Exploring Computer Parts and Tools

1. Chapter 1 First Look at Computer Parts and Tools

2. Objectives • Learn about the various parts inside a computer case and how they connect together and are compatible • Learn how to protect yourself and the equipment against the dangers of electricity when working inside a computer case • Learn about tools you will need as a PC hardware technician and safety precautions when working around computer equipment

3. The Desk Top Computer

4. Form Factors Used by Computer Cases, Power Supplies, and Motherboards • Form factors - standards that describe the size, shape, screw hole positions, and major features of computer cases, power supplies, and motherboards • Two form factors used by most desktop and tower computer cases, motherboards and power supplies: • ATX • Mini-ATX

5. Form Factors Used by Computer Cases, Power Supplies, and Motherboards • ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) • Most commonly used form factor today • Originally developed by Intel in 1995 • It is an open, nonproprietary industry specification • Mini-ATX form factor

6. Form Factors Used by Computer Cases, Power Supplies, and Motherboards • The microATX (MATX) form factor • A major variation of ATX form factor • MicroATX reduces the total cost of a system by • reducing the number of expansion slots on the motherboard, • reducing the power supplied to the board • allowing for a smaller case size

7. Types of Computer Cases • Tower case – sits upright and can hold several drives • Desktop case – lies flat and sometimes holds monitor • Laptop case – mobile • All-in-one case – used with all-in-one computer

8. Build Your Own

9. The Importance of the Computer Case • Most computer parts are installed in the case, the case is far more than just a box. • The case affect the type and number of components that can be installed • The layout and design of the case can • determine the cooling performance of the entire system • easy of installation of components.

12. Types of Tower Cases • Full • Mid • Mini • Micro

13. Other Case Considerations • Number of drive bays • Number of expansion slots • Cooling • Front panel

14. What’s Inside the Case • Computer Case(Sometimes called “chassis”) • Hold • Motherboard (chapter 3) • Processor CPU (chapter 4) • expansion cards (chapter 3) • memory modules (chapter 4) • Ports • hard drive (chapter 5) • optical drive (chapter 6) • Power supply

15. Inside the Case Optical Drive Hard Drive Power Supply Mother Board

16. What’s Inside the Case (Motherboard) Memory Slots Expansion Slots Ports CPU & Fan

17. What’s Inside the Case (Motherboard) • Sometimes called system board • Largest and most important circuit board which contains; • Processor – central processing unit (CPU) • Processes most of the data and instructions for the entire system • CPUs generate heat and require a heat sink and fan (together called the processor cooler)

18. What’s Inside the Case (Motherboard) • Largest and most important circuit board which contains; • Expansion slots containing expansion cards - also called adapter cards • A circuit board that provides more ports than those provided by the motherboard. • Can also add additional capabilities to the computer. • Are fitted into expansion slots. • Memory slots containing memory modules – random access memory (RAM) • Temporary storage for data and instructions as they are being processed by the CPU

19. What’s Inside the Case (Motherboard) • Largest and most important circuit board which contains; • Ports • An interface on a computer to which you can connect a device. • Personal computers have various types of ports. • Internally, there are several ports for connecting disk drives,. • Externally, personal computers have ports for connecting display screens, keyboards, modems, printers, mice, and other peripheral devices.

20. What’s Inside the Case Ports (a first look)

21. What’s Inside the Case Ports (a first look) • The A+ 220-801 exam expects you to know how to identify the ports found in hardware systems. • Consider this your introduction to ports so that you can recognize them when you see them. • Later in the book, you learn more about the details of each port

22. VGA (Video Graphics Array) Port, also called a DB-15 Port • a 15-pin female port that transmits analog video. • Analog means a continuous signal with infinite variations • All older monitors use VGA ports.

23. S-Video Port • A 4-pin or 7-pin round video port sometimes used to connect to a television. • The 4-pin port is missing the extra pins in the middle and is the more common type. • The 7-pin port

24. DVI (Digital Video Interface) Port • The DVI port transmits digital or analog video. • Three types of DVI ports exist, which you will learn about in Chapter 6.

25. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) Port • Transmits digital video and audio (not analog transmissions) and is often used to connect to home theater equipment. • Three Types • standard • mini • micro

26. Display Port (apple) • Transmits digital video and audio • Slowly replacing VGA and DVI ports on personal computers.

27. Thunderbolt Port (apple) • Port transmits both video and data on the same port and cable. • The port is shaped the same as the Display Portand is compatible with Display Port devices.

28. Network Port • Also called an Ethernet port or an RJ-45 port • Used by a network cable to connect to the wired network. Fast Ethernet ports run at 100 Mbps (megabits per second), and Gigabit • Ethernet runs at 1,000 Mbps or 1 Gbps (gigabit per second). • A megabit is one million bits and a gigabit is one billion bits. • A bit is a binary value of one or zero.

29. Audio Ports and S/PDIF Sony-Philips Digital Interface sound port connects to an external home theater audio system, providing digital audio output and the best signal quality.

30. USB (Universal Serial Bus) port • A multi-purpose I/O port used by many different devices • Some USB ports are faster than others. • USB • USB 2.0 • USB 3.0

31. FireWire Port • Also called an IEEE1394 port • pronounced “I-triple-E 1394 port • used for high-speed multimedia devices such as digital camcorders.

32. External SATA (eSATA) • Used by an external hard drive using the eSATA interface. • eSATA is faster than FireWire.

33. PS/2 Port • Also called a mini-DIN port • Round 6-pin port used by a keyboard or mouse. • The ports look alike but are not interchangeable. • Newer computers use USB ports for the keyboard and mouse rather than the older PS/2 ports.

34. Serial Port • Called a DB9 port • 9-pin male port used on older computers. • It has been mostly replaced by USB ports.

35. Parallel Port • A 25-pin female port used by older printers. • This older port has been replaced by USB ports.

36. Modem Port • Called an RJ-11 port, is used to connect dial-up phone lines to computers. • A modem port looks like a network port, but is not as wide.

37. What’s Inside the Case Drives • Hard drives may also be called hard disk drive (HDD) • Permanent storage used to hold data and programs • Other drives include: optical drive and tape drive

38. What’s Inside the Case Drives • Two standard hard drive types: • Serial ATA standard (SATA) • Used by most drives today • Data connection using a serial ATA cable • Parallel ATA (PATA) – slower than SATA • Also called IDE interface • Data connection using an IDE cable

39. What’s Inside the Case Drives • Floppy drive • 3.5-inch disk holding 1.44 MB of data • Uses a 34 pin cable • Obsolete

40. What’s Inside the Case ATX Power Supplies • Power supply – also called power supply unit (PSU) • Receives and converts house current so that components inside the case can use it • Most come with a dual-voltage selector switch • Allows switching input voltage from 115V to 220V • Following are ATX power connectors.

41. 20 Pin P1 • 20-pin P1 connect is the main motherboard power connector used in the early ATX systems • This 20-pin power connector was sufficient for powering expansion cards installed in PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) expansion slots on the motherboard

42. 24 Pin • Also called the 20+4 pin connector • Main motherboard power connector used today

43. ATX 4 Pin, 8 Pin Auxiliary Connectors • When processors began to require more power, the ATX Version 2.1 specifications added a 4-pin motherboard auxiliary connector near the processor socket to provide an additional 12 V of power • A power supply that provides this 4-pin 12-volt power cord is called an ATX12V power supply. • Later boards replaced the 4-pin 12-volt power connector with an 8-pin motherboard auxiliary connector that provided more amps for the processor

44. ATX Molex • 4-pin Molex connector is used for IDE (PATA) drives

45. ATX 15-pin SATA • used to connect SATA drives

46. ATX 4 Pin Berg • Used to connect floppy disk drive (FDD)

47. ATX 6 Pin PCIe • Provides an extra +12 V for high-end video cards using PCI Express, Version 1 standard

48. ATX 8 Pin PCIe • Provides an extra +12 V for high-end video cards using PCI Express, Version 2

49. ATX 6-pin plus 2-pin +12 V PCIe • Used by high-end video cards using PCIe ×16 slots to provide extra voltage to the card. • To get the 8-pin connector, combine both the 6-pin and 2-pin connectors

50. Measures and Properties of Electricity • Volt – the measurement of electrical force • Amp or ampere - a measure of electrical current. • Ohm - a measure of resistance to electricity • Joule - A measure of work or energy, the work required to push an electrical current of one amp through a resistance of one ohm • Watt -A measure of electrical power. • One watt is one joule per second, and measures the total electrical power needed to operate a device. Watts can be calculated by multiplying volts by amps.