Installing a Graphics Card - Hardware Installation

Internal Computer Hardware

Introduction

Computer Hardware is the physical part of a computer, as distinguished from the computer software that executes or runs on the hardware. The hardware of a computer is infrequently changed, while software and data are modified frequently. The term soft refers to readily created, modified, or erased. These are unlike the physical components within the computer which are hard.
When you think of the term computer hardware you probably think of the guts inside your personal computer at home or the one in your classroom. However, computer hardware does not specifically refer to personal computers. Instead, it is all types of computer systems. Computer hardware is in embedded systems in automobiles, microwave ovens, CD players, DVD players, and many more devices. In 2003, only 0.2% of all microprocessors sold were for personal computers. How many other things in your house or your classroom use computer hardware?

Inside Computer

Motherboard

The motherboard is the body or mainframe of the computer, through which all other components interface. It is the central circuit board making up a complex electronic system. A motherboard provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate. The mother board includes many components such as: central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), firmware, and internal and external buses.

Motherboard

Central Processing Unit

The Central Processing Unit (CPU; sometimes just called processor) is a machine that can execute computer programs. It is sometimes referred to as the brain of the computer.

CPU Diagram

There are four steps that nearly all CPUs use in their operation: fetch, decode, execute, and writeback. The first step, fetch, involves retrieving an instruction from program memory. In the decode step, the instruction is broken up into parts that have significance to other portions of the CPU. During the execute step various portions of the CPU, such as the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and the floating point unit (FPU) are connected so they can perform the desired operation. The final step, writeback, simply writes back the results of the execute step to some form of memory.

Random Access Memory

Random access memory (RAM) is fast-access memory that is cleared when the computer is power-down. RAM attaches directly to the motherboard, and is used to store programs that are currently running. RAM is a set of integrated circuits that allow the stored data to be accessed in any order (why it is called random). There are many different types of RAM. Distinctions between these different types include: writable vs. read-only, static vs. dynamic, volatile vs. non-volatile, etc.

RAM

Firmware

Firmware is loaded from the Read only memory (ROM) run from the Basic Input-Output System (BIOS). It is a computer program that is embedded in a hardware device, for example a microcontroller. As it name suggests, firmware is somewhere between hardware and software. Like software, it is a computer program which is executed by a microprocessor or a microcontroller. But it is also tightly linked to a piece of hardware, and has little meaning outside of it. Most devices attached to modern systems are special-purpose computers in their own right, running their own software. Some of these devices store that software (“firmware”) in a ROM within the device itself

Power Supply

The power supply as its name might suggest is the device that supplies power to all the components in the computer. Its case holds a transformer, voltage control, and (usually) a cooling fan. The power supply converts about 100-120 volts of AC power to low-voltage DC power for the internal components to use. The most common computer power supplies are built to conform with the ATX form factor. This enables different power supplies to be interchangable with different components inside the computer. ATX power supplies also are designed to turn on and off using a signal from the motherboard, and provide support for modern functions such as standby mode.

Removable Media Devices

If your putting something in your computer and taking it out is most likely a form of removable media. There are many different removable media devices. The most popular are probably CD and DVD drives which almost every computer these days has at least one of. There are some new disc drives such as Blu-ray which can hold a much larger amount of information then normal CDs or DVDs. One type of removable media which is becoming less popular is floppy disk.

CD

CDs are the most common type of removable media. They are inexpensive but also have short life-span. There are a few different kinds of CDs. CD-ROM which stands for Compact Disc read-only memory are popularly used to distribute computer software although any type of data can be stored on them. CD-R is another variation which can only be written to once but can be read many times. CD-RW (rewritable) can be written to more than once as well as read more than once. Some other types of CDs which are not as popular include Super Audio CD (SACD), Video Compact Discs (VCD), Super Video Compact Discs (SVCD), PhotoCD, PictureCD, CD-i, and Enhanced CD.

CD-ROM Drive

There are two types of devices in a computer that use CDs: CD-ROM drive and a CD writer. The CD-ROM drive used for reading a CD. The CD writer drive can read and write a CD. CD writers are much more popular are new computers than a CD-ROM drive. Both kinds of CD drives are called optical disc drives because the use a laser light or electromagnetic waves to read or write data to or from a CD.

DVD

DVDs (digital versatile discs) are another popular optical disc storage media format. The main uses for DVDs are video and data storage. Most DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs. Just like CDs there are many different variations. DVD-ROM has data which can only be read and not written. DVD-R and DVD+R can be written once and then function as a DVD-ROM. DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, or DVD+RW hold data that can be erased and re-written multiple times. DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs respectively refer to properly formatted and structured video and audio content. The devices that use DVDs are very similar to the devices that use CDs. There is a DVD-ROM drive as well as a DVD writer that work the same way as a CD-ROM drive and CD writer. There is also a DVD-RAM drive that reads and writes to the DVD-RAM variation of DVD.

DVD

Blu-ray

Blu-ray is a newer optical disc storage media format. Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage. The disc has the same dimensions as a CD or DVD. The term “Blu-ray” comes from the blue laser used to read and write to the disc. The Blu-ray discs can store much more data then CDs or DVDs. A dual layer Blu-ray disc can store up to 50GB, almost six times thecapacity of a dual layer DVD (WOW!). Blu-ray discs have similar devices used to read them and write to them as CDs have. A BD-ROM drive can only read a Blu-ray disc and a BD writer can read and write a Blu-ray disc.

Floppy Disk

A floppy disk is a type of data storage that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible(“floppy”) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive. Floppy disks are a dying and being replaced by the optical and flash drives. Many new computers do not come with floppy drives anymore but there are a lot of older ones with floppy drives lying around. While floppy disks are very cheap the amount of storage on them compared to the amount of storage for the price of flash drives makes floppy disks unreasonable to use.

Floppy Disk

Internal Storage

Internal storage is hardware that keeps data inside the computer for later use and remains persistent even when the computer has no power. There are a few different types of internal storage. Hard disks are the most popular type of internal storage. Solid-state drives have grown in popularity slowly. A disk array controller is popular when you need more storage then a single har disk can hold.

Hard Disk Drive

A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Just about every new computer comes with a hard disk these days unless it comes with a new solid-state drive. Typical desktop hard disk drives store between 120 and 400GB, rotate at 7,200 rpm, and have a madia transfer rate of 1 Gbit/s or higher. Hard disk drives are accessed over one of a number of bus types, including parallel ATA(also called IDE), Serial ATA (SATA), SCSI, Serial Attached SCSI, and Fibre Channel.

Hard Drive

Solid-State Drive

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data. An SSD emulates a hard disk drive, thus easily replacing it in any application. SSDs have begun to appear in laptops because they can be smaller than HDDs. SSDs are currently more expensive per unit of capacity than HDDs which is why they have not caught on so quickly.

Disk Array Controller

A disk array controller is a device which manage the physical disk drives and presents them to the computer as logical units. It almost always implements hardware RAID. RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) is a technology that employs the simultaneous use of two or more hard disk drives to achieve greater levels of performance, reliability, and/or larger data volume sizes. A disk array controller also provides additional disk cache.

About computer hardware

Computer Hardware Peripherals

Introduction

A peripheral is a piece of computer hardware that is added to a computer in order to expand its abilities. The term peripheral is used to describe those devices that are optional in nature, as opposed to hardware that is either demanded or always required in principle. There are all different kinds of peripherals you can add your computer. The main disctinction among peripherals is the way they are connected to your computer. They can be connected internally or externally.

Buses

A bus is a subsystem that transfers data between computer components inside a computer or between computers. Unlike a point-to-point connection, a bus can logically connect several peripherals over the same set of wires. Each bus defines its set of connectors to physically plug devices, cards or cables together. There are two types of buses: internal and external. Internal buses are connections to various internal components. External buses are connections to various external components. There are different kinds of slots that internal and external devices can connect to.

Internal

Types of Slots

There are many different kinds of internal buses, but only a handful of popular ones. Different computers come with different kinds and number of slots. It is important to know what kind and number of slots you have on your computer before you go out and by a card that matches up to a slot you don’t have.

PCI

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is common in modern PCs. This kind of bus is being succeeded by PCI Express. Typical PCI cards used in PCs include: network cards, sound cards, modems, extra ports such as USB or serial, TV tuner cards and disk controllers. Video cards have outgrown the capabilities of PCI because of their higher bandwidth requirements.

PCI Slots

PCI Express

PCI Express was introduced by Intel in 2004. It was designed to replace the general-purpose PCI expansion bus and the AGP graphics card interface. PCI express is not a bus but instead a point-to-point conection of serial links called lanes. PCI Express cards have faster bandwidth then PCI cards which make them more ideal for high-end video cards.

PCMCIA

PCMCIA (also referred to as PC Card) is the type of bus used for laptop computers. The name PCMCIA comes from the group who developed the standard: Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. PCMCIA was originally designed for computer memory expansion, but the existence of a usable general standard for notbeook peripherals led to many kinds of devices being made available in this form. Typical devices include network cards, modems, and hard disks.

AGP

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a graphics card to a computer’s motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. AGP has been replaced over the past couple years by PCI Express. AGP cards and motherboards are still available to buy, but they are becoming less common.

AGP Slot

Types Of Cards

Video Card

A video card (also known as graphics card) is an expansion card whose function is to generate and output images to a display. Some video cards offer added functions, such as video capture, TV tuner adapter, ability to connect multiple monitors, and others. Most video cards all share similar components. They include a graphics processing unit (GPU) which is a dedicated microprocessor optimized for 3D graphics rendering. It also includes a video BIOS that contains the basic program that governs the video card’s operations and provides the instructions that allow the computer and software to interface with the card. If the video card is integrated in the motherboard, it may use the computer RAM memory. If it is not it will have its own video memory called Video RAM. This kind of memory can range from 128MB to 2GB. A video card also has a RAMDAC (Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter) which takes responsibility for turning the digital signals produced by the computer processor into an analog signal which can be understood by the computer display. Lastly, they all have outputs such as an HD-15 connector (standard monitor cable), DVI connector, S-Video, composite video or component video.

Graphics Card

Sound Card

A sound card is an expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to/from a computer under control of computer programs. Typical uses for sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation/education, and entertainment. Many computers have sound capabilities built in,, while others require additional expansion cards to provide for audio capability.

Network Card

A network card is an expansion card that allows computers to communicate over a computer network. It allows users to connect to each other either by using cables or wirelessly. Although other network technologies exist, Ethernet has achieved near-ubiquity for a while now. Every Ethernet network card has a unique 48-bit serial number called a MAC address, which is stored in ROM carried on the card. You can learn more about networking in the introduction to networking lesson.

Network Card

External

Types of Connections

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a serial bus standard to interface devices. USB was designed to allow many peripherals to be connected using a single standardized interface socket and to improve the plug-and-play capabilities by allowing devices to be connected and disconnected without rebooting the computer. Other convient features include providing power to low-consumption devices without the need for an external power supply and allowing many devices to be used without requiring manufacturer specific, individual device drivers to be installed. USB is by far the dominating bus for connecting external devices to your computer.

USB Connectors

Firewire

Firewire (technically known as IEEE 1394 and also known as i.LINK for Sony) is a serial bus interface standard for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer, frequently used in a personal computer. Firewire has replaced Parallel ports in many applications. It has been adopted as the High Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) standard connection interface for A/V (audio/visual) component communication and control. Almost all modern digital camcorders have included this connection.

Firewire Cable

PS/2

The PS/2 connector is used for connecting some keyboards and mice to a PC compatible computer system. The keyboard and mouse interfaces are electrically similar with the main difference being that open collector outputs are required on both ends of the keyboard interface to allow bidirectional communication. If a PS/2 mouse is connected to a PS/2 keyboard port, the mouse may not be recognized by the computer depending on configuration.

PS/2 Ports

Devices

Removable Storage

The same kinds of CD and DVD drives that could come built-in on your computer can also be attached externally. You might only have a CD-ROM drive built-in to your computer but you need a CD writer to burn CDs. You can buy an external CD writer that connects to your USB port and acts the same way as if it was built-in to your computer. The same is true for DVD writers, Blu-ray drives, and floppy drives. Flash drives have become very popular forms of removable storage especially as the price of flash drives decreases and the possible size for them increases. Flash drives are usually USB ones either in the form USB sticks or very small, portable devices. USB flash drives are small, fast, removable, rewritable, and long-lasting. Storage capacities range from 64MB to 32GB or more. A flash drive does not have any mechanically driven parts so as opposed to a hard drive which makes it more durable and smaller usually.

USB Flash Drive

Non-removable Storage

Non-removable storage can be a hard drive that is connected externally. External hard drives have become very popular for backups, shared drives among many computers, and simply expaning the amount of hard drive space you have from your internal hard drive. External hard drives come in many shapes and sizes like flash drives do. An external hard drive is usually connected by USB but you can also have a networked hardrive which will connect to your network which allows all computers on that network to access that hard drive.

Input

Input devices are absolutely crucial to computers. The most common input devices are mice and keyboards which barely every computer has. A new popular pointing device that may eventually replace the mouse is touch screen which you can get on some tablet notebooks. Other popular input devices include microphones, webcams, and fingerprint readers which can also be built in to modern laptops and desktops. A scanner is another popular input device that might be built-in to your printer.

Webcam

Output

There are lots of different kinds of output devices that you can get for your computer. The absolute most common external output device is a monitor. Other very popular output devices are printers and speakers. There are lots of different kinds of printers and different sizes of speakers for your computer. Monitors are connected usually through the HD-15 connector on your video card. Printers are usually connected through a USB port. Speakers have their own audio out port built-in to the sound card.

Monitor

PC Hardware articles

one of the core values of Puget Systems is transparency

We detest hype in the midst of an industry that is full of it. Our mission is to provide the highest quality hardware and consultation services to our customers, and to back up our decisions by freely sharing what we've learned along the way. To earn a place in our product line, a computer component undergoes rigorous testing. We apply the results of our testing, along with our years of experience in learning reliability trends and manufacturer characteristics, to make prudent decisions about what we can put our name behind, whether that's an individual part or an entire computer. With the following articles, we are writing up the results of these internal processes and discussions, and taking them public. We feel we can take this on with a unique perspective as we evaluate each topic with the experience, resources, and objectivity of a system builder. If there is a topic you'd like us to write about, email us at info@pugetsystems.com!

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Introduction to PC Wireless Networking

Wireless networking (also known as WiFi) has greatly evolved over the last few years and as a result has become increasing complex. This article is intended to give the reader the information necessary to make informed decisions when purchasing and configuring a wireless network in order to maximize the performance, speed, and reliability of the network.

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Technology Primer: Low Voltage RAM

Voltage is not typically thought of as a key specification for RAM, but can have a significant impact on system stability as it runs much cooler than standard RAM. In this article, we will be looking at Kingston Lovo and G.Skill Sniper RAM to see how well low voltage RAM performs compared to standard RAM and if it has a measurable impact on power draw and system temperatures.

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How it Works: Intel SSD Caching

SSD caching is not new, but is something we have not inspected closely since its introduction with the Z68 chipset. In this article, we will be answering the questions: What is SSD caching? How do you set up and configure SSD caching? And what kind of performance improvements you should expect by using it.

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Introducing the New Puget Traverse Laptops

With the recent launch of Intel's new Ivy Bridge line of CPUs, Puget Systems has completely revamped our laptop product line to take advantage of the new improvements in technology. In this article, we will be going over the features found on this units as well as battery life estimates and thermal performance measurements.

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Product Review: Intel DH77DF

With the launch of the new 7-series chipsets, we spent the last few weeks looking at numerous Mini-ITX motherboards in order to update our Echo line of systems. There are many boards available from various manufactures, but the motherboard that immediately caught our attention was the Intel DH77DF.

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Product Review: Intel S2600COE

The Intel S2600COE is a part of the recently launched Romley platform and is intended exclusively for use in server systems. This motherboard includes onboard video and four integrated Intel Gigabit LAN ports, but is very limited in the number of USB ports available. Because of the strong server focus of this board, however, there are many desktop features (namely S3 sleep and fan throttling) that are not supported.

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Technology Primer: Intel Ivy Bridge

Intel's new 22nm CPUs - codenamed Ivy Bridge - has finally launched. When combined with one of the recently released 7-series chipsets, this new CPU/Chipset combination provides support for PCIe 3.0 and USB 3.0 as well as allowing RAM up to speeds of 1600MHz to be used natively. The onboard graphics has also received a nice upgrade allowing for the use of onboard graphics in a much wider variety of applications.

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Qualification: Asus Z77 Motherboards

At Puget Systems, we are always on the lookout for new products to keep our product at the forefront of technology. In this article, we will be looking at the Asus P8Z77-V Pro, P8Z77-V Deluxe, and P8Z77-M Pro motherboards to determine if they are worthy of a position on our product line.

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Breaking the Hype of High Frequency RAM

High Frequency RAM is often touted as being essential for high-performance computing, but in our experience has little to offer in actual performance gains. In this article, we will be using a large set of benchmarks across both Intel and AMD platforms to show that RAM running at higher frequency at the cost of increased timings gives little to no real-world performance improvements.

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Performance Comparison: E5-2690 vs E5-2687W

When comparing two CPUs within a product line, it is usually very easy to tell which CPU has the better relative performance by comparing the specifications for each. The E5-2690 and the E5-2687W are a bit of an oddity in that they both have the same maximum Turbo Boost frequency even though the E5-2687W has a higher base clock speed. In this article, we will the question of whether or not the E5-2687W is actually any faster than the E5-2690 since both can technically turbo to the exact same frequency.

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Product Review: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler

The Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU cooler is a medium-sized cooler designed for mid to low range CPUs. This cooler is very similar to the Scythe Kantana 3 CPU cooler currently in our product line, so the main question is: which CPU cooler is better?

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Product Review: Asus Z9PE-D8 WS

The Z9PE-D8 WS is the first motherboard we have had a chance to qualify with the new Romley chipset. This board is geared towards workstation-class systems, but does it have what it takes to earn a place on our product line?

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Tech Primer: Intel E5 Xeon CPUs (Sandy Bridge-EP)

The launch of Intel's new Xeon line has finally arrived with the arrival of the Intel Xeon E5 processors. With the move to the Sandy Bridge-E architecture, the E5 series should give higher CPU performance with the same or better thermal limits as the previous generation of Xeon processors.

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How to Set Up Multiple Monitors

When it comes to setting up a new computer, something we get asked about here at Puget Systems on a regular basis is the use of multiple monitors. The use of dual monitors seems to be the most common goal customers have, but many want three or even more - and so we are often asked if that requires two video cards, how easy it is to set up, and even how to use multiple screens effectively. This article aims to answer some of those basic questions and act as a central resource for folks who are considering a new computer or want to upgrade their existing system.

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Specs Explained: CPU

With the advancement of computer technology, the number of specifications for each component in a computer has become overwhelming for those not deeply involved in the computer industry. In this article, we will explain all of the different specifications we list for CPUs and what they mean for you, the end user.

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Product Review: Intel 520 SSDs (Cherryville)

In this article, we will be reviewing the speeds of each of the new Intel SSDs (60GB, 120GB, 180GB, 240GB and 480GB) codenamed Cherryville. Intel boasts speeds greater than 500MB/s for read and write, but it is common in the industry for the advertised speeds to be idealized. Because of this, we will be performing our own benchmark testing to find that real world speed of these new drives.

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Review: Cooler Master SickleFlow 120mm Green LED Fan

Puget Systems has used many variations of the Antec TriCool 120mm fan over the years - including the red, blue and green LED versions in our colored case fan kits - due to their excellent noise to airflow ratio. However, Antec has recently discontinued the green LED version of the Antec Tricool, so we needed to find a good replacement fan for our green LED kits. In our search for a replacement, we found that the Cooler Master SickleFlow fan fits all of our requirements as a replacement fan to the long-lived green Antec TriCool.

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Product Qualification: Asus P8Z68-M Pro

This motherboard is very nearly the ideal micro ATX motherboard for Intel 1155 CPUs; the chipset is well established to be a great performer with excellent reliability and all of the features present on this board have been well tested on other models. The main issue with this motherboard is the lack of an internal USB 3.0 header, although at the moment that is only a concern for a limited number of chassis.

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Product Qualification: Asus Rampage IV Gene

The Asus Rampage IV Gene motherboard is a micro-ATX motherboard based on the Intel X79 chipset. Sandy Bridge-E has proven to be a powerhouse, but until not has been limited to full size computer systems. With this motherboard, Puget Systems will be able to offer smaller, micro-ATX computers with all the power of Sandy Bridge-E.

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Product Qualification: Asus P8H61-I

Our Echo line of systems has always strived to balance size, cost and performance. The Asus P8H61-I has just the right balance of features and cost and comes in the small mini-ITX form factor. There are a few features missing on this motherboard (SATA 6Gb/s notably), but overall this is a great motherboard at a great price point.

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Dual Boot vs Virtual Machines on the Desktop

We often talk to people who are interested in running multiple operating systems on the same machine. Sometimes that's Windows 7 + XP, sometimes it's Windows 7 + Ubuntu Linux, or various other combinations. One of the most common ways to achieve multiple usable operating systems on a single computer is known as 'dual boot'. Desktop virtualization is a newer way of running multiple operating systems on one desktop system.

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Card Reader Comparison: USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0

Anyone who has used a digital camera or smart phone has probably seen flash memory cards - small, removable devices on which a variety of data can be stored. Card readers in computers allow easy access to read those memory cards, or write new data to them, but the process can be slow for folks like photographers, who often work with multiple cards each full of image files. Can the move to a faster interface for card readers, like USB 3.0, improve performance substantially?

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Product Qualification: Antec P280 Chassis

IN this article, we will be reviewing the Antec P280 which is a great chassis for a wide range of system configurations, but really shines in keeping high-end configurations both cool and quiet. Lower power configurations may run quieter in other chassis such as the Antec P183 V3, but since Antec is advertising this chassis as a high-performance option this is not much of a surprise. This chassis is close to ideal, but for a few small issues that will keep us from carrying this chassis.

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Product Qualification: Intel S1200BTS Motherboard

The Intel S1200BTS (based on the C202 chipset) is a micro ATX server motherboard designed for small to medium-sized business applications. Puget Systems is already offering another micro ATX server motherboard - the Asus P8B-M based on the C204 chipset - but Intel motherboards are often better choices for a server platform than other brands. In this article we will be examining the Intel S1200BTS to determine if there is enough of a reason to replace the Asus P8B-M.

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Product Qualification: Asus P9X79 Deluxe Motherboard

With the launch of Sandy Bridge-E and its corresponding Socket 2011, a new line of motherboards has been developed based on the new Intel X79 chipset. What this means for Puget Systems is that we have to look at all the available options to determine which motherboards we want to offer for our customers. We've looked at several different motherboards over the weeks leading up to the launch of Sandy Bridge-E and the P9X79 Deluxe jumped out at us as having just the right mix of features and connectivity.

Motherboard Component Repair

How To Install a Motherboard

1/9 Computer hardware basics

Personal computer hardware

Personal computer hardware are the component devices that are the building blocks of personal computers. These are typically installed into acomputer case, or attached to it by a cable or through a port. In the latter case, they are also referred to as peripherals.

[edit]Computer Case

Main article: Computer case

A computer case (also known as a computer chassis, cabinet, box, tower, enclosure, housing, system unit or simply case) is the enclosure that contains most of the components of a computer (usually excluding the display, keyboard and mouse). A computer case is sometimes incorrectly referred to metonymously as a CPU referring to a component housed within the case. CPU was a common term in the earlier days of home computers, when peripherals other than the motherboard were usually housed in their own separate cases.

[edit]Power supply

Main article: Power supply unit (computer)

Inside a custom-built computer: the power supply at the bottom has its own cooling fan.

A power supply unit (PSU) converts alternating current (AC) electric power to low-voltage DC power for the internal components of the computer. Some power supplies have a switch to change between 230 V and 115 V. Other models have automatic sensors that switch input voltage automatically, or are able to accept any voltage between those limits. Power supply units used in computers are nearly always switch mode power supplies (SMPS). The SMPS provides regulated direct current power at the several voltages required by the motherboard and accessories such as disk drives and cooling fans.

[edit]               Motherboard

Main article: Motherboard

The motherboard is the main component inside the case. It is a large rectangular board with integrated circuitry that connects the other parts of the computer including the CPU, theRAM, the disk drives (CD, DVD, hard disk, or any others) as well as any peripherals connected via the ports or the expansion slots.

Components directly attached to the motherboard include:

• The CPU (Central Processing Unit) performs most of the calculations which enable a computer to function, and is sometimes referred to as the "brain" of the computer. It is usually cooled by a heat sink and fan. Most newer CPUs include an on-die Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
• The Chipset, which includes the north bridge, mediates communication between the CPU and the other components of the system, including main memory.
• The Random-Access Memory (RAM) stores the code and data that are being actively accessed by the CPU.
• The Read-Only Memory (ROM) stores the BIOS that runs when the computer is powered on or otherwise begins execution, a process known as Bootstrapping, or "booting" or "booting up". The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) includes boot firmware and power management firmware. Newer motherboards use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) instead of BIOS.
• Buses connect the CPU to various internal components and to expansion cards for graphics and sound.
  • Current
    • PCI Express: for expansion cards such as graphics, sound, network interfaces, TV tuners, etc.
    • PCI: for other expansion cards.
    • SATA: for disk drives.
  • Obsolete
    • AGP: superseded by PCI Express.
    • ATA
    • VLB: VESA Local Bus, superseded by AGP.
    • EISA
    • Micro Channel architecture
    • ISA: expansion card slot format obsolete in PCs, but still used in industrial computers.
• Ports for external peripherals. These ports may be controlled directly by the south bridge I/O controller or provided by expansion cards attached to the motherboard.
  • USB
  • Memory Card
  • FireWire
  • eSATA
  • SCSI

[edit]Expansion Cards

Main article: Expansion card

The expansion card (also expansion board, adapter card or accessory card) in computing is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot of a computer motherboard or backplane to add functionality to a computer system via the expansion bus.

An example of an expansion card is a sound card that enables the computer to output sound to audio devices, as well as accept input from a microphone. Most modern computers have hardware support for sound integrated in the motherboard chipset but some users prefer to install a separate sound card as an upgrade. Most sound cards, either built-in or added, have surround sound capabilities and 3-D sound effects.

[edit]Secondary Storage Devices

Main article: Computer data storage

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is a core function and fundamental component of computers.

[edit]Fixed Media Devices

• Hard disk drives: a hard disk drive (HDD; also hard drive, hard disk, or disk drive)[2] is a device for storing and retrieving digital information, primarily computer data. It consists of one or more rigid (hence "hard") rapidly rotating discs (often referred to as platters), coated with magnetic material and with magnetic heads arranged to write data to the surfaces and read it from them.
• Solid-state drives: a solid-state drive (SSD), sometimes called a solid-state disk or electronic disk, is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data with the intention of providing access in the same manner of a traditional block I/O hard disk drive. SSDs are distinguished from traditional magnetic disks such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or floppy disk, which are electromechanical devices containing spinning disks and movable read/write heads.
• RAID array controller - a device to manage several internal or external hard disks and optionally some peripherals in order to achieve performance or reliability improvement in what is called a RAID array.

[edit]Removable Media Devices

• Optical Disc Drives for reading from and writing to various kinds of optical media, including Compact Discs such as CD-ROMs,DVDs, DVD-RAMs and Blu-ray Discs. Optical discs are the most common way of transferring digital video, and are popular for data storage as well.
• Floppy disk drives for reading and writing to floppy disks, an outdated storage media consisting of a thin disk of a flexible magnetic storage medium. These were once standard on most computers but are no longer in common use. Floppies are used today mainly for loading device drivers not included with an operating system release (for example, RAID drivers).
• Zip drives, an outdated medium-capacity removable disk storage system, for reading from and writing to Zip disks, was first introduced by Iomega in 1994.
• USB flash drive plug into a USB port and do not require a separate drive. USB flash drive is a typically small, lightweight, removable, and rewritable flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB interface. Capacities vary, from hundreds of megabytes (in the same range as CDs) to tens of gigabytes (surpassing Blu-ray discs but also costing significantly more).
• Memory card readers for reading from and writing to Memory cards, a flash memory data storage device used to store digital information. Memory cards are typically used on mobile devices. They are thinner, smaller and lighter than USB flash drives. Common types of memory cards are SD and MS.
• Tape drives read and write data on a magnetic tape, and are used for long term storage and backups.

[edit]Input and output peripherals

Main article: Peripheral

Input and output devices are typically housed externally to the main computer chassis. The following are either standard or very common to many computer systems.

Wheel mouse

[edit]Input

Main article: Input device

• Text input devices
  • Keyboard - a device to input text and characters by depressing buttons (referred to as keys or buttons).
• Pointing devices
  • Mouse - a pointing device that detects two dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface.
    • Optical Mouse - uses light (laser technology) to determine mouse motion.
  • Trackball - a pointing device consisting of an exposed protruding ball housed in a socket that detects rotation about two axes.
  • Touchscreen - senses the user pressing directly on the monitor.

• Gaming devices
  • Joystick - a hand-operated pivoted stick whose position is transmitted to the computer.
  • Game pad - a hand held game controller that relies on the digits (especially thumbs) to provide input.
  • Game controller - a specific type of controller specialized for certain gaming purposes.
• Image, Video input devices
  • Image scanner - a device that provides input by analyzing images, printed text, handwriting, or an object.
  • Web cam - a video camera used to provide visual input that can be easily transferred over the internet.
• Audio input devices
  • Microphone - an acoustic sensor that provides input by converting sound into electrical signals.

[edit]Output

Main article: Output device

• Printer - a device that produces a permanent human-readable text or graphic document.
  • Laser printer
  • Inkjet printer
  • Dot matrix printer
  • Thermal printer
• Computer monitors
• Speakers

Hardware Canucks Guide to Building Your Own Personal Computer (PC)

INFORMATION ABOUT HARDWARE

 Physical Damages of Hard disk

When clicking sound starts coming from hard disk drive, this indicates that hard drive is facing some problem. This only happens when power fluctuate while you are working on the computer. This shows that your hard disk is physically damaged.

 Computers: External Hard Drive Recovery

You can store your computer data in several different ways. Data can be stored on removable disks, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and other types of media.

 Become your hard drive doctor??

Hard drives are the main data storage areas of a computer. There are a lot of delicate electrical and magnetic instruments in a hard drive. For the purpose of maintaining these hard drives, it is important to understand their working. The hard drives contain a read/write head and a spindle motor. This head receives electrical impulses from the CPU and writes the information onto hard disk clusters through a magnetic field. Any kind of tampering with this equipment or with the computer in ...

 How to build a Computer

Building a computer is not like trying to break the bank at an online casino or a casino in Las Vegas, it is very simple, once you know how.

 How To Repair LG 710E CRT Monitor With Power Blink Symptom

The LG 710E 17” CRT Monitor came in with the complaint of power blink. A power blink problem can be cause by either in primary or secondary section or even in both sections.

 Batteries and the HP NC6000 Notebook

The HP nc6000 notebook has the capacity for two batteries -- a 'primary' battery and a 'Multiday' battery (that slides into the same slot used for a DVD/CD drive.) When on battery power the notebook utilizes the primary battery first until it drains out, then it is supposed to switch over to the Multiday battery. When the primary battery drained down to zero, all power cut off to the notebook and it immediately shut down.

 The Different Memory Cards And The Speed Of Some Of Them

The MMC and Secure digital cards are not the same but are interchangeable. The difference has to do with copy protections of the disk volume on the SD card. This extra feature makes the SD attractive for people who use them in MP3 players. No other cards are interchangeable. The Canon Power shot A510 you described comes with only 16MB, so it would be best to invest in more memory capacity. What I would recommend is getting one memory card that you will be able to use, even as your need for the ...

 DeFragging Your Hard Drive

A multi-tasker needs all the RAM his PC will handle. I just increased mine to 2GB and I can tell a big difference. On the other hand, 512MB is a pretty healthy amount of real memory for a notebook - especially if you are using a PIV processor. If you have a Celeron, however, it needs a lot of help. I have resorted to the reformat, reinstall process a few times - but it was always with Celerons and the computers were slow from the second you turned them on.

 Web-Based SMTP Server Monitoring

Web-based monitoring of SMTP email servers is normally conducted using one of two different approaches. The first uses a socket level connection to verify whether or not the target server is operational. The second more comprehensive method involves sending round-robin messages to your email system and its subcomponents. Depending on your needs, hardware, and company size both have validity and a rightful place. To determine what is best for your company, let’s examine both in more detail ...

 How To Speed Up Your PC.

One of the most annoying things I have noticed with personal computers is the noticeable drop off in speed and performance as the system gets older. When I first buy the system or when I have freshly installed Windows the whole system seems to zip along, programs open faster the system starts up faster. A few months of hard use later and I get more and more frustrated, I am forced to wait for everything as my PC grinds along apparently making hard work of the smallest task.

 The History and Origins of Our PC Computer Keyboards

The keyboard is among the most underappreciated and taken for granted component of the Personal Computer (PC) that we use everyday.

 An Introduction To Raid – Greater Reliability ,faster, Less Costly Hard Drive Units

What is a raid setup on a computer system? Like anything else it depends who you talk to. Raid hard drive systems had their acronym explained as “Redundant Array of Individual Drives “and “Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives”. The acronym for this is the shortened term “RAID”.

 The History Of Microcomputers

The history of microcomputers does not compare with the history of ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq). Microcomputers (now commonly held as PCs) have been around for only 25 – 30 years.

 Why Choose A Core 2 Duo For Your CPU In Your New High End Computer ?

It must have been difficult for Intel to watch AMD's Athlon 64 and then the Athlon 64 X2 and FX pretty much take over the performance PC market, putting the once-untouchable chip giant into a position where its only competitive response was to cut prices. Those were dark days indeed. But now, with the release of the long-awaited codename "Conroe" -- the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors -- Intel looks set to start a new age of desktop domination.

 How To Properly Install A New Video Card

Your video card is one of those components in your computer you want to both learn as much about it as possible and to learn how to remove the old one and install a new card quickly.Playing those awesome games will be that much more enjoyable with one of those muscle bound video cards boosting video performance to the max.

 Keeping Your Computer Happy

Does your computer last for only a year or so, hangs every so often, and gets struck by virus most of the time? Are you giving it enough hours of rest? Is it cool enough most of the times? Can its memory handle all the applications that you use?

 Selecting a New Motherboard: A Beginner's Guide

Are you looking for a new motherboard? With so many models available, deciding which to buy can be difficult. However, if you use this checklist, considering each motherboard feature, you should be able to find one that’s right for you.

 Graphic Cards: How To Choose The Best

Do you remember the old computing days when there were no sounds except for maybe a beep occasionally and printers making more noise than a cat on a scratching post or how about monitors that offered nothing more than a green or orange glow?

 What Is Random Access Memory

RAM is considered volatile storage because as soon as the power supply is stopped, the contents of RAM are lost. Hence, the data in RAM stays as long as the computer is running. RAM is much faster to read from and write to, when compared to other storage devices like hard disk, CDROM, Floppy disk etc. RAM can be both read and written; therefore, it is sometimes also called read-write memory. There are two fundamental types of RAM:(a) Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

 All About Dye-Sublimation Printers

Dedicated photo printers differ from all-purpose printers as they are designed to print photos only, as opposed to text or graphics documents in addition to photos. They are generally compact in size and lightweight, and some models even feature batteries that allow you to print without the need for an outlet. Most photo printers, including dye-sublimation (or dye-sub) printers, are built around a thermal dye engine, though there are a few that feature inkjet technology. For many ...

 What Is Optical Disk?

OPTICAL DISK Optical disk is an electronic data storage medium from which data is read and written to by using a low-powered laser beam. It is flat, circular, plastic or glass disk on which data is stored in the form of light and dark pits. The laser beam reads the pits and the data can be accessed. There are three basic types of optical disks: • Read-only optical disks: The optical disks, which are recorded at the time of manufacture and cannot be erased. CD, ...

 Computer Memory - Why It's Important

Many of you have probably asked yourselves this many times. For those of you who are looking to buy or have already purchased a computer may still be asking yourselves what this piece of hardware does for your computer. Buying computer memory is not as simple as going to the store and asking a sales representative for it. Each computer can only support a certain type of memory.

 Is Intel's Core 2 Duo Processor Worth the Hype?

In the months leading up to the release of Core 2 Duo processor - also referred to as "Conroe" for desktops - many questions remained unanswered. Did Intel make the necessary changes to compete with AMD's processor advantage?

 How To Correct A Slow Running Computer

You push the power button on your computer and 5 minutes later you're finally ready to start computing.It seems as though it takes forever and a day for your computer to get going,Why?

 What’s That Noise Coming From My Computer?

That’s usually how it starts. You hear an unfamiliar noise when you turn on your computer. Or, you may be working along and all of a sudden, your computer stops responding. Most people just ignore either one of these signs that something is amiss. They reboot or ignore the noise.

 How To Change Your Computer's Heat Sink

Everyone really want a fast hot computer when we want to do some business computing and when we want to play thos high speed games.But we don't want a fast and Hot computer in the literal sense.

 Why Choose a Core 2 Duo For Your CPU In Your New High End Computer ?

It must have been difficult for Intel to watch AMD's Athlon 64 and then the Athlon 64 X2 and FX pretty much take over the performance PC market, putting the once-untouchable chip giant into a position where its only competitive response was to cut prices. Those were dark days indeed. But now, with the release of the long-awaited codename "Conroe" -- the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors -- Intel looks set to start a new age of desktop domination.

 AMD Versus Intel CPU War

If you are in the market to purchase a computer there are many options in existence. You can purchase a Hewlett Packard, Gateway, IBM, or a custom built system. But there is one thing that all of these computers will utilize and that is a CPU (central processing unit). The CPU is responsible for interpreting and executing instructions for the motherboard. CPU's are key to the functioning of your new computer. CPU's from Intel and AMD power virtually every personal computer that you can purchase ...

 Why Upgrade To Corsair DDR2 RAM?

New technology is being introduced every day it seems. Computers are finally getting more stable and they continue to get faster. In this article we I will be talking about some of the new advances in RAM, specifically the new Corsair DDR2 Ram and what it can do for your computer.

 How To Add A USB 2.0 Hub To Your Computer

Digital and video Cameras, scanners, mp3 players, and just about every other electronic device are designed to be connected to your computer.