Yangon Technological University

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Basic Components of a Computer

By Dr. Thanda Win

Professor
Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology
Yangon Technological University
 Learning Objectives
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1 To understand the basic components of a computer

2 To understand the relationship of the components

3 To know the peripheral devices

 Outlines
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 Main components of a computer

 Motherboard

 The central processing unit ( CPU )

 Memory

 I/O ports

 Hard Disk

 Other peripheral devices

 Important concept
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Motherboard
 Motherboard

• It is the main circuit board of the computer.

• All key internal and external components of computer plug into the
Motherboard, such as the CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, etc.
• The speed at which information travels across the Motherboard is referred to
as the BUS speed.
• Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI allows a faster data transfer speed
across the MotherBoard, especially for video graphics.

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Motherboard: Top View

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Motherboard: Side View

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 North Bridge and South Bridge
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 North Bridge (host bridge and Memory Controller Hub

-MCH)
 Main Function is to manage the communications between the
Central Processing Unit and parts of motherboard

 North bridge is directly towards Front Side Bus (FSB).

 South Bridge (IO Controller Hub)

 It is located to the South of Peripheral Component

Interconnect (PCI) bus in the motherboard.

 The main function is to control the IO functioning.

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Central Processing Unit (CPU)

 CPU

 CPU is the ‘brain’ of the computer

 It processes data and coordinate tasks among different components

 The speed of the CPU is measured in GigaHertz (billions of cycles

per second)

 works in direct harmony

 If the motherboard has a slow bus speed, it will reduce the performance

of new processor that has better speed. he (billions of cycles

per second).
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 CPU - The Cache

• The purpose of a cache is to enable the CPU to access recently used information
very quickly and will significantly affect CPU performance.

• Some caches are bigger than others. A typical L1 cache is 256K?B and a typical
L2 cache is 1MB.

• The larger the cache, the better the system performance boost. However, this is
not always the case.

• A cache operates at a certain speed, just like the core of the CPU. Some caches
operate at the full speed of the CPU, while others operate at half that speed or
less.
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 Front Side Bus (FSB)

• The Front Side Bus (FSB) is the connection between the CPU and system
memory.

• The Front Side Bus operates at a speed which is a percentage of the CPU
clock speed.

• The faster the speed at which the Front Side Bus allows data transfer, the
better the performance of the CPU.

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 IDE Connectors

• Storage devices:
 Floppy drive

 Hard drive

 CD-ROM drive

• Usually, these devices connect to the computer

through an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
interface.

• Essentially, an IDE interface is a standard way for

a storage device to connect to a computer.
IDE cable
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 Contd.
 Most motherboards come with dual IDE interfaces (primary and secondary) for up to
four IDE devices.

 To allow for two drives on the same cable, IDE uses a special configuration called
master and slave.

 This configuration allows one drive's controller to tell the other drive when it can
transfer data to or from the computer.

 If the master drive is communicating with the computer, it tells the slave drive to wait
and then informs it when it can go ahead.

 This is done using the signal at Pin 39. Pin 39 carries a special signal, called Drive
Active/Slave Present (DASP), that checks to see if a slave drive is present.
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Contd.

SLAVE DRIVE A MASTER DRIVE B

Are you
idle?
Yes, go ahead and do
your task

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 Serial ATA ( SATA)

• Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

(SATA) is used nowadays compared to IDE
as connectors.

• One of the main design advantages of SATA

is that the thinner serial cables facilitate more
efficient airflow and also allow for smaller
chassis designs.

• However, motherboards may come with both

IDE and SATA connectors.
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Memory
 Memory
• Random Access Memory (RAM)

 Temporary storage of the data takes place. The data in RAM

will be lost when the PC is shut down (volatile).

 Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Static RAM (SRAM)

 Function: Read and Write

• Read Only Memory (ROM)

 Holds certain coding or information that controls certain things

about the computer system. The content WILL NOT be cleared
RAM
when the PC is shut down (nonvolatile).

 Function: Read
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Classification of Computer Memory

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 Difference between SRAM and DRAM
DRAM SRAM

1. Constructed of tiny capacitors that leak 1. Constructed of circuits similar to D flip-flops.

electricity.
2. Requires a recharge every few milliseconds to 2. Holds its contents as long as power is
maintain its data. available.
3. Inexpensive 3. Expensive
4. Slower than SRAM 4. Faster than DRAM.
5. Can store many bits per chip. 5. Can not store many bits per chip.

6. Uses less power. 6. Uses more power.

7. Generated less heat. 7. Generates more heat.
8. Used for main memory. 8. Used for cache.

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Types of ROM

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I/O Ports
 I/O Ports

• This covers all the socket especially at the back of the PC.

• The intention of these ports are to plug in external hardware such as a

printer or a mouse into your PC.

• They work, for the most part, by being connected into the motherboard.

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 Power Supply

The power supply is visible from the back

of many systems because it contains the
power-cord receptacle and the cooling
fan.

Connectors for power supply to the

motherboard

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Hard Drive
 Hard Drive

• A Data Storage medium that houses all of the information in

your computer.
• This would include your operating system (OS), device drivers,
programs, and data you have created using your programs
(word documents, spread sheets, etc.).
• Retains data when the computer is turned off.
• Hard Drives sizes are in GigaBytes or billions of characters.

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 Solid State Disk/Drive (SSD)

• Solid State Disk

 DRAM base

 No mechanical part thus no mechanical error

 Among the advantages, super faster boot time

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 Others

 Expansion cards
 Cards inside PC that gives it some
features

 Eg: internal modems and graphic cards

PCI = Peripheral Component Interconnect

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 Expansion Card – PCI Local Bus

 Peripheral Component Interconnect

 an industry-standard bus for attaching peripherals to computers

 has displaced ISA and VESA Local Bus

 It is now replaced by PCIe (PCI Express)

o PCIe employs serial links whereas PCI uses parallel links

o Serial links: data can be sent over the bus in two directions at once.

o Parallel links: data goes in one direction.

 Hence, for example, PCIe will provide much faster video than the PCI.
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 Monitor

• The video display unit that sits on your desktop

and serves as your computer screen.
• Monitors are available in two basic types: CRT Monitor
 CRT (cathode ray tube - looks like a TV set), called
"flat" or "perfect flat"
 LCD (liquid crystal display) called "flat panel".

LCD Monitor
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 Keyboard

• The peripheral device used to input information into a computer.

• It provides a set of alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, symbol and control keys.
• When a character is pressed, it sends a coded input to the computer, which then
displays the character on the Monitor.
• Keyboards are available in corded and wireless models.
• Keyboards should come with a wrist rest.

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 Mouse

• A peripheral device connected to your computer, used to reposition the cursor or

move the pointer on your screen.
• Usually has at least two buttons, that is use to highlight text, open menu items,
launch programs, etc.
• Can be corded or wireless.
• Some mice have a ball on the bottom that rolls as you push the mouse, and some
mice have optical function.

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 Case

• Often called the “CPU”/ "computer", the case houses

and provides power to the major computer components,
including the MotherBoard, CPU, Hard Drive, RAM, Video Card,
Sound Card, etc.
• Those components that do not housed in the computer case are
usually referred to as "peripherals".
• Houses the power supply.

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 Case

• It is important to have a large enough power supply to

handle your current and future needs.
• The case should be large enough and have enough
ball bearing fans so the internal components do not
overheat and cause damage to themselves.
• Miniature cases are to be avoided.
• Never put your computer in a desk compartment or
other small space where it can't breathe. Heat is
the enemy of all computers.
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 Video Card

• A circuit board that plugs into a MotherBoard slot, that handles

multimedia applications and graphics-intensive web sites freeing
up the CPU (thereby increasing your computers speed).
• The monitor plugs into the video card which is accessed through
a slot in the back of your computer.
• The better the graphics chip on the video card, and the more
RAM built on the video card, the faster the display on the
monitor.
• Better Video Cards have both Digital (better) and Analog outputs.

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 Sound Card

• A circuit board that plugs into your

MotherBoard that adds audio capability to your
computer, providing high quality stereo output
to the speakers .

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 Speakers

• Produce sound (music, voice, etc.) based on data

created and sent by the sound card.

• Today, computer speakers have become very high

quality and many include a sub-woofer for good bass.

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 CD ROM

• Compact Disk - Read Only Memory.

• An optical storage technology that stores and plays back data.
• "Read Only" means the information can be displayed and used
or copied, but cannot be deleted or changed (on the disk).
• One CD-ROM can hold around 650 megabytes of data, or the
equivalent of 450 floppies.
• The speed of a CD-ROM refers to how fast the disk spins in
the device.

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 CD-Burner or DVD/CD Burner

• CD / DVD recorder, a device that can record data to a compact disc or DVD.
• DVD and CD burners use different methods to transfer this data, depending on
what type of data they are writing.
• Almost all burners can do both tasks - record (CD-R/DVD-R) and rewrite (CD-
RW/ DVD-RW).
• CD burners are formatted to write audio and text files.
• DVD burners are formatted to write audio and video files

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CD-Burner or DVD/CD Burner

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 Ethernet Card

• A circuit board that plugs into your MotherBoard and

provides the capability to connect or "Network" your
computer to other computers and/or the Internet.
• If you use a cable modem, your computer will need
an Ethernet card. Ethernet cards come in different
speeds.eg: 10/100/1000 Mbps.

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 Operating System

• The foundation software of a computer system.

• Responsible for controlling and launching the installed
applications and computer peripherals.
• It schedules tasks, allocates storage, handles the
interface to peripheral hardware and presents a "default"
interface to the user when no application program is
running.

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 Important Concept

Concept Explanation
Binary data Data, be it instructions, user data or something else, which
has been translated into sequences of 0’s and 1’s.

Bus width The size of the packet of data which is processed (e.g. moved)
in each work cycle. This can be 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256 bits.

Band width The data transfer capacity. This is measured in, for example,
kilobits/second (Kbps) or megabytes/second (MBps).

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Contd.

Concept Explanation
Cache A temporary storage, a buffer.

Chipset A collection of one or more controllers. Many of the motherboard’s

controllers are gathered together into a chipset, which is normally
made up of a north bridge and a south bridge.

Controller A circuit which controls one or more hardware components. The

controller is often part of the interface.

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 Contd.

Concept Explanation
Hubs This expression is often used in relation to chipset design, where the
two north and south bridge controllers are called hubs in modern
design.

Interface A system which can transfer data from one component (or subsystem)
to another. An interface connects two components (e.g. a hard disk and
a motherboard). Interfaces are responsible for the exchange of data
between two components. At the physical level they consist of both
software and hardware elements.

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 Contd.

Concept Explanation
I/O units Components like mice, keyboards, serial and parallel ports,
screens, network and other cards, along with USB, firewire and
SCSI controllers, etc.

Clock frequency The rate at which data is transferred, which varies quite a lot
between the various components of the PC.
Usually measured in MHz.

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 Contd.

Concept Explanation
Clock tick (or clock A single clock tick is the smallest measure in the working cycle.
cycle) A working cycle (e.g. the transport of a portion of data) can be
executed over a period of about 5 clock ticks (it “costs” 5 clock
cycles).

Logic An expression I use to refer to software built into chips and

controllers. E.g. an EIDE controller has its own “logic”, and the
motherboard’s BIOS is “logic”.

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 Contd.

Concept Explanation
MHz A ”speed” which is used to indicate clock frequency. It really
(Megahertz) means: million cycles per second. The more MHZ, the more data
operations can be performed per second.

North bridge A chip on the motherboard which serves as a controller for the
data traffic close to the CPU. It interfaces with the CPU through
the Front Side Bus (FSB) and with the memory through the
memory bus.

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 Contd.

Concept Explanation
Protocols Electronic traffic rules which regulate the flow of data between
two components or systems. Protocols form part of interfaces.

South bridge A chip on the motherboard which works together with the north
bridge. It looks after the data traffic which is remote from the
CPU (I/O traffic).

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 References

• https://www.slideserve.com/file-download/1579632
• https://staff.iium.edu.my/adah510/PC%20Architecture.ppt
• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/random-access-memory-ram-and-read-only-
memory-rom/
• “Computer Fundamentals”, Pradeep K. Sinha and Priti Sinh, 6th Edition, 2011.

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Next Lecture

1 Basic functions of a computer system

2 Basic organization of a computer system

3 Input unit, output unit, storage unit, ALU, CU & CPU

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ANY QUESTIONS?