Familiarization with the

Various Computer Systems’

Components and Peripherals
Major parts of a Computer:
Mother Board
Processor (CPU)
Memory (RAM)
Expansion Cards
Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
Floppy Disk Drive (FDD)
Optical Disc Drive
Monitor
Keyboard / Mouse
Power Supply
Casing
Other peripherals
Printer
Speaker
Scanner
External Hard Disk Drive
 What is a computer
motherboard?

A computer motherboard is the most

important part of a computer. It is the
main printed circuit board (PCB) in
the computer and is sometime
referred to as the system board or
mainboard.
 Parts of the Motherboard
Expansion Slots
Memory Slots
Processor Slot
Chipsets(Northbridge and Southbridge)
BIOS
CMOS Battery
Kinds of Connectors
Back Panel
 EXPANSION SLOTS

A socket in a computer, designed to hold

expansion boards and connect them to the system
bus.
 TYPES OF EXPANSION SLOT
ISA – Industry Standard Architecture
EISA – Extended Industry Standard
Architecture
PCI – Peripheral Component
Interconnect
CNR – Communication Network Riser
AMR – Audio Modem Riser
AGP – Accelerated Graphics Port
PCI-E – Peripheral Component
Interconnect Express
ISA - Industry Standard Architecture
 was introduced by IBM and was
originally an 8-bit computer bus that
was later expanded to a 16-bit bus in
1984.
EISA (Extended Industry Standard
Architecture) - first announced in
September of 1988 for IBM and IBM
compatible computers.
PCI (Peripheral component interconnect)
 computer to connect to peripheral add-
on devices, such as network cards,
sound cards, tv tuners, firewire cards,
graphics cards and many other types of
extension cards, allows for 32- or 64-bit
bus specification.
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
 is a high-speed point-to-point channel
for attaching a video card to a
computer's motherboard, primarily to
assist in the acceleration of 3D
computer graphics.
CNR (Communication Network Riser)
is a slot found on certain PC
motherboards and used for specialized
networking, audio, and telephony
equipment.
AMR (Audio Modem Riser)
 is an expansion slot found on the
motherboards of some Pentium III,
Pentium 4, and Athlon personal
computers. It was designed by Intel to
interface with chipsets and provide
analog functionality, such as sound
cards and modems, on an expansion
card.
 PCI-E (Peripheral Component
Interconnect Express)
 A high-speed peripheral interconnect
from Intel introduced in 2002. Initially
used for high-speed display adapters,
and intending to eventually replace the
PCI and AGP buses entirely, PCI
Express was designed to match the
higher speeds of today's CPUs.
Memory Slot
Memory slots also call memory
banks are for Random Access
Memory modules (RAM). Each
memory bank can receives a RAM
module designed for a specific pc
mother board.
 PROCESSOR SOCKET
Sockets are the home for your Central
Processor Unit (CPU). Several types of
socket exist, but only 2 of them are really
used, and both of them are used by Intel
and AMD.
Pin Grid Array (PGA) - With the type
PGA, the CPU will have pins to fit in the
socket holes.
Land Grid Array (LGA) - with the type
LGA, the CPU will not have such pins
and will just sit on the socket.
THE NORTH BRIDGE AND
THE SOUTH BRIDGE
BIOS
Another important component is the
basic system input/output system
(BIOS) chip which contains startup
programs such as the power on/self-
test (POST) and drives of the computer.
This chip controls communication
between the systems hardware and
operating system.
3 Kinds of Bios
Battery
This battery is referred to as CMOS
(Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor battery) and responsible
for keeping the time and date. It
usually has a life span of about 3 to 4
years.
Kinds of Connectors
Floppy connectors
IDE connectors/PATA connectors
SATA Connector
Power supply connectors
Panel wires connectors
Fan Connector
CPU Supplementary Connector
Audio Connector
Floppy connector
This is typically a connector slightly
smaller than the IDE connectors.
IDE Interface Connector
The Parallel Advance Technology
Attachment (PATA) interface is used to
connect hard drives and optic drives.
You can attach 2 drives on the same
ribbon, 1 master and the other slave,
and it supports almost all modern hard
drives storage capacities.
 SATA Interface Connector
Modern computer mother
boards have the new
interface called Serial
Advance Technology
Attachment (S-ATA). It is
faster than the ATA and
only 1 device can be
attached to it. The wire is
thinner than his
predecessor and surely
help at the cooling process
inside the computer case.
 ATX Power Connector
This ATX (Advance Technology
Extended) form-factor power supply
connector is keyed to ensure proper
connection of the ATX lead.
CPU supplementary Power
Connector
On many
modern ATX
motherboards
there is an
additional power
connector that
provides power
solely to the
CPU.
Audio Connector
This links the audio output from those
devices to the motherboards audio
system so that sound can be output to
external speaker.
Fan Connector
Next to the Zif socket there is a three-
pin connector where the CPU fan plugs
in. This both powers the fan and
controls the fan sped and power-up
cycles. On some motherboards here
may be a second one of these to power
a case fan.
Panel wires connectors
Panel wires connectors
The basic front panel headers found on most
motherboards are those for the
H.D.D LED, HD - hard drive LED
POWER LED, PWR LED, PLED, - power LED
POWER SW, PWR SW, PW - power switch
RESET SW, RESET, RES - reset switch
SPEAKER, SPEAK - internal PC speakerHD AUDIO, AC'
97, F_AUDIO - front panel headphone and microphone
jack
USB, F_USB - front panel USB port-
Of these, the leads for the LEDs must be connected in
the proper polarity in order to work properly. The
rest should be connected in the proper polarity just for
the sake of doing things professionally, but they will
work even if they're attached backwards.
Back Panel
 PROCESSORS
A computer cpu is the brain that runs
a computer. CPU (Central Processing
Unit) is the core chip to a computer. It
is placed in the cpu socket and from
here it forms an electrical interface with
the motherboard. A CPU is the most
important part in a computer.
A computer CPU is measured in
megahertz (Mhz) and more recently
gigahertz (Ghz). This is generally
called the clock speed of the CPU. The
higher the amount of hertz the
greater amounts of cycles can be
completed and more information will
be processed. However, along with
faster processors comes more heat
and thus bigger and better fans have
been placed onto CPUs to keep them
cooler.
Intel Corporation:
Pentium
Celeron
Atom

Type of Processor
PGA – Single Core
LGA – Dual Core to latest
AMD Corporation:
Athlon
Duron
Sempron
Socket FM2+

Type of Processor
PGA type only
Core i3
 Developed and manufactured by Intel,
the Core i3 is a dual-core computer
processor, available for use in both
desktop and laptop computers. It is one of
three types of processors in the "i" series
(also called the Intel Core family of
processors).
 The Core i3 processor is available in
multiple speeds, ranging from 1.30 GHz up
to 3.50 GHz. It utilizes either the LGA 1150
or LGA 1155 socket on a motherboard.
Core i5
 Developed and manufactured by Intel,
the Core i5 is a computer processor,
available as dual-core or quad-core. It
can be used in both desktop and laptop
computers.
 The Core i5 processor is available in
multiple speeds, ranging from 1.90 GHz
up to 3.80 GHz, and it features 3MB,
4MB or 6MB of cache. It utilizes either
the LGA 1150 or LGA 1155 socket on
a motherboard.
MEMORY or RAM (Read Access
Memory)
Computer RAM (random access
memory) is a volatile data storage
device. It is used by the computer
to temporarily store data. When
the computer is turned off all the
data stored on the computer
memory is lost.
MEMORY TYPES
1. SIMM [Single In-line Memory
Module]
SIMMs are used to store a single row
of DRAM, EDO or BEDO chips where
the module is soldered onto a PCB. One
SIMM can contain several chips. When
you add more memory to a computer,
most likely you are adding a SIMM.
The first SIMMs transferred 8 bits of
data at a time and contained 30 pins.
When CPU's began to read 32-bit
chunks, a wider SIMM was developed
and contained 72 pins.
• 72 pin SIMMS are 3/4" longer than 30
pin SIMMs and have a notch in the
lower middle of the PCB. 72 pin SIMMs
install at a slight angle.

Approximately 4.25” x 1”
2. SO DIMM [Small Outline DIMM]
- SO DIMMs are commonly used in
notebooks and are smaller than
normal DIMMs. There are two types of
SO DIMMs. Either 72 pins and a
transfer rate of 32 bits or 144 pins with
a transfer rate of 64 bits.
3. DIMM [Dual Inline Memory Module]
1. SDRAM or SDR SDRAM - SDR SDRAM
stands for: Single Data Rate Synchronous
Dynamic Random Access Memory.

SDR (Single Data Rate) just means that it

can transfer one piece of data in contrast to
DDR (Double Data Rate) which transfers
twice as much.
SDR SD-RAM varies from 8MB-512MB. The
common sizes were 32MB, 64MB and 128MB,
256MB and 512MB.
Approximately 5.375” x 1.375”
168 pins DIMM
2. DDR RAM or DDR SDRAM (Double
Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic
Random Access Memory) - the RAM
transfers twice as much data as the SDR
(single data rate) SDRAM does. DDR
SDRAM has only one notch (slightly
more to one side).
 Megabyte (MB) and Gigabytes (GB)
measure the size of DDR SD-RAM. They
vary in size from 128MB-1GB. The
common sizes are 256MB, 512MB and
1GB.
Approximately 5.375” x
1.25”
184 pins DIMM
3.DDR2(Double Data Rate 2Synchronous
Dynamic Random Access Memory)
-memory chips which is a new and
better standardized version of DDR
using less power.
DDR2 SDRAM has only one notch
(slightly more to one side) and it differs
from DDR RAM because it is a thinner
notch and they are not in the same spot.
240-pin DIMMs are available in DDR2 or
DDR3 SDRAM.
They vary in size from 256mb-2Gb. The
common sizes are 512mb, 1Gb and 2Gb.
Approximately 5.25" X 1.18"
240 pins DIMM
4. DDR3 – Double Data Rate type three
Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access
Memory
with a high bandwidth ("double
data rate") interface,
supply voltages: 1.8 V or 2.5 V for
DDR2, and 1.5 V or 1.35 V for
DDR3. 
DDR3 standard permits DRAM
chip capacities of up to 8 gigabits.
DDR3 DIMMs have 240 pins and
are electrically incompatible with
DDR2. A key notch—located
differently in DDR2 and DDR3
DIMMs—prevents accidentally
interchanging them. Not only are
they keyed differently, but DDR2
has rounded notches on the side
and the DDR3 modules have square
notches on the side.
RD RAM(Direct Rambus Dram)
Direct Rambus Dram is a proprietary
technology proposed by Rambus, Inc,
in partnership with Intel. It promise
RAM speed up to 800 MHZ. It has a
smaller bus width than current SDRAM
designs.
RIMM modules are commonly used on
the Intel Pentium 4 motherboards.
Approximately 5.25” x 1.25”
184 pins RIMM
Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
Is the storage facility for your
computer. It stores every
program installed and every
changed that is saved.
Types of Hard Disk Drive
IDE : Integrated Drive Electronics. IDE
drives are also known as PATA drives
(Parallel advance technology
attachment)
SATA - Serial advance technology
attachment 
SCSI – Small Computer System
Interface. SCSI is pronounced as
“scuzzy”.
SAS : Serial Attached SCSI
IDE / PATA (Integrated Drive Electronics Drive /
Parallel Advance Technology Attachment Drive)

IDE/PATA Drives have usually 40 pins.

IDE/PATA Drives offer 133 MB/sec
transfer rate.
It sends 8 bit data at a time. 
PATA Cables are used to connect PATA
HDD. Two drives can be connected in a
single pata cable. One as master and
other as slave. The configuration of
master and slave is done by different
combination of jumpers in the HDD.
SATA (Serial Advance Technology
Attachment Drive)
SATA Drives have usually 7 pins,
4 pins in pair of two for sending
and receiving data and rest 3
pins are grounded.
SATA Drives offers generally
300MB/sec transfer rate.
It sends data bit by bit.
SATA Cables are used to connect
SATA HDD. Only one drive can be
connected in a single sata cable.
SCSI (Small Computer System
Interface Drive)
SCSI Drives have usually 50 to 68
pins.
SCSI Drive offers generally
640MB/sec transfer rate.
This drives are hot swappable. 
SCSI cables are used to connect
SCSI HDD.
Maximum of 16 drives can be
connected in a single scsi cable.
SAS(Serial Attached SCSI
Drive) 
SAS Drives generally offers 805
MB/sec transfer rate. 
This drives are hot swappable. 
SAS Cables are used to connect
SAS Drives. Maximum of 128
drives can be connected in a
single sas cable.
 Comparison chart
IDE SATA
Maximum compatibility Inexpensive, large storage
capacity.
Lacks support for new technology Lower MTBF than SAS (700,000
such as native command queuing hours to 1.2 million hours of use at
and hot-plugging hard drives 25 °C), less suited for servers.
IDE interface does not support hot SATA interface supports hot
plugging plugging
data transfers at the rate of up to Data transfers at the rate of
133Mb/sec 150MB/s to 600MB/s.
Ribbon-like, wide, can be up to 18 Narrow, can be up to a meter
inches long (roughly 3ft) long. Power and data
split into two connections.
In a computer system, it's possible SATA drives don't use jumpers.
to have more than one harddrive. Each drive connects directly to the
To connect multiple IDE drives, you motherboard. To set the primary
need to chain the ribbon cables drive, you can access the settings
from one to the next. The from the computers BIOS (special
computer system has no idea software that runs when you start
which is the main drive, from the computer).
Kinds of Hard Disk Drives:
Internal - All the hard drives that are
inside a computer are called internal
hard drives.
External - sit outside the computer in
a case and they connect to the
computer through USB, Firewire or
eSata.
 EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE

EXTERNAL CD-ROM DRIVE

 FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
A floppy disk is a removable data storage
medium which has a limited storage
capacity. It consists of a thin 3.5- inch
square metal disk that is coated on both
side with magnetic material.
 They are inexpensive but have slow access
speed, It normally holds 1.4 megabytes
(MB) of data and is also called a diskette’.
The case of the 3.5-inch square disk
protects the flexible disk inside.
EXPANSION CARD
Also known as an add-on card,
internal card or interface adapter,
an expansion card is an electronic
board or card added in a desktop
computer or other non-portable
computer to give that computer a
new ability, such as the ability to
connect to another computer
using a network cable.
EISA BUS

Video Card
PCI CONNECTOR BUS

LAN Card
PCI CONNECTOR BUS
PCI CONNECTOR BUS

Firewire Card
AGP CONNECTOR BUS

Video Card
PCI-EXPRESS CONNECTOR BUS

Video Card
PCI-EXPRESS CONNECTOR BUS

Wireless Card
Sound card and audio cable
A computer sound card is an
additional card that is often included
in the motherboard. A sound card
translates signals into sounds that can
be played back through speakers.
 Underneath each port will be a small
engraving of what each port does.
 The pink port is for a microphone which
can record sound to the computer.
 The green port is line out and this is
where the speakers are connected to
produce sound from the computer.
 The blue port is line in and this is for
connecting a CD-player or cassette tape
to the computer.
Power Supply
It is a transformer that changes
220 volt of AC power line into 5 &
12 volt of DC for the components
of the computers.
Power Supply
Type of power supply
• AT POWER SUPPLY
• ATX POWER SUPPLY
ATX POWER SUPPLY
CABLES
FLOPPY CABLE
IDE CABLE
SATA CABLE