represent 0s and 1s. Like a graphics card, a sound card translates between a computer's digital information and the outside world's analog information.

Sound is made of waves that travel through a medium, such as air or water. The most basic sound card is a printed circuit board that uses four components to translate analog and digital information:

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) An ISA or PCI interface to connect the card to the motherboard Input and output connections for a microphone and speakers

Instead of separate ADCs and DACs, some sound cards use a coder/decoder chip, also called a CODEC, which performs both functions. In the next section, we'll explore the analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions that take place on the sound card.
X-FI

One of the newest advances in sound card technology is , or Xtreme Fidelity, from SoundBlaster manufacturer Creative. features: "Active Modal Architecture," which gives people different sound options for games, leisure use or music creation A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) with 51 million transistors


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Multiple processing engines, each of which performs specific sound operations A 24-bit Crystallizer, which reverses some of the sound quality loss inherent in 16-bit CD recording
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An analog-to-digital converter measures sound waves at frequent intervals.

ADCs and DACs

Imagine using your computer to record yourself talking. First, you speak into a microphone that you have plugged into your sound card. The ADC translates the analog waves of your voice into digital data that the computer can understand. To do this, it samples, or digitizes, the sound by taking precise measurements of the wave at frequent intervals. The number of measurements per second, called the sampling rate, is measured in kHz. The faster a card's sampling rate, the more accurate its reconstructed wave is. If you were to play your recording back through the speakers, the DAC would perform the same basic steps in reverse. With accurate measurements and a fast sampling rate, the restored analog signal can be nearly identical to the original sound wave. Even high sampling rates, however, cause some reduction in sound quality. The physical process of moving sound through wires can also cause distortion. Manufacturers use two measurements to describe this reduction in sound quality: Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), expressed as a percentage Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), measured in decibels For both THD and SNR, smaller values indicate better quality. Some cards also support digital input, allowing people to store digital recordings without converting them to an analog format. Next, we'll look at the other components commonly found on sound cards and what they do.
METHODS OF SOUND CREATION

Computers and sound cards can use several methods to create sounds. One is frequency modulation (FM) synthesis, in which the computer overlaps multiple sound waves to make more complex wave shapes. Another is wave table synthesis, which uses samples of real instruments to replicate musical sounds. Wave table synthesis often uses several samples of the same instrument played at

different pitches to provide more realistic sounds. In general, wave table synthesis creates more accurate reproductions of sound than FM synthesis.
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A PCI sound card

Other Sound Card Components

In addition to the basic components needed for sound processing, many sound cards include additional hardware or input/output connections, including: Digital Signal Processor (DSP): Like a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP is a specializedmicroprocessor. It takes some of the workload off of the computer's CPU by performing calculations for analog and digital conversion. DSPs can process multiple sounds, or channels, simultaneously. Sound cards that do not have their own DSP use the CPU for processing. Memory: As with a graphics card, a sound card can use its own memory to provide faster data processing. Input and Output Connections: Most sound cards have, at the very minimum, connections for a microphone and speakers. Some include so many input and output connections that they have abreakout box, which often mounts in one of the drive bays, to house them. These connections include: Multiple speaker connections for 3-D and surround sound Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF), a file transfer protocol for audio data. It uses either coaxial or optical connections for input to and output from the sound card. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), used to connect synthesizers or other electronic instruments to their computers. FireWire and USB connections, which connect digital audio or video recorders to the sound card Game designers use 3-D sound to provide fast-paced, dynamic sound that changes based on a player's position in the game. In addition to using sound from different directions, this technology allows realistic recreations of sound traveling around or through obstacles. Surround sound also uses sound from

several directions, but the sound does not change based on the listener's actions. Surround sound is common inhome theater systems. Like a graphics card, a sound card uses software to help it communicate with applications and with the rest of the computer. This software includes the card's drivers, which allow the card to communicate with theoperating system. It also includes application program interfaces (APIs), which are sets of rules or standards that make it easier for software to communicate with the card. The most common APIs include: Microsoft: DirectSound Creative: Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) and Open AL Sensaura: MacroFX QSound Labs: QSo Next, we'll look at integrated motherboard and external sound control options.
3-D VS SURROUND SOUND AND DRIVERS & APIS

Game designers use 3-D sound to provide fast-paced, dynamic sound that changes based on a player's position in the game. In addition to using sound from different directions, this technology allows realistic recreations of sound traveling around or through obstacles. Surround sound also uses sound from several directions, but the sound does not change based on the listener's actions. Surround sound is common in home theater systems. Like a graphics card, a sound card uses software to help it communicate with applications and with the rest of the computer. This software includes the card's drivers, which allow the card to communicate with the operating system. It also includes application program interfaces (APIs), which are sets of rules or standards that make it easier for software to communicate with the card. The most common APIs include:
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Microsoft: DirectSound Creative: Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) and Open AL Sensaura: MacroFX QSound Labs: QSound
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External sound controller Photo courtesy HowStuffWorks Shopper

Other Options for Sound Control

Not every computer has a sound card. Some motherboards feature integrated audio support instead. Amotherboard that has its own DSP can process multiple data streams. It may also support 3-D positional and Dolby surround sound. However, in spite of these features, most reviewers agree that separate sound cards provide better audio quality. Laptops usually have integrated sound capabilities on their motherboards or small sound cards. However, space and temperature control considerations make top-of-the-line internal cards impractical. So, laptop users can purchase external sound controllers, which use USB or FireWire connections. These external modules can significantly improve laptop sound quality. For more information on sound cards and related topics, check out the links on the following page.
SHOPPING FOR A SOUND CARD

Numerous factors affect a sound card's abilities to provide clear, high-quality sound. When shopping for a sound card, pay attention to: ADC and DAC data capacity, measured in bits Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and total harmonic distortion (THD) Frequency response, or how loudly the card can play sounds at different frequencies Sampling rate Output channels, such as 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound Supported application programming interfaces (APIs) Certifications, including Dolby Master and THX

Anyone investing in a top-of-the-line sound card should also have high-quality speakers. Even the best sound card cannot compensate for poor speaker quality.

How Graphics Cards Work

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Computer Hardware Image Gallery Graphics cards take data from the CPU and turn it into pictures. See more computer hardware pictures.

The images you see on yourmonitor are made of tiny dots called pixels. At most common resolution settings, a screen displays over a million pixels, and the computer has to decide what to do with every one in order to create an image. To do this, it needs a translator -- something to take binary data from the CPU and turn it into a picture you can see. Unless a computer has graphics capability built into themotherboard, that translation takes place on the graphics card. A graphics card's job is complex, but its principles and components are easy to understand. In this article, we will look at the basic parts of a video card and what they do. We'll also examine the factors that work together to make a fast, efficient graphics card. Think of a computer as a company with its own art department. When people in the company want a piece of artwork, they send a request to the art department. The art department decides how to create the image and then puts it on paper. The end result is that someone's idea becomes an actual, viewable picture. A graphics card works along the same principles. The CPU, working in conjunction with software applications, sends information about the image to the graphics card. The graphics card decides how to use the pixels on the screen to create the image. It then sends that information to the monitor through a cable. Creating an image out of binary data is a demanding process. To make a 3-D image, the graphics card first creates a wire frame out of straight lines. Then, it rasterizes the image (fills in the remaining pixels).

It also adds lighting, texture and color. For fast-paced games, the computer has to go through this process about sixty times per second. Without a graphics card to perform the necessary calculations, the workload would be too much for the computer to handle. The graphics card accomplishes this task using four main components: A motherboard connection for data and power A processor to decide what to do with each pixel on the screen Memory to hold information about each pixel and to temporarily store completed pictures A monitor connection so you can see the final result Next, we'll look at the processor and memory in more detail.
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Graphics cards take data from the CPU and turn it into pictures. Find out the parts of a graphics card and read expert reviews of graphics cards. 2008 HowStuffWorks

The GPU
Like a motherboard, a graphics card is a printed circuit board that houses a processor and RAM. It also has an input/output system(BIOS) chip, which stores the card's settings and performs diagnostics on the memory, input and output at startup. A graphics card's processor, called agraphics processing unit (GPU), is similar to a computer's CPU. A GPU, however, is designed specifically for performing the complex mathematical and geometric calculations that are necessary for graphics rendering. Some of the fastest GPUs have more transistors than the average CPU. A GPU produces a lot of heat, so it is usually located under a heat sink or a fan. In addition to its processing power, a GPU uses special programming to help it analyze and use data. ATIand nVidia produce the vast majority of GPUs on the market, and both companies have developed their own enhancements for GPU performance. To improve image quality, the processors use: Full scene anti aliasing (FSAA), which smoothes the edges of 3-D objects

Anisotropic filtering (AF), which makes images look crisper Each company has also developed specific techniques to help the GPU apply colors, shading, textures and patterns. As the GPU creates images, it needs somewhere to hold information and completed pictures. It uses the card's RAM for this purpose, storing data about each pixel, its color and its location on the screen. Part of the RAM can also act as a frame buffer, meaning that it holds completed images until it is time to display them. Typically, video RAM operates at very high speeds and is dual ported, meaning that the system can read from it and write to it at the same time. The RAM connects directly to the digital-to-analog converter, called the DAC. This converter, also called the RAMDAC, translates the image into an analog signal that the monitor can use. Some cards have multiple RAMDACs, which can improve performance and support more than one monitor. You can learn more about this process in How Analog and Digital Recording Works. The RAMDAC sends the final picture to the monitor through a cable. We'll look at this connection and other interfaces in the next section.
THE EVOLUTION OF GRAPHICS CARDS

Graphics cards have come a long way since IBM introduced the first one in 1981. Called aMonochrome Display Adapter (MDA), the card provided text-only displays of green or white text on a black screen. Now, the minimum standard for new video cards is Video Graphics Array (VGA), which allows 256 colors. With high-performance standards like Quantum Extended Graphics Array (QXGA), video cards can display millions of colors at resolutions of up to 2040 x 1536 pixels.
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This Radeon X800XL graphics card has DVI, VGA and ViVo connections.

PCI Connection

Graphics cards connect to the computer through the motherboard. The motherboard supplies power to the card and lets it communicate with the CPU. Newer graphics cards often require more power than the motherboard can provide, so they also have a direct connection to the computer's power supply. Connections to the motherboard are usually through one of three interfaces: Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) Advanced graphics port (AGP) PCI Express (PCIe) PCI Express is the newest of the three and provides the fastest transfer rates between the graphics card and the motherboard. PCIe also supports the use of two graphics cards in the same computer. Most graphics cards have two monitor connections. Often, one is a DVI connector, which supports LCDscreens, and the other is a VGA connector, which supports CRT screens. Some graphics cards have two DVI connectors instead. But that doesn't rule out using a CRT screen; CRT screens can connect to DVI ports through an adapter. At one time, Apple made monitors that used the proprietary Apple Display Connector (ADC). Although these monitors are still in use, new Apple monitors use a DVI connection. Most people use only one of their two monitor connections. People who need to use two monitors can purchase a graphics card with dual head capability, which splits the display between the two screens. A computer with two dual head, PCIe-enabled video cards could theoretically support four monitors. In addition to connections for the motherboard and monitor, some graphics cards have connections for: TV display: TV-out or S-video Analog video cameras: ViVo or video in/video out Digital cameras: FireWire or USB Some cards also incorporate TV tuners. Next, we'll look at how to choose a good graphics card.
DIRECTX AND OPEN GL

DirectX and Open GL are application programming interfaces, or APIs. An API helps hardware and software communicate more efficiently by providing instructions for complex tasks, like 3-D rendering. Developers optimize graphics-intensive games for specific APIs. This is why the newest games often require updated versions of DirectX or Open GL to work correctly. APIs are different from drivers, which are programs that allow hardware to communicate with a computer's operating system. But as with updated APIs, updated device drivers can help programs run correctly.
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Some cards, like the ATI All-in-Wonder, include connections for televisions and video as well as a TV tuner. Photo courtesy of HowStuffWorks Shopper

Choosing a Good Graphics Card

A top-of-the-line graphics card is easy to spot. It has lots of memoryand a fast processor. Often, it's also more visually appealing than anything else that's intended to go inside a computer's case. Lots of highperformance video cards are illustrated or have decorative fans or heat sinks. But a high-end card provides more power than most people really need. People who use their computers primarily for e-mail, word processing or Web surfing can find all the necessary graphics support on a motherboard with integrated graphics. A mid-range card is sufficient for most casual gamers. People who need the power of a high-end card include gaming enthusiasts and people who do lots of 3-D graphic work. A good overall measurement of a card's performance is its frame rate, measured in frames per second (FPS). The frame rate describes how many complete images the card can display per second. The human eye can process about 25 frames every second, but fast-action games require a frame rate of at least 60 FPS to provide smooth animation and scrolling. Components of the frame rate are: Triangles or vertices per second: 3-D images are made of triangles, or polygons. This measurement describes how quickly the GPU can calculate the whole polygon or the vertices that define it. In general, it describes how quickly the card builds a wire frame image. Pixel fill rate: This measurement describes how many pixels the GPU can process in a second, which translates to how quickly it can rasterize the image. The graphics card's hardware directly affects its speed. These are the hardware specifications that most affect the card's speed and the units in which they are measured: GPU clock speed (MHz)

Size of the memory bus (bits) Amount of available memory (MB) Memory clock rate (MHz) Memory bandwidth (GB/s) RAMDAC speed (MHz) The computer's CPU and motherboard also play a part, since a very fast graphics card can't compensate for a motherboard's inability to deliver data quickly. Similarly, the card's connection to the motherboard and the speed at which it can get instructions from the CPU affect its performance. For more information on graphics cards and related topics, check out the links on the following page.
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS AND OVERLOCKING

Many motherboards have integrated graphics capabilities and function without a separate graphics card. These motherboards handle 2-D images easily, so they are ideal for productivity and Internet applications. Plugging a separate graphics card into one of these motherboards overrides the onboard graphics functions. Some people choose to improve their graphics card's performance by manually setting their clock speed to a higher rate, known as overclockings. People usually overclock their memory, since overclocking the GPU can lead to overheating. While overclocking can lead to better performance, it also voids the manufacturer's warranty.