CS101 Introduction to Computing

Lecture 5
Building A Personal Computer
 During the last lecture …
• We found out about the various types, big and small, fast and
slow, cheap and expensive. Our main categories were:
• Super computers
• Mainframes
• Servers
• Desktops
• Mobile computers
• We also found out that a modern computer contains the
following essential components:
• Processor
• Memory subsystem
• Storage subsystem
• Input subsystem
• Output subsystem
• The Bus
 Today’s goal is quite simple …

To learn about the various components of the

popular personnel computer and how those
things are put together to form a PC
 PC Parts
• Monitor (show cables; the tube)
• Keyboard
• Mouse (inside)
• Speaker/headphone
• Microphone
• CPU
– Front buttons
– Backside ports, fan, slots, cables
 Inside of the CPU
• Power supply/fan & connectors
• Motherboard
– Bus
– Edge connectors
– Ports
• Video card
• Modem
• Network card
• Sound card
• ROM
• RAM
– Slots
– DIMM’s
 The Processor Module
• The slot on the motherboard
• The housing
– Fan
– Heat sink
• Pins (256?), Transistors (10 million?)
What have we learnt today?
 Our next lecture will be …

… our 2nd Web development lecture in which we’ll

learn about how to construct a Web page and make
available on the Internet for every one to see

In the lecture following that one, i.e. lecture 7, we’ll

continue with the discussion that we have had today
about the inside of a PC, and our focus will be on the
most crucial component found inside a PC, the
microprocessor