St.

Nicolas College of Business and Technology

Information Technology Department

IT111 – ICT1
Introduction to
Personal Computer
Understanding Important Computer Parts

BY: ELAIZA B. ESPARAZ

Introduction

Why Understanding
Computer Parts is
Important?
• Troubleshooting
Customization

• Upgrading Efficiency
 INTRODUCTION

How to keep
Personal Computer
Components Safe?
 How to keep Personal
Computer Component Safe?

• Avoid Physical Damage

• Prevent Static Electricity Damage
• Maintain a Clean Environment
• Ensure Proper Ventilation
• Power Management
• Keep Software Updated
• Backup Important Data
• Be Cautious with Physical Connections
 How to keep Personal
Computer Component Safe?
Personal Computers

Electrical Safety
• Electrical devices have certain power requirements.

• Ac adapters are manufactured for specific laptops.

• Exchanging ac adapters with a different type of laptop or

device may cause damage to both the ac adapter and the
laptop.
• Some printer parts, such as power supplies, contain high Follow electrical safety
guidelines to prevent
voltage. Check the printer manual for the location of high- electrical fires, injuries,
and fatalities.

voltage components.
 How to keep Personal Computer Component
Safe?
Electrical and ESD Safety

ESD
• Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can occur when there is a buildup of an electric charge that
exists on a surface which meets another differently charged surface.
• ESD can cause damage to computer equipment if not discharged properly.
• At least 3,000 volts of static electricity must build up before a person can feel ESD.

Follow these recommendations to help prevent ESD

damage:

▪Keep all components in antistatic bags until you are ready

to install them.
▪Use grounded mats on workbenches.
▪Use grounded floor mats in work areas.
▪Use antistatic wrist straps when working inside computers.
Basic Parts of Computer

Basic Parts of Computer

Basic Parts of a Computer
PC Components

Cases
The case houses the internal components such as the power supply,
motherboard, central processing unit (CPU), memory, disk drives, and
assorted adapter cards.
The term form factor refers to the physical design and look of a case.
Common desktop computers are available in form factors including:

⮚Horizontal case
⮚Full-Size Tower
⮚Compact Tower
⮚All-in-one
Many case manufacturers may have their own naming conventions,
including super tower, full tower, mid tower, mini tower, cube case,
and more.
Basic Parts of a Computer
PC Components

Power Supply

• Computers use a power supply to convert AC power into a lower

voltage DC power required by internal components.
• Desktop computer power supply form factors include:

• Advanced Technology (AT) – original power supply

for legacy computer systems
• AT Extended (ATX) – updated version of the AT
• ATX12V – the most common power supply on the
market today
• EPS12V – originally designed for network servers
but is now commonly used in high-end desktop
models.
Basic Parts of a Computer
PC Components

Power Supply Connectors

• A power supply includes several different connectors. They are

used to power various internal components such as the
motherboard and disk drives.
Some examples are:
•20-pin or 24-pin slotted connector
•SATA keyed connector
•Molex keyed connector
•Berg keyed connector
•4-pin to 8-pin auxiliary power connector
•6/8-pin PCIe power connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Power Supply Connectors

20-pin Or 24-pin Slotted
Connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Power Supply Connectors

SATA Keyed Connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Power Supply Connectors

MOLEX Keyed Connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Power Supply Connectors

BERG Keyed Connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Power Supply Connectors

4-PIN to 8-PIN Auxiliary Power
Connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Power Supply Connectors

6/8-PIN PCIe Power Connector
Basic Parts of a Computer
PC Components

Power Supply Voltage

• The different connectors in a power supply also provide different

voltages.
• The most common voltages supplied are 3.3 volts, 5 volts, and 12
volts.
• The 3.3 volt and 5-volt supplies are typically used by digital
circuits, while the 12-volt supply is used to run motors in disk
drives and fans.
▪Power supplies can also be single rail, dual rail, or multi
rail.
▪A rail is the printed circuit board (PCB) inside the power
supply to which the external cables are connected.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard
• The motherboard is the backbone of the
computer.

• It is a printed circuit board (PCB) that

contains buses, or electrical pathways,
that interconnect electronic components.

• These components may be soldered

directly to the motherboard, or added using
sockets, expansion slots, and ports.
 Basic Parts of a Computer

Major components on a motherboard include:

• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Random Access Memory (RAM)
• Expansion slots
• Chipset
• Basic input/output system (BIOS) chip and Unified Extensible
Firmware Interface (UEFI) chip

• SATA connectors
• Internal USB connector
• Front Panel Connector
• Back Panel Ports
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
Random Access Memory (RAM)
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
Chipset
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Chipset
• Chipset consists of the integrated
circuits on the motherboard that
control how system hardware
interacts with the CPU and
motherboard.

• Most chipsets consist of the following two types:

• Northbridge – Controls high speed access to the RAM and video card .

• Southbridge – Allows the CPU to communicate with slower speed devices including hard drives, Universal
Serial Bus (USB) ports, and expansion slots.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
Basic input/output system (BIOS) chip and
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) chip

A BIOS Chip is
Firmware that
contains software used
in systems
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components

BIOS — Basic Input Output System

• The BIOS is special software that interfaces the major hardware components of your
computer with the operating system.
• BIOS is the interface between hardware and software allowing them to communicate with
each other.
• It is usually stored on a Flash memory chip on the motherboard, but sometimes the chip
is another type of ROM.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components

BIOS — Basic Input Output System

• Its most important role is to load the operating system.

• When a system boots its BIOS that runs the system until the operating system loads and
takes control.
• In 2003 Intel introduced UEFI. UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is meant to
completely replace BIOS.
• UEFI is another small operating system that interfaces between the hardware and
Windows.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components

BIOS — Basic Input Output System

When you turn on your computer, the BIOS does several things. This is its usual sequence :

1. Check the CMOS Setup for custom settings

2. Load the interrupt handlers and device drivers
3. Initialize registers and power management
4. Perform the power-on self-test (POST)
5. Display system settings
6. Determine which devices are bootable
7. Initiate the bootstrap sequence
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
SATA Slot
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
USB plug and Internal USB connector
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
Front Panel Connectors
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Components
Back Panel Ports
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Motherboard Form Factors

• The form factor of motherboards pertains to the size

and shape of the board.
• There are three common motherboard form factors:
advanced technology extended (ATX), MICRO-ATX, and
ITX.

The choice of motherboard form factor

determines how individual components
attach to it, the type of power supply
required, and the shape of the computer
case.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Cooling System
• Computer components perform better when kept cool.
• Computers are kept cool using active and passive cooling
solutions
• Active solutions require power while passive solutions do not.

▪Passive solutions for cooling usually involve

reducing the speed at which a component is
operating or adding heat sinks to computer chips.

▪A case fan is considered as active cooling.

 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Types of Memory
• A computer might use different types of memory chips.

• All memory chips store data in the form of bytes.

• A byte is a block of eight bits stored as either 0 or 1 in the memory chip.

• Read-Only Memory (ROM) – such as ROM chip. (Non-volatile)

▪Random Access Memory (RAM) is the temporary working
storage for data and programs that are being accessed by the
CPU. RAM is volatile memory.
▪Adding more RAM in a computer enhances the system
performance. However, the maximum amount of RAM that can
be installed is limited by the motherboard.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Types of ROM

• Types of Read-only Memory (ROM)

include:
• ROM chips.
• PROM chips.
• EPROM chips
• EEPROM chips
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Types of RAM

• Types of Random Access Memory (RAM) include:

• Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

• Static RAM (SRAM)
• Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM)
• Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM)
• DDR2 Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR2 SDRAM)
• DDR3 Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR3 SDRAM)
• DDR4 Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR4 SDRAM)
• DDR5 Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR5 SDRAM)
• GDDR Synchronous Dynamic RAM (GDDR SDRAM)
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Memory Modules
• Memory chips are soldered to a circuit board to create a memory module which is placed into
a memory slot on the motherboard.
• Different types of memory modules include DIP, SIMM, DIMM memory, and SODIMM.
• The speed of memory has a direct impact on how much data a processor can process in each
period.
• The fastest memory is typically static RAM (SRAM) which is used as cache memory
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Memory Modules
▪The speed of memory has a direct impact on how much data a processor can process in
a given period of time.

▪The fastest memory is typically static RAM (SRAM) which is used as cache memory for
storing the most recently used data and instructions by the CPU.

▪The three most common types of cache memory are:

• L1 cache – integrated into the CPU

• L2 cache – was original mounted on the motherboard, but now
integrated into the CPU
• L3 cache – used some high-end workstations and server CPUs
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Memory Modules
▪Memory errors occur when the data is not stored correctly in the
memory chips. The computer uses different methods to detect and
correct data errors in memory.

▪Different types of error checking methods include:

•Nonparity – Nonparity memory does not check errors in memory.
•Parity – Parity memory contains 8 bits for data and 1 bit for error checking.
•ECC – Error Correction Code memory can detect multiple bit errors in memory
and correct single bit errors in memory
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Adapter Cards
▪Adapter cards increase the functionality of a computer by adding controllers for
specific devices or by replacing malfunctioning ports.
▪Common adapter cards include:

• Sound adapter
• Network Interface Card (NIC)
• Wireless NIC
• Video adapter or display adapter
• Capture card
• TV tuner card
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) controller card
• eSATA card
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Adapter Cards Slot / Expansion Slot

▪Computers have expansion slots on the motherboard to install adapter cards.
▪The type of adapter card connector must match the expansion slot.

▪Common expansion slots include:

•Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
•Mini-PCI
•PCI eXtended (PCI-X)
•PCI Express (PCIe)
•Riser card
•Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Types of Storage Devices

▪Data drives provide non-volatile storage of data.

▪Some drives have fixed media, and other drives have removable media.

Data storage devices can be classified according to the media

on which the data is stored:
• Magnetic – like hard disk drive and tape drive
• Solid state – like solid state drive
• Optical – like CD and DVD
• NVMe -Non-Volatile Memory Express
• M.2 -, also known as Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Storage Devices Interfaces

▪Storage devices inside a computer connect to the motherboard using Serial AT Attachment
(SATA) connections. The legacy interface is Parallel ATA (EIDE).

▪The interface standards define the way that data is transferred, the transfer rates, and
physical characteristics of the cables and connectors.

▪There are three main versions of the SATA standard: SATA 1, SATA 2, and SATA 3.

▪The cables and connectors are the same, but the data transfer speeds are different.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Magnetic Media Storage

▪This type of storage represents binary values as magnetized or non-magnetized
physical areas of magnetic media.

▪Common types of magnetic media storage drives:

• Hard Disk Drive (HDD) – the traditional magnetic disk devices with
storage capacity ranging from gigabytes (GBs) to terabytes (TBs).
• Tape Drive – most often used for archiving data.
•Tape drives use a magnetic read/write head and removable tape
cartridge.
•Common tape storage capacities vary between a few GBs to
many TBs.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Semiconductor Storage
▪Solid-state drives (SSD) store data as electrical charges in semiconductor flash memory. This
makes SSDs much faster than magnetic HDDs.
▪SSDs have no moving parts, make no noise, are more energy efficient, and produce less heat
than HDDs.

▪SSDs come in three form factors:

• Disc drive form factor – similar to an HDD

• Expansion cards – plugs directly into the motherboard and
mounts in the computer case like other expansion cards
• mSata or M.2 modules – these packages may use a special
socket. M.2 is a standard for computer expansion cards.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Semiconductor Storage
▪The Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) specification was developed
specifically to allow computers to take greater advantage of the features of SSDs
by providing a standard interface between SSDs, the PCIe bus, and operating
systems.
▪NVMe allows compliant SSD drives to attach to the PCIe bus without requiring
special drivers.

▪Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHDs) are a compromise between a magnetic HDD
and an SSD.
•They are faster than an HDD but less expensive than an SSD.
•They combine a magnetic HDD with onboard flash memory serving as a non-
volatile cache.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Types of Optical Storage Devices

▪Optical drives are removable media storage devices that use lasers to read and write data
on optical media.

▪They were developed to overcome the storage capacity limitations of removable magnetic
media such as floppy discs.

▪There are three types of optical drives:

• Compact Disc (CD) - audio and data

• Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) - digital video and data
• Blu-ray Disc (BD) - HD digital video and data
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Types of Optical Storage Devices

▪CD, DVD, and BD media can be pre-recorded (read only), recordable (write once), or re-
recordable (read and write multiple times).
▪DVD and BD media can also be single layer (SL) or dual layer (DL). Dual layer media
roughly doubles the capacity of a single disc.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Video Ports and Cables

▪A video port connects a monitor to a computer using a cable.

▪Video ports and monitor cables transfer analog signals, digital signals, or both.

▪Video ports and cables include:

• Digital Visual Interface (DVI)
• DisplayPort
• High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
• Thunderbolt 1 or 2
• Thunderbolt 3
• Video Graphics Array (VGA)
• Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Other Ports and Cables

▪Input/output (I/O) ports on a computer connect peripheral devices, such as printers,
scanners, and portable drives.

▪A computer may have other ports:

• Personal System 2 (PS/2)

• Audio and game port
• Network
• Serial AT Attachment (SATA)
• Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
• The Universal Serial Bus (USB)
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Adapter and Converter

▪There are many connection standards in use today. These components are called adapters
and converters:
• Converter – performing the same function as an adapter but also translates the signals from
one technology to the other.
▪Example of adapters include:
• Adapter – physically connecting one technology to another • DVI to VGA Adapter
• USB to Ethernet adapter
• USB to PS/2 adapter
• DVI to HDMI adapter
• Molex to SATA adapter
• HDMI to VGA converter
• HDMI to Ligthning converter
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

The Original Input Devices

▪Input devices all the user to communicate with a computer.

▪Some of the first input devices include:

• Keyboard and Mouse – these are the two most commonly used input devices
• ADF / Flatbed Scanner – these devices digitize an image or document
• Joystick and Gamepad – these devices are used for playing games
• KVM Switch – a hardware device that can be used to control more than one computer while
using a single keyboard, monitor, and mouse
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

New Input Devices

▪Some new input devices include touch screen, stylus, magnetic strip reader, and barcode
scanner:
• Touch screen – input devices with touch or pressure sensitive screens
• Stylus – a type of digitizer that allows a designer or artist to create artwork by using a pen-
like tool
• Magnetic strip reader – a device that reads information magnetically encoded on the back
of plastic cards
• Barcode scanner – a device that reads the information contained in the barcodes affixed to
products
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

More New Input Devices

▪A few newer input devices:
• Digital camera – devices that capture digital images and videos
• Webcams – video cameras that can be integrated into a computer
• Signature pad– a device that electronically captures a person’s signature
• Smart card reader – a device used on a computer to authenticate the user. A smart card may
be the size of a credit card with an embedded microprocessor that is typically under a gold
contact pad on one side of the card.
• Microphone – a device that allows a user to speak into a computer and have their voice
digitized
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Most Recent Input Devices

▪The newest input devices include NFC devices and terminals, facial recognition scanners, fingerprint
scanners, voice recognition scanners, and virtual reality headsets:
• NFC devices and terminals – Near Field Communication (NFC) tap to pay devices
• Facial recognition scanners – devices identifying a user based on unique facial features
• Fingerprint scanners – devices identifying a user based on unique fingerprint
• Voice recognition scanners – devices identifying a user based on unique voice
• Virtual reality headset – used with computer games, simulators, and training applications with virtual
reality functionalities.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

What are the Output Devices?

▪An output device takes binary information from the computer and converts it into a form that is easily
understood by the user.

▪Examples of output devices include monitors, projectors, VR headsets, printers, speakers, and
headphones.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

What are the Output Devices?

▪An output device takes binary information from the computer and converts it into a form that is easily
understood by the user.

▪Examples of output devices include monitors, projectors, VR headsets, printers, speakers, and
headphones.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Monitors and Projectors

▪Most monitors use one of three types of technology:

• Liquid crystal display (LCD)

• Light-emitting diode (LED)
• Organic LED (OLED)

▪Most video projectors use LCD or DLP technology.

• DLP stands for Digital Light Processing

• Different projectors have different numbers of lumens, which affects the level of brightness of the
projected image.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

VR and AR Headset
▪Virtual Reality (VR) uses computer technology to create a simulated,
three-dimensional environment.

▪A VR headset completely encases the upper portion of users’ faces, not

allowing in any ambient light from their surroundings.
▪Augmented Reality (AR) uses similar technology but superimposes
images and audio over the real world in real time.

▪AR can provide users with immediate access to information about their
real surroundings.

▪An AR headset usually does not close off ambient light to users,
allowing them to see their real-life surroundings.
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Printers
▪Printers are output devices that create hard copies of files.

▪A hard copy might be a on a sheet of paper. It could also be a plastic form created from a 3D printer.

▪Different types of printers:

• Inkjet, impact, thermal, laser, and 3D printers

• Printers use wired or wireless connections
• All printers require printing material (such as ink,
toner, liquid plastic, etc.)
• Printers use a driver to communicate with OS
 Basic Parts of a Computer
Personal Computers

Speakers and Headphones

▪Speakers are a type of auditory output device.

▪ Most computers and mobile devices have audio support either integrated into the motherboard or
on an adapter card.

▪Headphones, earbuds, and the earphones found in headsets are all auditory output devices.

▪These may be wired or wireless. Some are Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-enabled.

Networking Hardware Devices

Networking Hardware
 Network Devices
Network Hardware

Modems

What are modems used for?

A modem is the device that allows your computers, smartphones,

tablets, and other devices to connect to the internet. It does this by
converting digital signals from these devices into analog signals that
can be transmitted over telephone lines or cable networks.
 Network Devices
Network Hardware

Routers

Functions of a Router

A router serves as a crucial network device. It connects

multiple devices within a local area network (LAN) and
directs data traffic between them. It also assigns IP
addresses, enables communication between different
networks, implements security through firewalls, and
optimizes data flow by choosing the best paths for data
 Network Devices
Network Hardware

Switches

Functions of a Switch

Networking hardware that connects devices on

a computer network by using packet switching
to receive and forward data to the destination
 ST. NICOLAS
COLLEGE

THANK TOU
End of this presentation

ELAIZA B. ESPARAS
(045) 402-6108 / (045) 402-6109

[email protected]
https://snc.edu.ph/
Mel-Vi Bldg.JASA Ave. Dolores CSFP
 END OF
PRESENTATION