Components of a Motherboard

Prepared By: Engr. Cherry R. Ramones

Parts of a Motherboard

The important constituent components of an ATX Motherboard are given below:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Mouse & keyboard USB Parallel port CPU Chip RAM slots Floppy controller IDE controller PCI slot ISA slot CMOS Battery AGP slot CPU slot Power supply plug in

Mouse & keyboard

Keyboard Connectors are two types basically. All PCs have a Key board port connected directly to the motherboard. The oldest, but still quite common type, is a special DIN, and most PCs until recently retained this style connector. The AT-style keyboard connector is quickly disappearing, being replaced by the smaller mini DIN PS/2-style keyboard connector.

PS/2 Port

 You can use an AT-style keyboard with a PS/2style socket (or the other way around) by using a converter. Although the AT connector is unique in PCs, the PS/2-style mini-DIN is also used in more modern PCs for the mouse. Fortunately , most PCs that use the mini-DIN for both the keyboard and mouse clearly mark each mini-DIN socket as to its correct use. Some keyboards have a USB connection, but these are fairly rare compared to the PS/2 connection keyboards.

USB (Universal serial bus)

USB is the General-purpose connection for PC. You can find USB versions of many different devices, such as mice, keyboards, scanners, cameras, and even printers. a USB connector's distinctive rectangular shape makes it easily recognizable. USB has a number of features that makes it particularly popular on PCs. First, USB devices are hot swappable. You can insert or remove them without restarting your system.

Parallel port
Most printers use a special connector called a parallel port. Parallel port carry data on more than one wire, as opposed to the serial port, which uses only one wire. Parallel ports use a 25-pin female DB connector. Parallel ports are directly supported by the motherboard through a direct connection or through a dangle.

CPU Chip
The central processing unit, also called the microprocessor performs all the calculations that take place inside a pc. CPUs come in Variety of shapes and sizes. Modern CPUs generate a lot of heat and thus require a cooling fan or heat sink. The cooling device (such as a cooling fan) is removable, although some CPU manufactures sell the CPU with a fan permanently attached.

RAM slots
Random-Access Memory (RAM) stores programs and data currently being used by the CPU. RAM is measured in units called bytes. RAM has been packaged in many different ways. The most current package is called a 168-pin DIMM (Dual Inline Memory module).

Floppy controller
The floppy drive connects to the computer via a 34-pin ribbon cable, which in turn connects to the motherboard. A floppy controller is one that is used to control the floppy drive.

IDE controller
Industry standards define two common types of hard drives: EIDE and SCSI. Majority of the PCs use EIDE drives. SCSI drives show up in high end PCs such as network servers or graphical workstations. The EIDE drive connects to the hard drive via a 2-inch-wide, 40-pin ribbon cable, which in turn connects to the motherboard. IDE controller is responsible for controlling the hard drive.

PCI slot
Intel introduced the Peripheral component interconnect bus protocol. The PCI bus is used to connect I/O devices (such as NIC or RAID controllers) to the main logic of the computer. PCI bus has replaced the ISA bus.

ISA slot
(Industry Standard Architecture) It is the standard architecture of the Expansion bus. Motherboard may contain some slots to connect ISA compatible cards.

CMOS Battery
To provide CMOS with the power when the computer is turned off all motherboards comes with a battery. These batteries mount on the motherboard in one of three ways: the obsolete external battery, the most common onboard battery, and built-in battery.

AGP slot
If you have a modern motherboard, you will almost certainly notice a single connector that looks like a PCI slot, but is slightly shorter and usually brown. You also probably have a video card inserted into this slot. This is an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) slot

CPU slot
To install the CPU, just slide it straight down into the slot. Special notches in the slot make it impossible to install them incorrectly. So remember if it does not go easily, it is probably not correct. Be sure to plug in the CPU fan's power.

Power supply plug in

The Power supply, as its name implies, provides the necessary electrical power to make the pc operate. the power supply takes standard 110-V AC power and converts into +/-12-Volt, +/-5-Volt, and 3.3-Volt DC power. The power supply connector has 20-pins, and the connector can go in only one direction.

BIOS Firmware

Definition
BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. It contains basic instructions to interact with various hardware modules such as Motherboard controllers or that of interface cards. BIOS is the software that is run by a computer when first powered on.

 A computer motherboard inevitably contains a BIOS chip in the form of an onboard PROM, EPROM or flash memory. When the computer is powered on, it performs diagnostic tests on the computer hardware devices such as hard drive, FDD, and memory. It searches for other BIOS's on the plug-in boards, and takes care of them. It then loads the operating system and passes control to OS. The BIOS accepts requests from the drivers as well as the applications as shown in the figure below.

 BIOS is also known as PC firmware because it is an integral part of the motherboard. Firmware on adapter cards: A computer can contain several BIOS firmware chips. The motherboard BIOS is normally used to access basic hardware components such as the keyboard, floppy drives, and hard disk controllers. Adapter cards such as SCSI, RAID, and video boards may include their own BIOS software.

Firmware generally available in different forms:

1. EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), for updating a BIOS firm using EPROM, you may need to get a new chip from the manufacturer. 2. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), you can update a BIOS firmware using EEPROM using "boot to floppy", and running the Firmware update program. 3. Flash ROM - faster at rewriting the chip

BIOS chip

BIOS chip after insertion into a socket.

Memory:
PC memory stores data and programs currently being executed by the computer. It is important that the information is fetched by the CPU quickly to further processing. There are several memory types available. Important among there include the following: Dynamic RAM (DRAM) Synchronous RAM (SRAM) Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) Video RAM (VRAM) Windows RAM (WRAM) EDO RAM

 RAM stands for Ramdom Access Memory. Dynamic RAM (DRAM): In dynamic RAM, the RAM gets refreshed continually by the controller. DRAM has been introduced in the earlier stages, and RAM versions available today are much bigger and faster than the earlier simple DRAMs. DRAMs store data in the form of capacitive charges. Since any capacitor tends to be leaky, a DRAM needs to be refreshed on a continual basis. Synchronous RAM (SRAM): SRAM contains a clock built onto the memory module, enabling the SRAM to be in synchronization with the motherboard cloak. SDRAM doesn't require frequent recharge like DRAM. L-2 memory caches are usually made of SRAM and exhibit very fast read and write operations.

 Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM): SDRAM works in sync with the motherboard, and hence works quite fast. SDRAMs have speeds of the order of 133MHz, 800MHz, etc. Rambus DRAM (RDRAM): RDRAM technology was developed originally by Rambus, Inc. Rambus memory is integrated onto Rambus Inline Memory Modules (RIMMs). RDRAM chips are synchronized to the processor's memory bus. Comparison Chart:

Comparison Chart:

Definition
Video RAM (VRAM): VRAM is primarily used on video cards. It is dual ported, in the sense that while one device write to VRAM, another device can simultaneously do read operation. This is quite useful in animation and other speed sensitive video applications. VRAMs are more expensive than DRAMs, but provide better graphic display. Windows RAM (WRAM) is another type of memory used for graphics, and is similar to VRAM in functionality. However, with the faster memory access schemes like DDR, VRAM and WRAM are slowly becoming obsolete.

Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM):

DDR SDRAM is similar to SDRAM, but for the difference that DDR reads data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock. SDRAM reads only on the rising edge of a signal. This technique allows the DDR module to achieve speeds twice that of SDRAM. For example, instead of a data rate of 133MHz, DDR memory transfers data at 266MHz.

Diagram

Memory Modules:
Memory modules are printed circuit cards made up of memory chips, and a few other passive components. Normally, memory modules are the those that get installed on the motherboard, and you don't handle individual memory chips. The following are the prominently used memory modules (also called memory cards):
Dual In-line Package (DIP) Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMM) Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMM) Rambus In-line Memory Modules (RIMM) DDR DDR II

Dual In-line Package (DIP): Initially, PC XT, and AT systems came with DIP sockets. Individual memory chips were inserted into the sockets.

DIP chip

DIP socket

 A typical DIP socket, and chip are shown in the figure above. As can be seen, there is only one chip per DIP package. This arrangement resulted in several DIP sockets being present on the motherboard. If you need to enhance the memory, buy additional chips and insert into any existing DIP sockets. There are several disadvantages because of this method:
Due to size, these chips used to take lot of space, The chips used to dislodge from respective sockets, and give raise to errors It is cumbersome to insert individual chips Used to take more power Because of the above problems, memory chips were integrated into SIMM (Single In-line Memory Modules) that overcome several of the said problems

Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMM):

SIMM modules have several memory chips soldered in-line on its own circuit board. A typical SIMM is shown in the figure below. There are two types of SIMM modules: 30-pin SIMM modules, and 72-pin SIMM modules. Typically, a 72-pin SIMM has 32-bit wide memory bus, whereas a DIMM has 64-bit wide memory bus. On a SIMM, the edge connector pins on either side of a SIMM are shorted, representing only one signal pin.

Dual In-Line Memory Modules (DIMM):

DIMMs are very similar to SIMMs. The major difference is that a DIMM has two different signal pins on each side of the module as shown in the figure. One big advantage of DIMM is that only one module can be inserted into the motherboard, whereas you need two SIMMs (paired) when working with 64-bit microprocessors like Pentium II and above. Since SIMM provides only 32-bit bus, you need to use 2-SIMMs paired together with any modern 64-bit processor.

 Typical DIMM package (using DDRAM): Memory size: 256MB Pins:168 pin

Rambus In-Line Memory Module (RIMM):

A RIMM package using RDRAM

Definition
In a computer, a RIMM is a memory module developed by Kingston Technology Corp. that takes up less space inside the computer than the older DIMM module and has different PIN characteristics. A RIMM has a 184-pin connector and an SO-RIMM module has a 160-pin connector. An SO-RIMM is smaller and is used in systems that require smaller form factors. While RIMM is commonly believed to stand for "Rambus inline memory module," Kingston Technology has trademarked "RIMM" and uses only that term.

 A RIMM module consists of RDRAM chips that are attached using a thin layer of solder, a metal alloy that, when melted, fuses metals to each other. Solder balls on each chip create a metal pathway used to conduct electricity.

DDR(Double Data Rate)

Definition
DDR modules are also called DIMMs (Dual-InLine-Memory Module). A typical DDR module (DIMM) is shown above. The DIMM package using DDR is twice as fast as the one using SDRAM. Memory Size: 2X512MB Memory Speed: 400MHzPC3200 Memory Type: Dual Channel DDR Pins: 184

DDR2
DDR2 SDRAM is a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory interface. It supersedes the original DDR SDRAM specification and the two are not compatible. In addition to double pumping the data bus as in DDR SDRAM (transferring data on the rising and falling edges of the bus clock signal), DDR2 allows higher bus speed and requires lower power by running the internal clock at one quarter the speed of the data bus. The two factors combine to require a total of 4 data transfers per internal clock cycle.

 With data being transferred 64 bits at a time, DDR2 SDRAM gives a transfer rate of (memory clock rate) 2 (for bus clock multiplier) 2 (for dual rate) 64 (number of bits transferred) / 8 (number of bits/byte). Thus with a memory clock frequency of 100 MHz, DDR2 SDRAM gives a maximum transfer rate of 3200 MB/s.

 Since the DDR2 clock runs at half the DDR clock rate, DDR2 memory operating at the same external data bus clock rate as DDR, resulting in DDR being able to provide the same bandwidth but with higher latency. Consequently, DDR RAM possesses inferior performance. Alternatively, DDR2 memory operating at twice the external data bus clock rate as DDR may provide twice the bandwidth with the same latency. The best-rated DDR2 memory modules are at least twice as fast as the best-rated DDR memory modules.

DDR3

Definition
DDR3 SDRAM or double-data-rate three synchronous dynamic random access memory is a random access memory interface technology used for high bandwidth storage of the working data of a computer or other digital electronic devices. DDR3 is part of the SDRAM family of technologies and is one of the many DRAM (dynamic random access memory) implementations.

 DDR3 SDRAM is an improvement over its predecessor, DDR2 SDRAM, and the two are not compatible. The primary benefit of DDR3 is the ability to transfer at twice the data rate of DDR2 (I/O at 8 the data rate of the memory cells it contains), thus enabling higher bus rates and higher peak rates than earlier memory technologies. In addition, the DDR3 standard allows for chip capacities of 512 megabits to 8 gigabits, effectively enabling a maximum memory module size of 16 gigabytes.

Micro Processors, and Socket Types:

Definition
Micro processor, also called CPU (Central Processing Unit), is a major component of a micro computer. We discuss various CPUs starting from Pentium IV, and onwards.
Socket 478 Socket 423 Socket 370 Socket 8 Socket 7 Socket A Slot A Slot 2 Slot 1

Socket 478:
Socket 478 is a PGA socket used by Intel Pentium 4 microprocessor family (not all P IV family processors support Socket 478)..

 Front Bus Frequencies: 400 MHz - 800 MHz (100 MHz - 200 MHz QDR) Socket size: 1.38" x 1.38" (3.5 x 3.5 cm) Number of contacts: 478 Compatible package types: 478-pin micro FC-PGA 478-pin micro FC-PGA2 Compatible processors: Processors Intel Pentium 4 (1.4 - 3.4 GHz) Intel Celeron (1.7 - 3.2 GHz) Celeron D (to 3.2 GHz) Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (3.2, 3.4 GHz) This socket has currently been replaced with socket 775.

Socket 423:
The socket was used for low-end Pentium IV processors below 2000MHz frequencies. It became obsolete with the advent of Socket 478. Number of Contacts: 423 Compatible package type: Organic Land Grid Array (OLGA) Front Bus Speed: 100 MHz FSB Compatible Processors: Intel Pentium 4 (1300 MHz - 2000 MHz)

The size of PGA423 socket is 2.1" x 2.1" (5.33 cm x 5.33 cm). The socket has 423 pin holes arranged as 39 x 39 matrix with 26 x 26 section of pins removed. No corner pins in the socket are plugged, but, because the 26 x 26 section is removed not exactly from the center of the pin grid, there is only one way to insert the CPU into the socket.

Socket 370
Socket 370 (PGA370) is a PGA socket compatible with Intel Celeron and Pentium III processors in Pin Grid Array (PGA) package.

 Salient Features: Compatible package types: 370-pin Plastic Pin Grid Array (PPGA); 370-pin Flip-Chip Pin Grid Array (FC-PGA) 370-pin Flip-Chip Pin Grid Array (FC-PGA2) Number of contacts: 370 Front Bus Frequencies: 66, 100 and 133 MHz Supported Processors include the following: Intel Celeron (PPGA, 300533 MHz) Intel Celeron (FC-PGA, 5331100 MHz) Intel Celeron (FC-PGA2, 9001400 MHz) Intel Pentium III (FC-PGA, 5001133 MHz) Intel Pentium III Tualatin (FC-PGA2) Celeron Tualatin (FC-PGA2) VIA C3 (FC-PGA)

Socket 8
Socket 8 was used for a very limited number of processor types. The socket is being no more used by newer processors. Number of Contacts: 387 Front Bus Speed : 66-75 MHz Supported Processors include the following: Pentium Pro 150~200, Pentium II OverDrive 300~333

Socket 7

Definition
Socket 7 is a physical and electrical specification for an x86style CPU socket on a personal computer motherboard. The socket supersedes the earlier Socket 5, and accepts Pentium microprocessors manufactured by Intel, as well as compatibles made by Cyrix/IBM, AMD, IDT and others.[1] Socket 7 was the only socket that supported a wide range of CPUs from different manufacturers and a wide range of speeds. Differences between Socket 5 and Socket 7 are that Socket 7 has an extra pin and is designed to provide dual split rail voltage, as opposed to Socket 5's single voltage. (However, not all motherboard manufacturers supported the dual voltage on their boards initially.) Socket 7 is backwards compatible; a Socket 5 CPU can be placed in a Socket 7 motherboard.

 Salient Features: Compatible package types: 296-pin staggered Plastic Pin Grid Array (PPGA) 296-pin staggered Ceramic Pin Grid Array (CPGA or SPGA) 296-pin Flip-Chip staggered Ceramic Pin Grid Array 321-pin ceramic Ping Grid Array (CPGA) Number of contacts: 321 Front Bus Frequencies: 66 - 83 Mhz System Clock Supported Processors include the following: AMD K5 (75 MHz - 200 MHz); AMD K6 (166 MHz - 300 MHz) AMD K6-2 (200 MHz - 570 MHz) AMD K6-III (333 MHz - 550 MHz) Cyrix 6x86, 6x86L and 6x86MX (90 MHz - 266 MHz) Cyrix MII (233 MHz - 433 MHz) Intel Pentium (non-MMX) (75 MHz - 200 MHz) Intel Pentium MMX (166 MHz - 233 MHz)

Socket A (Socket 462)

Socket A Processor for Socket A

 Bus Frequencies: 100 MHz, 133 MHz, 166 MHz and 200 MHz Number of contact pins: 462 pin holes Compatible Processors include the following: AMD Athlon (650 MHz - 1400 MHz) AMD Athlon XP (1500+ - 3300+) AMD Duron (600 MHz - 1800 MHz) AMD Sempron (2000+ - 3300+) AMD Athlon MP (1000 MHz - 3000+) Compatible package types: 462-pin ceramic Pin Grid Array (PGA) package, 462-pin organic PGA.

 Slot A: Slot A is used by AMD's Athlon family of processors. It has 242 contacts, physically similar to that of Intel's Slot 1. But Slot A is electrically different from that of Slot 1. Slot 2: Slot 2 is a 330 contact version of Slot 1. Intel's Xeon processor uses Slot 2. The Slot 2 cartridge may house as many as four processors and an L2 cache. Slot 1: Slot 1 is a Slot-type connector. This connector is compatible with Pentium II family of processors, and some of low-end Celeron processors. Pentium III was the last microprocessor family that used the Slot 1.

 Pentium IV family of processors do not use Slot 1. Number of Contacts: 242 Processors types supported include the following: Intel Celeron (SECC, 233-466 MHz) Processors Intel Pentium II (SECC, 233-450 MHz) Intel Pentium III (SECC2, 450-1133 MHz) Compatible package types: Single Edge Processor Package (SEPP) Single Edge Connector Cartridge (SECC) Single Edge Connector Cartridge 2 (SECC 2)

Storage Devices, and Interfaces

Commonly used storage devices include the following:

A computer normally contains several storage options.
Floppy Disk Drive Hard Disk Drive CD/CDRW DVD/DVDRW Flash ROM

1. Floppy Disk Drive (FDD):

A Floppy Disk Drive is a disk drive that enables a user to save data to removable disk Initially, FDDs used the 5 1/4" floppy disks, which were later replaced with 3 1/2" disks. However, with the advent of removable hard disks, and flash drives, many computers no longer use floppy disk drives.

Definition
The Pentium motherboard provides a standard 34-pin connector for interfacing with FDD. A 34pin flat ribbon cable is used to connect the motherboard to FDD. This cable connects the motherboard's FDD interface with one or two floppy disk drives. Floppy Disk Controller (FDC) uses I/O address range 370 to 37Fh. FDD divides the floppy disk into 80 tracks per side, with 9 or 18 512-byte sectors per side. This provides the system with 720KB ( 737,280 bytes) or 1.44MB (1,474,560 bytes) of storage.

Berg Connector Connector side of the FDD

Yellow wire: +12V Red wire: +5V Black wires: Ground.

Floppy Drive Interface Cable

The FDD interface cable is used to connect the FDD to the motherboard.

 The FDD cable in the figure shows traditional five connectors configuration. It has connectors for 5.25" drives, as well as 3.5" drives, and 34-pin wide. However, 5.25" drives are rarely used now-a-days. "Cable Twist" in the floppy cable is located between the two pairs of connectors intended "A" and "B" floppy drives. This twist causes the drive at the end of the cable to appear as A: to the system and the one in the middle to be as B:.

Computer Hard Disk Drive

Working of a Hard Disk Drive Hard Disk Drive Interfaces

Working of a HDD
The hard disk drive (Abbreviated as HDD or HD) holds the main storage media of a computer. A HDD consists of several platters (or hard disks) along with head actuator, head arm secured in a chassis
Photo of a HDD that has two concentric disks

Schematic of a Hard Disk Drive

 The individual hard disks (platters) are used to store the information. The storage is achieved by depositing a thin magnetic film on either side of each disk. The disks are mounted on a rotary drive. Basically, the surface of each disk is divided into concentric Tracks. Then each track is divided into Sectors. The data is accessed by specifying the disk number, track number, and the sector number. The disks rotate at a very high speed ( several thousands of revolutions per minute), enabling very fast read and write operations. The magnetically sensitive head reads/writes information when the disks rotate. The disks are sealed to prevent any dust or moisture entering the drive.

Hard Disk Drive Interfaces

There are several standards connected with the Hard Disk Drives. These include the following:
IDE/EIDE SCSI Serial ATA Notebook IDE/PATA

IDE/EIDE Hard Disk Drives

IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), also known as ATA is used with IBM compatible hard drives. IDE and its successor, Enhanced IDE (EIDE), are the commonly used with most Pentium computers..

A 40-pin IDE cable connector

 Enhanced IDE (EIDE) is the enhanced version of IDE technology, and supports faster access to the hard disks. Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI): SCSI is commonly used with server grade machines. IDE supports only two drives (one master drive and one slave drive) per channel, whereas SCSI can support 8 or more hard drives. There are different versions of SCSI available today. Different versions of SCSI include the following: SCSI-1 SCSI-2 SCSI-3 Ultra-2 Ultra-3 Ultra-320 Ultra-640 iSCSI Serial SCSI

The various standards primarily differ in the following

Maximum throughput (MB/sec) Maximum cable length, and Maximum number of devices that could be connected. For example, SCSI-I has a throughput of 5MB/sec, where as SCSI-3 can go up to 40MB/sec.

Serial ATA (SATA)

Serial ATA (SATA) is a next generation technology based on ATA, and for transfer of data to and from a hard disk. Earlier, ATA was used to mean parallel transfer of bits between the motherboard and the hard drive. However, with the advent of SATA, traditional ATA was named as PATA (Parallel ATA). IDE/EIDE is usually associated with PATA.

CD-R and CD-RW

Definition
A CD-R stands for Compact Disc-Recordable. CD-R holds large volumes of data, in the range of 100s of MB, and replaced Floppy Disk Drives gradually. CD-R allows only one "Write" operation, and any number of "Read" operations. CD-RW stands for Compact Disc ReWritable.

 CD-Rs resemble DVDs as their physical dimensions are the same. The disks come in the dimensions of 120 mm (4.72 inches) or sometimes 80 mm (3.15 inches) in diameter. The technology used in CD-R, and DVD manufacture and information storage is completely different. DVDs have much higher storage density compared to CD-R or CD-RW.

 CD-R or CD-RW comes in different speeds. At 1x a recorder writes 150 KB (153,600 bytes) of data per second and at a multiple of that figure at each speed increment above 1x.

An IDE CDROM drive is shown in the figure below:

Front side of an IDE CDROM Drive

Back side of an IDE CDROM drive

 Majority of IBM compatible PCs use IDE connector (or EIDE) for CDROM drives. Most of the HDDs use IDE/EIDE connectors. To avoid conflict between the two, CDROM drive is designated as "Slave", and the HDD is designated as "Master". The "Master", and "Slave" setting is typically done by configuring jumpers at the back of the CDR or HDD. The IDE controller recognizes the "Master" and "Slave" settings and chooses the correct device.

DVD and DVD RW

DVD stands for Digital Video Disk (Also known as Digital Versatile Disk). Essentially, DVD looks very similar to CD-R, but contains larger storage space and can hold video, audio, and/or computer data. A single-layer, single-sided DVD has a capacity of 4.7GB where as a CD-ROM has a capacity of around 650MB. A double-layer, double-sided DVD-ROM disk can have capacity over 17GB. The DVD specification supports access rates of 600KBps to 1.3MBps.

 DVD-R is a once-recordable form of DVD. DVDRW or DVD-R/RW can be written multiple times. Many DVD drives can read data from a CD-R. But, some DVD drives may not be able to read CD-Rs. You need to ensure compatibility with CD-R when procuring a DVD drive. Normally, CD-R drives are not compatible with DVD, and you will not be able to read a DVD using a CDR.

 The original speed rating for DVDs is different from that of a CD-R. For a DVD, 1x is 1352.54KB/sec. Following the convention, 2x for a DVD drive is 2,705KB/sec, 4x is 5,410KB/sec, 8x is 10,820KB/sec, and 16x would be 21,640KB/sec. The original speed rating for DVDs is different from that of a CD-R. For a DVD, 1x is 1352.54KB/sec. Following the convention, 2x for a DVD drive is 2,705KB/sec, 4x is 5,410KB/sec, 8x is 10,820KB/sec, and 16x would be 21,640KB/sec.

Video Display Devices

Definition
The display devices used commonly can be classified as below: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) display Plasma Displays

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

CRT display is the most commonly used form of visual displays, through it is getting gradually replaced with LCD and Plasma displays.

CRT cross sectional diagram showing important components of a CRT

Graphics Cards
The graphics card resides in the CPU box, and drives the video display. A typical graphics card is shown below

 The graphics card shown includes DVI connector, TV/Video connector, and a VGA connector. The card has an on-board graphics processor with cooling fan. Usually, for graphic intensive applications, you need a higher end graphic adapter card. For normal desktop usage, a video adapter will be sufficient.

PCM CIA Interface Cards (PC Cards)

Definition
PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. PCMCIA standards were developed for small, credit card-sized devices, called PC Cards. Though PCMCIA cards (PC Cards) were originally developed for use with Notebook computers, the same are being extensively used in other devices also.

Types of PC Cards:
There are 3 types of PC Cards.
Type-I Type-II Type-III

Definition
1. Type-I PC Cards are typically used for memory devices such as RAM, Flash, and SRAM cards. 2. Type II PC Cards are typically used for I/O devices such as modems, and LAN cards. 3. Type III PC Cards are used for devices that consist of thicker components, such as rotating mass storage devices.

Important characteristics of PC Cards:

 PCMCIA Card (PC Card) slots: Just like PC Cards, PCMCIA slots also come in three sizes: Type I slot: Holds up to one Type I card Type II slot: Holds up to one Type II card or two Type I cards Type III slot: Holds up to one Type III card or a Type I and Type II card.

Advantages of PC Cards:
1.CardBus: CardBus allows PC Cards and hosts to use 32-bit bus mastering. 2. DMA: The Standard allows cards to utilize Direct Memory Access technology directly in the hardware when matched with a corresponding host system. 3. eXecute In Place (XIP): XIP allows operating system and application software to run directly from the PC Card. This in turn improves performance, and eliminates the need for large amounts of system RAM.

 4. Low Voltage Operation: The Standard enables 3.3V as well as 5V operation. 6. Plug and Play: PC Cards can be inserted or removed while the system is powered-on. 7. Power Management: The Standard provides a means to interface to APM (Advanced Power Management).

PC Card Uses:
Some of the frequently used PC Card types include the following: LAN card Wireless LAN card Modem card ATA flash disk card IEEE 1394/Firewire USB

 A wireless LAN serves the same functionality of a traditional LAN card, but operates without being physically wired to a network device. It enables a mobile user to connect to a local area network (LAN) through a wireless connection. IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g specify the technologies for wireless LANs.

Type I PC Card

Type II and Type III Pc Card

Type III PC Card

Type II PC Card

PCMCIA PC Card and PC CardBus I/O Devices and Host Adapters Outside of PCMCIA PC Card memory devices, PC Cards exist for a wide variety of purposes. Most serve as host adapters, which add or augment the abilities of the computer they are being used with. For many applications, 16-bit legacy PCMCIA PC Cards are sufficient. For example, RS-232 adapters or PC Card to CompactFlash adapters. To provide 32-bit and/or high performance busses, PC CardBus host adapters allow for useful applications including Ethernet or FireWire.

16-bit PC Card I/O Host Adapters add new functionality to a PC Card or CardBus equipped computer PCMCIA Memory Cards Media Adapters PCMCIA PC Card Fax-Modems PCMCIA PC Card to Serial I/O PCMCIA PC Card to PC/SC Smart Card Adapter PCMCIA PC Card to X.25 and WAN Adapters
32-bit PC CardBus I/O Host Adapters add new functionality to a CardBus equipped computer PCMCIA Memory Cards Media Adapters PCMCIA PC CardBus to Ethernet PCMCIA PC CardBus to FireWire PC CardBus to IEEE 1284 Parallel Port Host Adapter PCMCIA PC CardBus to SATA (Serial ATA) PCMCIA PC CardBus to SCSI PCMCIA PC CardBus to USB 2.0 PC CardBus to IEEE 1284 Parallel Port Host Adapter