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How Computers Work

How Computers Work. The Four Basic Operations The Boot Process Hardware Components & Their Functions Differences in Portable Devices. The Four Basic Computer Operations. Input – Getting data from the outside world into the computer Processing – Manipulating the information

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How Computers Work

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  1. How Computers Work • The Four Basic Operations • The Boot Process • Hardware Components & Their Functions • Differences in Portable Devices

  2. The Four Basic Computer Operations Input – Getting data from the outside world into the computer Processing – Manipulating the information Output – Presenting data from the computer to the outside Storage – Efficiently and inexpensively holding data for later use.

  3. Hardware to Provide Four Functions

  4. The Boot Process The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) setup program loads and runs The Power-On-Self-Test (POST) runs The Operating System loads System Configuration System utilities load

  5. PC Components Case Processor Power Supply Motherboard Memory Hard Drives Removable Media Drives Video, Audio Functionality Monitor Mouse, Keyboard

  6. The Processor • Single core vs. Dual core • Intel vs. AMD • Trade-off between price and speed • The newest, fastest processors are always overpriced. Best "bang for the buck" is with the next step down.

  7. System Memory • How much? • Single core or dual core processor • Types of applications • What kind? • Types • SDRAM • DDR SDRAM • DDR2 SDRAM • Motherboard and CPU must support.

  8. Choosing a Power Supply Enough power for high class video cards Special connectors available for SATA Hard Drives and PCI-E video cards Motherboard may have a 20-pin or 24-pin main connector

  9. Storage Hard Drives How much, based on applications used What type (SATA or PATA)? Optical Drives CD Burner, DVD-ROM, DVD Burner (Single Layer or Dual Layer) How many? Two really make copying disks easy. Floppy Drive?

  10. Hard Drives • IDE (ATA) • EIDE – ATA2 aka Fast ATA • ATA3 – Ultra ATA - Improved interface, hard drives can report status information to the MB. • Two devices per channel (or cable) • SATA – Serial ATA • One device per channel • SCSI – Many devices can be daisy-chained.

  11. Choosing a Motherboard • Supports the chosen Processor • Storage connectors ( PATA [aka IDE], SATA150, SATA 3.0) • Memory type and amount • Built-ins (Video, Audio, LAN) • Graphic Card support (PCI-e, AGP) • PCI Expansion slots • RAID support

  12. Factors in Choosing a Case 4 Form Factors Desktop Mid-Size Tower Full-Size Tower Little, Teeny, Tiny Cases (VSFF) External and Internal Drive Bays Front (Top) Panel Multi-Media Connectors Cooling System (can also add-on)

  13. Display • Made up of two components • Monitor • Video card or circuitry

  14. Monitors • CRT • Cheaper • Takes up more desktop real estate • Can tire your eyes • Flat Panel • More expensive • Saves space • Sharper Image

  15. Video Cards • PCI • Fits in a standard expansion slot • General purpose video • Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) • AGP 2X/4X, AGP 4X/8X, AGP Pro 4X/8X • PCI Express (PCIe) • PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, PCIe x16

  16. Replacing a Video Card • Make sure you don't buy too much card for the monitor. • It doesn't matter if the original video was built-in to the motherboard. Installing a video card and loading drivers "takes over" from the old video. • Get a card the motherboard supports.

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