PC Background and Its Features What is computer?

A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format. Uses of computer There are several uses of computers Word Processing - Word Processing software automatically corrects spelling and g rammar mistakes. If the content of a document repeats you don t have to type it ea ch time. You can use the copy and paste features. You can printout documents and make several copies. It is easier to read a word-processed document than a hand written one. You can add images to your document. Internet - It is a network of almost all the computers in the world. You can bro wse through much more information than you could do in a library. That is becaus e computers can store enormous amounts of information. You also have very fast a nd convenient access to information. Through E-Mail you can communicate with a p erson sitting thousands of miles away in seconds. There is chat software that en ables one to chat with another person on a real-time basis. Video conferencing t ools are becoming readily available to the common man. Digital video or audio composition Audio or video composition and editing have b een made much easier by computers. It no longer costs thousands of dollars of eq uipment to compose music or make a film. Graphics engineers can use computers to generate short or full-length films or even to create three-dimensional models. Anybody owning a computer can now enter the field of media production. Special effects in science fiction and action movies are created using computers. Desktop publishing - With desktop publishing, you can create page layouts for en tire books on your personal computer. Computers in Medicine - You can diagnose diseases. You can learn the cures. Soft ware is used in magnetic resonance imaging to examine the internal organs of the human body. Software is used for performing surgery. Computers are used to stor e patient data. Mathematical Calculations - Thanks to computers, which have computing speeds of over a million calculations per second we can perform the biggest of mathematica l calculations. Banks - All financial transactions are done by computer software. They provide s ecurity, speed and convenience. Travel - One can book air tickets or railway tickets and make hotel reservations online. Telecommunications - Software is widely used here. Also all mobile phones have s oftware embedded in them. Defense - There is software embedded in almost every weapon. Software is used fo r controlling the flight and targeting in ballistic missiles. Software is used t o control access to atomic bombs. E-Learning Instead of a book it is easier to learn from an E-learning software. Gambling-You can gamble online instead of going to a casino. Examinations-You can give online exams and get instant results. You can check yo ur examination results online. Computers in Business - Shops and supermarkets use software, which calculate the bills. Taxes can be calculated and paid online. Accounting is done using compu ters. One can predict future trends of business using artificial intelligence so ftware. Software is used in major stock markets. One can do trading online. Ther e are fully automated factories running on software. ATM machines - The computer software authenticates the user and dispenses cash. News-There are many websites through which you can read the latest or old news. Robotics - Robots are controlled by software. Sports Software is used for making umpiring decisions. There are simulation soft ware using which a sportsperson can practice his skills. Computers are also to i

dentify flaws in techhnique. Aeroplanes Pilots train on software, which simulates flying. Weather analysis Supercomputers are used to analyze and predict weather. How does computer works? Computers get things done as a result of a combination of hardware, software, in put, and output. The CPU, or central processing unit, is where most of the heavy lifting occurs. While the technical aspects of what makes computers work could be difficult for a non-professional to understand, the mechanical aspects of it can give you a clear idea of what and how things happen inside. Computers work thanks to a series of hardware devices that are closely interconn ected. When looking at a computer from the outside, the basic parts are the syst em case, which may be a tower for a desktop machine or the body of a laptop; the monitor; and the keyboard. A mouse or trackpad may or may not be essential to t he functioning of a computer, depending on the type and model. Many computers al so have a CD or other disc drive in the case. Most of the essential things that make computers work are inside the case, away from your eyes. The motherboard is central point of the computer, where all the various components attach and communicate with each other. Key to allowing a com puter to work is the central processing unit (CPU), the central stop for all the processes the computer goes through. As a command is sent, such as "open a prog ram" or "turn the monitor on," the CPU interprets this order and then acts accor dingly. Once the computer is turned on, or booted up, the CPU goes on to activate certai n sections so that it can then give you access to programs and processes. Comput ers work based on the CPU granting access to users, so if the booting up process malfunctions, it can mean that the computer cannot be used, even if everything else inside is working properly. Memory is also extremely important to allow a computer to work. The two main kin ds of memory are Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read-Only Memory (ROM). ROM is s tored data, and cannot be written to; RAM is memory that can be read from and wr itten to, allowing new data to be saved. In many cases, additional RAM can be ad ded. One kind of ROM is the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), which is in charge of c ommunications between the software on a computer and the hardware. When a comput er is first turned on, the BIOS checks basic data such as hard memory, RAM, any cards installed, and other devices. BIOS also checks for booting up errors and o ffers to fix them if necessary. Other less central but no less vital parts that let computers work include the p ower supply, transformer, and battery. These parts make sure each component gets the electricity it needs in the proper amount, and that key information is save d even when the power is off. The computer drives, including hard drives, flash drives, and any drives with removable media, such as CD-ROM drives, allow the us er to upload new data and applications to the computer and save files. The cooli ng system helps keep all of the components from overheating. Most computers also have other components without which a computer would be more difficult to use. Graphics cards allow the computer to display graphics on the monitor, and come in many different levels. Sounds cards allow the computer to p lay sounds. Connecting to the Internet or other computers requires a modem. Most computers come with all of these components, and often it is possible for the o wner to upgrade each to newer or more advanced versions. What are the features of computer? CPU (Central Processing Unit) CPU stands for central processing unit and is the brains of the computer. It is where most of the actual computing takes place and the quality of the processor will greatly determine the performance of the computer. The processor speed is m easured in GHz.

There are budget processors, mid grade and high-end processors. The high end one s maybe necessary for enhanced computer functions, such as gaming and entertainm ent, but overall the mid grade types are quite good and will deliver great perfo rmance for most any uses. Overall the two best brand names for processors are In tel and AMD. RAM Memory RAM memory is used to run programs on the computer and the more RAM you have the better the performance and speed of computing and to avoid slow downs and crash es. Gaming and entertainment need a lot more RAM than regular computer tasks for which 1GB is usually sufficient, but 2GB is really great. At least 3GB, is opti mal for gaming and media experiences. Also, it is a good idea to check and make sure that there are open memory upgrad e slots so you can always add more memory as it is fairly cheap and easy to inst all. Hard Drives Hard drives are significant for the speed capacity of computers. Overall, the la rger the drive the more storage space and the faster the computer. Optimal is 50 0GB. Optical Drives - CD/DVD/Blu-ray Most computers these days come with DVD/CD burners, and even if they do not they are cheap and easy to install and come in internal and external versions. Blu-r ay is the latest option for burning in high definition format. External Ports and Connections Ports are used to attach peripherals, such as printers, Internet, iPods and othe rs. Most important will be to have at least 5 USB ports, one FireWire port as we ll as an Ethernet connection for Internet and networking. Overall, the more port s you have the more variety and options will be available to add ons. Monitors A good monitor is essential for a quality computer experience. The older CRT mod els have become largely obsolete with the introduction of the LCD screen monitor s, however many people still use them and they can still be found at online shop ping sites. LCD screen monitors have a superior display with a reduced size due to the flat panel and their lower power consumption over the CRT models. They come in a variety of sizes and sometimes the larger ones are a better value for the money and make the best experience for gaming, entertainment, such as v ideo watching and are much easier on the eyes. The Motherboard A motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computer s and holds many of the crucial components of the system, while providing connec tors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board. It is als o sometimes casually shortened to mobo. What Is The Motherboard Main Goal? The main goal is to connect all the hardware together like hard drives, memory m odules, CPU, etc... A computer mother board is made of several parts, and each one has a hardware th at can be connected to it. The Processor Socket Sockets are the home for your Central Processor Unit (CPU). Several types of soc ket exist, but only 2 of them are really used, and both of them are used by Inte l and AMD. The Pin Grid Array (PGA) and the Land Grid Array (LGA). CPU Socket CPU Socket Types PGA And LGA The type determines the CPU's form it supports and its architecture. The PGA and LGA are the CPU's forms that are the most popular.

PGA CPU Form PGA stands for Pin Grid Array. As on the image, the CPU's circuits are integrate d inside a ceramic layer with an array of pins on the surface. At the installation the pins are inserted in the socket's holes making contact w ith the motherboard's circuits. LGA CPU Form LGA stands for Land Grid Array. If you look at the image, you can see there are no pins. Instead it is an array of pads that is built on the CPU's surface. At the installation the CPU is sat on the socket's pins where they are fixed to the motherboard and contact with the circuits. The LGA form offer a clock frequency higher than the PGA caused by its larger co ntact point. Maybe it is the reason why Intel decided to go back to this form th at was used long ago. Memory Slots 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 boa rd. Ranging from 2 to 4 banks, you will encounter single and dual-channel techno logies. Memory Banks With single-channel, you can use 1, 2 or 3 Ram modules, and it should work perfe ctly. On the other hand, with dual-channel technology, if you fill only 1 bank, you will lose some strength from your module. To get the most of it, you need to fill 2 banks with the same module types, from the same manufacturer with exactly the same memory amounts. If you want 1GB of memory, you need to use 2 512MB modules from the same manufac turer with the same technology type. This way, motherboards use the modules stre ngth to its full capacity. Otherwise it may not work at all. Types of RAM SDRAM, synchronous dynamic random access memory DDR SDRAM, double-data-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory R DRAM, rambus dynamic random access memory DDR2 SDRAM, double-data-rate 2 synchronous dynamic random access memory DDR3 SDRAM, double-data-rate 3 synchronous dynamic random access memory The DDR and DDR2 are largely used now as they are faster, and demand less power. The DDR3 is mainly used on graphic cards so far. What Is The Computer RAM Memory Bandwidth? The bandwidth is the transfer rate of the chips in conjunction of the system's f ront side bus. As example, let say your computer ram memory is from PC-1600 modu les, and the front side bus of your system is at 100 MHz. The PC-1600 has a memory clock of 100 MHz. In that case x2 as DDR double the clo ck rate. If you do the math without using the last 2 digits of the front side bu s clock rate, you get a bandwidth of 200 MHz, 1 x 200. With a front side bus of 300 MHz it would be 600 MHz. Take a look at the table below, it will help you to familiarize with the module names and what they are standing for, according to a 100 MHz front side bus.

Standards SDRAM 100 DDR-200 100 DDR-266 133 DDR-333 166 DDR-400 200 DDR2-400

MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz

Memory Clock Data Transfer/s Module Names 100 million PC-100 200 Million PC-1600 266 Million PC-2100 333 Million PC-2700 400 Million PC-3200 100 MHz 400 Million PC2-3200

DDR2-533 DDR2-667 DDR2-800 DDR3-800 DDR3-1066 DDR3-1333 DDR3-1600

133 166 200 100 133 166 200

MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz MHz

533 Million 667 Million 800 Million 800 Million 1.066 Billion 1.333 Billion 1.6 Billion

PC2-4200 PC2-5300 PC2-6400 PC3-6400 PC3-8500 PC3-10600 PC3-12800

General Rules For Desktop Computer Memory Needs. Your CPU needs a certain amount of memory to function at full capacity. If the m emory does not meet the CPU requirement, your computer will be slowed in compari son to its full capacity. Depending your needs, you can use these general rules as reference. Pentium 4 or AMD for every day use, 512 MB should work just fine Pentium 4 or AMD for gaming, 1 GB should be more then enough Pentium dual-core 2 or AM2 for every day use, 1 GB is more then enough Pentium dual-core 2 or AM2 for gaming, 1 GB as minimum, 2 GB for heavy gaming Why Not Use More Computer Memory Than The CPU Needs? Using more memory than needed should up the over all speed of your computer, but it will not be significant. I think, more memory does not justify the money spe nt for it. Main Power Connector And The 4 Pins Slot and Connector The main power connector is uses to get the electric energy from the power suppl y which the motherboard require to function properly. 24 Pins Main Power Connector There are 2 main power connector types for those motherboard parts. The 20 pins + 4 pins (2 separate connectors on the same motherboard), and the 24 pins. Power Supply Connectors, Where To Plug Them? Main power connectors are plugged to the motherboard. The connector with 20 pins may be used on ATX motherboards and the connector with 4 pins is used for extra power for CPUs and graphic cards. Not all motherboards require the use of conne ctor with 4 pins , if it's the case; do not bother, you do not need to use all c onnectors anyway.

The fan connector is used for plugging the back/front wall or side panel case fa ns. As fans do not require a lot of energy, the connector is small and very frag ile, be careful when working with them. The Serial ATA connector is used for hard disk drives. Having that connector on your power supply is a good thing as this technology speed up drives data transf er. The peripheral connector with 4 pins is used for optic drives as hard drives. It was the only connector for mass storage devices before the SATA. The small connector with 4 pins is used for floppy drives. IDE, ATA And S-ATA Interface Slot and Connectors Many interface standards have been created throughout the years, maybe too many for discussing about all of them. I will then talk about the ATA and the S-ATA o nly as the IDE is the same thing as the ATA, only the name has changed. Also I w ill be brief because it is more a hard drive topic than anything else. IDE/ATA And SATA Interface The Advance Technology Attachment (ATA) 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. Modern computer mother boards have the new interface called Serial Advance Techn ology Attachment (S-ATA). It is faster than the ATA and only 1 device can be att

ached to it. The wire is thinner than his predecessor and surely help at the coo ling process inside the computer case. IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) is a standard electronic interface used betwe en a computer motherboard's data paths or bus and the computer's disk storage de vices. Features And Improvements The interesting thing with the SATA is the new cable that uses only 7 wires. Wit h only 7 wires the cable is thin and permits a better airflow inside the compute r case. The older cables used for ATA interface were cutting the airflow with th eir large ribbons and were frustrating to manipulate. With the SATA it is as easy as plug here and plug there. No cable twisting probl ems like the ATA. An other interesting feature from SATA interface is the possibility to hot swapp ing. It means, you can plug or unplug hardware without having to reboot the comp uter. This feature has been taken from the USB technology that already makes the use of swapping. (hot swappable) Floppy Drive Slot and Connector Floppy Drive Connector Plug your "3.5" floppy drive there. Not really used now, they are going to disap pear completely very soon. The floppy disk interface uses what is likely the strangest cable of all those i n PCs today. It is similar to the standard IDE cable in that it is usually a f lat, gray ribbon cable. It is unusual in terms of the number of connectors it h as and how it is used to configure the setup of the floppy disks in the system. 32 bit PCI Slots, AGP And PCIe 32 bit slots Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) are used to install sound c ards, graphic cards, Ethernet cards and modems. PCI, AGP or PCIe Ports The motherboard parts Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) and PCI Epress (PCIe) focu s on graphic cards only. AGP standards use x2, x4 or x8 technologies. AGP 8 bein g the best, it is highly boosting your graphics and video performances. In Compa rison with his old brother PCI, it is day and night. PCIe standard is even better than AGP standard, and mostly the only one used rig ht now. Some like to say, PCIe is a AGP standard at x16 and it is the #1 choice for gaming machines right now. More motherboard content will be written on it, especially for graphic cards. Back Panel Slots Back Panel Connectors When the computer is mounted, those motherboard parts show up at the computer ca se back panel. They are used to plug the mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer, soun d system and any other peripherals you may have.