IT Essentials PC Hardware and Software 4.

1
Instructional Resource Chapter 1: Introduction to the Personal Computer

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: Objectives
Chapter Objectives Explain IT industry certifications.

Describe a computer system.

Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of cases and power supplies. Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of internal components. Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of ports and cables. Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of input devices.

Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of output devices.

Explain system resources and their purposes.

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: Critical Concepts

What is this chapter about and why is it important?
Professional certification proves to employers that the certificate holder has gained a level of knowledge and experience that is confirmed by a respected third party. For example, the successful completion of CompTIAs A+ exams or EUCIPs IT Administrator exams demonstrates that the certificate holder has sufficient basic knowledge to work effectively in many different IT positions. A personal computer is designed to run software programs that help people work, play, and learn. This chapter discusses the hardware that is required to build a desktop computer. It covers the hardware components that are found in most personal computers. It explains the unique purpose of each component and how these components work together. This chapter is important because it provides the foundational information that is required to build, upgrade, and repair personal computers. Successful completion of this course will be excellent preparation for the CompTIA A+ Certification exam, the EUCIP IT Administrator Certification for Modules 1 and 2, and for on-the-job performance.

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: Activities
What activities are associated with this chapter? 1.1.2 Worksheet: Job Opportunities

1.4.7 Worksheet: Research Computer Components

Chapter 1 Quiz

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: New Terms

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
adapter card Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) Alternating Current (AC) auxiliary (AUX) power connector Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) 1.4.5 1.4.1 1.3 1.3.2 1.4.1

Berg power connector biometric device

Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive Blu-ray Disc read-only media (BD-ROM) Blu-ray Disc-recordable (BD-R)

1.3.2 1.6
1.4.6 1.4.6 1.4.6

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
Blu-ray Disc-rewritable (BD-RE) bus cache capacitor Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1.4.6 1.4.1 1.4.4 1.3.2 1.4.1

Central Processing Unit (CPU) throttling chipset

Compact Disc - read only memory (CD-ROM) Compact Disc (CD) drive Compact Disc-recordable (CD-R)

1.4.2 1.4.1
1.4.6 1.4.6 1.4.6

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
Compact Disc-rewritable (CD-RW) Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) computer computer system connector 1.4.6 1.4.2 1.2 1.2 1.3.2

current (I) Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) drive

Digital Versatile Disc +/- recordable (DVD+/-R) Digital Versatile Disc +/- rewritable (DVD+/-RW) Digital Versatile Disc random-access memory (DVD-RAM)

1.3.2 1.4.6
1.4.6 1.4.6 1.4.6

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
Digital Versatile Disc read-only memory (DVD-ROM) Digital Visual Interface (DVI) direct current (DC) Direct Memory Access (DMA) dual core CPU 1.4.6 1.5 1.3 1.8 1.4.2

dual inline memory module (DIMM) Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE) Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM)

1.4.4 1.4.4
1.4.4 1.4.6 1.4.4

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
expansion slot Field-Replaceable Unit (FRU) firewall FireWire floppy disk drive (FDD) 1.4.1 13.2 16.1 1.5 1.4.6

form factor Front Side Bus (FSB)

gigahertz (GHz) Hard Disk Drive (HDD) hardware

1.3.1 1.4.2
1.4.2 1.4.6 1.2

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
heat sink and fan assembly input/output (I/O) address interrupt request (IRQ) keyboard keyboard port 1.4.1 1.8 1.8 1.6 1.5

Keyboard, Video, Mouse (KVM) switch LCD monitor

Light-Emitting Diode (LED) line-in connector megahertz (MHz)

1.6 1.7
1.4.7 1.5 1.4.2

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
modem adapter modulator/demodulator (modem) Molex power connector monitor motherboard 1.4.5 1.4.5 1.3.2 1.7 1.4.1

mouse port multimedia extensions (MMX)

Network Interface Card (NIC) northbridge Parallel ATA (PATA) data cable

1.5 1.4.2
1.4.5 1.4.1 1.5

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
Random Access Memory (RAM) Read Only Memory (ROM) Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) resistance ( r ) 1.4.4 1.4.4 1.4.2 1.4.6 1.3.2

Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) cable Small Outline DIMM (SODIMM)
socket sound card southbridge

1.5 1.4.4
1.4.1 1.4.5 1.4.1

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Chapter 1: New Terms (continued)

What terms are introduced in this chapter?
speaker static RAM (SRAM) S-video port Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM) Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) 1.7 1.4.4 1.5 1.4.4 1.3.2

Universal Serial Bus (USB) port video adapter

Video Graphics Array (VGA) voltage (V) wireless NIC Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket

1.4.1 1.4.5
1.5 1.3.2 1.4.5 1.4.2

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2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: Changes
What has changed from the previous version (4.0) of ITEPC? 1.3.2 Describe power supplies

Voltage, wattage, and capacity

Voltage selector switch 1.4.2 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of CPUs Dual core

Triple core
Quad core 1.4.3 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of cooling systems Water cooling

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Chapter 1: Changes (continued)

What has changed from the previous version (4.0) of ITEPC? 1.4.4 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of ROM and RAM

SODIMM
DDR3 Single Channel vs. Dual Channel Speed: PC-100, PC-133, PC-2700, PC-3200, PC2-5300, PC3-12800

1.4.5 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of adapter cards

Sound adapter Capture card TV Tuner

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Chapter 1: Changes (continued)

What has changed from the previous version (4.0) of ITEPC? 1.4.6 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of storage drives

FDD Install
HDD Install HDD: Solid State vs. Magnetic Blu-ray eSATA

RAID Level Comparison

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Chapter 1: Changes (continued)

What has changed from the previous version (4.0) of ITEPC? 1.5 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of ports and cables RJ-45 1.6 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of input devices KVM Switch Fingerprint Scanner 1.7 Identify the names, purposes, and characteristics of output devices Degauss Display Resolutions Contrast Ratio Native Resolution Multiple monitors

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Chapter 1: Classroom Management

The instructor should ensure that students acquire as many hands-on experiences as possible. If possible, have different types of computers and computer parts available for students to view during class. Legacy or nonfunctioning parts can be handled during class discussions. Bring pictures and articles that deal with basic IT concepts and computers. Use these articles to facilitate class discussions. A tour through a data center or a physical inspection of computer parts that are brought to class is recommended. Assemble a computer in front of the students; it should not take more than 40 minutes to complete. Give a short explanation of the role and functionality of each component prior to installation.

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Chapter 1: Classroom Management (continued)

Write the following terms on the board during discussion: power supply, motherboard, CPU, ROM, RAM, adapter, hard drive, CD/DVD, serial port, USB port, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port, parallel port, Ethernet port, PS/2 mouse or keyboard port, audio port, video port (VGA and DVI should be shown), and internal modem port. This emphasizes the importance of the term. Demonstrate the basic concepts related to electronics with a lemon, a penny, and a nail. There are several experiments that can be done in class to help the students understand simple circuits, stored energy, and magnetism. Do an Internet search on the following terms: basic electronics lemon. Taking simple voltage readings from the motherboard battery or from an unused Molex power supply connector makes the term voltage more applicable to the chapter. Bring in a couple of diagrams of chipsets to show how they affect the motherboard design. Have the students research the chipset for the motherboard that is used in the classroom computers. Some example chipsets are: Intel G31, Intel G45, AMD 780G.

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Chapter 1: Teaching Analogies

When teaching the difference between hard drive and RAM memory, compare an office space and a computer. The working person is like a CPU, the desk area is similar to RAM memory, a file cabinet is similar to the hard drive, and files stored on the hard drive compare with printed documents stored in the file cabinet.
The larger the desk area, the greater the number of documents that can be opened on it at the same time. If the desk is not large enough, the person (the CPU) must close a file and properly store it inside the file cabinet before searching and opening a new one. This process takes time.

The different types of memory that a computer uses, in order of fastest to slowest, are as follows: memory inside CPU - L1 cache memory in the processor housing - L2 cache memory on the motherboard RAM hard drive space that is used as memory virtual memory An analogy is similar to getting a drink of water: (1) Having a glass of water sitting on your desk is similar to having L1 cache. (2) Having to go refill the glass from a faucet is similar to having L2 cache. (3) Having to get bottled water from a drink machine is similar to having RAM. (4) Having to go to a store and buy bottled water is similar to having hard drive storage that is used as RAM.

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Chapter 1: Suggested Class Discussions

Explain how to register and prepare for certification exams. CompTIA A+ certification

Other Cisco certifications (CCNA, CCNP, CCIE, etc.)

EUCIP certification

Computer speed relates to all components; upgrading one component is sometimes like putting a small bandage on a large wound.

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Chapter 1: Best Practices

Obtain computers and components from these possible sources for class: Technicians at school Computer repair stores Donations from students, parents, alumni, and advisory committee members Goodwill E-mail faculty and staff requesting any extra computers and components

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Chapter 1: Best Practices (continued)

Organize computers and components for class: Use separate bins for good parts and bad parts. Use separate bins or paper boxes for categories of parts: motherboards, PATA drives, video cards, floppy drives, CD/DVD drives, cables. Use rolling carts for computer storage and security. This allows flexibility for storage and ease of use in the classroom. Place a unique number on a computer and corresponding storage bin. When disassembling the computer, place the components in the storage bin with the matching computer number to keep parts organized for that computer. Students and instructors can quickly identify which components belong to which computer.

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Chapter 1: Outside Reading

CompTIA Certification Website http://www.comptia.org/certifications

Cisco Networking Academy Website

NetAcad ITE Forum Microsoft XP Website Microsoft Vista Website

Microsoft Compatibility Checker

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