IT ESSENTIALS

Final Exam Preparation Paper

Chapter 2: PC Assembly

General and Fire Safety

Main steps:

1. Remove any watches, jewelry, secure loose clothing

2. Turn off or unplug any equipment before working on it
3. Cover any sharp objects with tape
4. Wear safety goggles

The PASS Principle:

P - pull the pin

A - aim at the base of the fire
S - squeeze the lever
S - sweep the nozzle from side to side

Install the Power Supply

1. Open the computer case

2. Align the screw holes of the computer case with the power supply
3. Screw the power supply in

Power supplies typically provide voltages of 3.3V, 5V and 12V

Install the Motherboard Components

Installing the CPU:

1. Orient the CPU to the CPU slot
2. Press the CPU into the CPU slot
3. Lock the CPU into place
4. Apply thermal paste to the CPU
5. Install the heatsink
6. Secure the heatsink
Installing RAM:
1. Open the RAM slot levers
2. Orient the RAM to the motherboard slot
3. Lower RAM into spot
4. Press down firmly to lock the RAM in place

When selecting new RAM, you must ensure that it is compatible with the current motherboard.
Memory categorizations:

• Unbuffered memory – regular memory for computers., read directly from the memory
banks, faster than buffered memory, is a limit.
• Buffered memory –specialized memory for servers and high-end workstations, have a
control chip built into the module, extra controller chip reduces RAM speed.

Installing the motherboard:

1. Align the motherboard in the correct direction
2. Locate the standoffs
3. Install the standoffs in the computer case
4. Align I/O plate to back of the computer case
5. Lower motherboard into the place
6. Install screws into the standoffs

Data travels from one part of a computer to another through a collection of wires known as the
bus. The bus has two parts. The data portion of the bus, known as the data bus, carries data
between the computer components. The address portion, known as the address bus, carries the
memory addresses of the locations where data is read or written by the CPU. The speed at
which data travels through the bus is determined by the clock speed, measured in MHz or GHz.

The front-side bus (FSB) is the path between the CPU and the Northbridge. It is used to
connect various components, such as the chipset, expansion cards, and RAM.

Processors are further classified as 32-bit and 64-bit. The primary difference is the number of
instructions that can be handled by the processor at one time.

Choosing a CPU cooling system:

• The heat sink or fan must match the CPU socket on the motherboard
• The heat sink of fan must not interfere with other motherboard components
• The heat sink or fan must fit within the case
• The heat sink or fan must be able to disperse enough heat to keep the CPU cool in warm
environments
Install Internal Drives

Hard drives:
1. Align the HDD, the power and interface connectors should be facing out toward the
motherboard
2. Insert the HDD, make sure screw holes align
3. Screw HDD in

When installing multiple drives in a case, it is recommended to maintain some space between
the drives to help airflow and enhance cooling. Also, mount the drive with the metal side face up.
This metal face helps to dissipate heat from the hard drive.
Signs that an internal storage device is failing might be unusual noises, unusual vibrations, error
messages, or even corrupt data or applications that do not load.
Internal drives usually connect to the motherboard with SATA while external drives connect
with USB, eSATA, or Thunderbolt. Legacy motherboards may only offer the IDE or EIDE
interface. SATA and eSATA cables are similar but they are not interchangeable. In installations
where CPU cooling is important, HDDs are not recommended.

Optical drives:
1. Choose the proper drive bay, remove the front plate if necessary
2. Align the optical drive with the 5.25inch drive bay opening
3. Insert the optical drive, make sure screw holes align
4. Screw the optical drive in

DVDs hold significantly more data than CDs and Blu-ray discs (BD) store significantly more data
than DVDs (BD > DVD > CD). DVDs and BDs can also have dual layers for recording data,
essentially doubling the amount of data that can be recorded on the media.

Install Adapter Cards

1. Find an empty PCIe x16 slot on the case and remove the metal cover
2. Align the adapter card to the appropriate expansion slot on the motherboard
3. Press it down until fully seated
4. Screw the metal cover back in

A graphics card (factors: slot type, VRAM, GPU, max. resolution) that needs to support intensive
graphics could be RAM intensive, CPU intensive, or both. The computer must have the slots,
RAM, and CPU to support the full functionality of an upgraded graphics card. A computer
system must have quality speakers and a subwoofer to support the full functionality of an
upgraded sound card (factors: slot type, Digital signal processor (DSP), ports and connections,
signal-to-noise radio). Storage controllers (factors: slot type, connector quantity, internal or
external connectors, card size, controller card RAM, controller card processor, RAID type) allow
for the expansion of internal and external drives for a computer system. Installing an I/O card
(factors: slot radio, I/O port type, I/O port quantity, additional power requirements) in a computer
is a fast and easy way to add I/O ports. Customers often upgrade a NIC (factors: slot type, speed,
connector type, wired and wireless connection, standards compatibility) to get wireless
connectivity or to increase bandwidth. A capture card (factors: storage, resolution and fps, I/O
port, format standards input interface types) imports video into a computer and records it on a
hard drive. The addition of a capture card with a television tuner allows you to view and record
television programming. The computer system must have enough CPU power, adequate RAM,
and a high-speed storage system to support the capture, recording, and editing demands of the
customer. Adapter cards are inserted into two types of expansion slots on a motherboard: PCI,
commonly available on older expansion cards, and PCIe, which supports x1, x4, x8 and x16 slots.

Many video adapter cards require separate power from the power supply using a 6-pin or 8-pin
power connector.

Select Additional Storage

Media card types:

• Secure digital (SD) - for portable devices, up to 2TB of data
• MicroSD - smaller version of SD, used in smartphones
• MiniSD - between SD and MicroSD, for mobile phones
• CompactFlash - older format, high speed and capacity(128 GB), for video cameras
• Memory Stick - created by Sony, proprietary flash memory, for portable electronics
• xD aka picture card - digital cameras

Media reader selection factors: media cards supported, internal/external, size, connector type

External storage offers portability and convenience when working with multiple computers.
New External storage factors: port type, speed, storage, portability, power requirements

Install the Cables

Internal power cables installation:

1. Align 24-pin ATX power connector to the socket on the motherboard
2. Push in place
3. Align 4-pin auxiliary power connector to the socket on the motherboard
4. Push in place
5. Align the CPU fan connector to the socket on the motherboard
6. Push in place

Storage drive SATA and case fan power connectors:

1. Align the 15-pin SATA power connector to the port on the drive
2. Push in place
3. Align the 3/4-pin power connector to the slot on the motherboard
4. Push in place

Internal Data Cables:

1. Align the SATA cable and plug one end into the motherboard socket
2. Align the other end of the SATA cable and plug

Front panel cables:

1. Plug the power cable into the system panel connector marked PWR_SW
2. Reset cable -> RESET
3. Power LED cable -> PWR_LED
4. Drive activity LED cable -> HDD_LED
5. Speaker cable -> SPEAKER
6. USB cable -> USB connector
7. Audio cable -> audio connector

System Panel connectors include:

• Power button - turns the computer on/off, if fails - hold for 5 sec
• Reset button - restarts the computer without turning it off
• Power LED - remains lit when the computer is on, often blinks when the computer is in sleep
mode
• Drive Activity LEDs -remains lit/blinks when the system is reading/writing to hard drives
• System Speaker - indicated computer status with beeps, not = music/audio speaker
• Audio - audio ports or headphone jacks
New cases and motherboards have USB 3.0 or may even have USB 3.1 capabilities. The USB
3.0 and 3.1 motherboard connector is similar in design to a USB connector, but has additional
pins. USB connectors are often in pairs. Most USB devices only require the connection of four
pins. The fifth pin is used to ground the shielding of some USB cables. Connecting a USB cable
to a FireWire (very similar) connector will cause damage.
Generally, if a button or LED does not function, the connector is incorrectly oriented.

To complete the computer assembly:

1. Reattach the front panel if necessary

2. Plug the power cable into the power supply
3. Orient and connect USB cables to USB ports
4. Orient and connect the video cable to the video port on the video adapter
5. Tighten the screws of the video adapter
6. Connect the network cable to the Ethernet port
7. Connect audio cable to audio ports
8. Close the side panel cover
9. Secure the side panel

Abbreviations

• PASS - pull the pin, aim at the base of the fire, squeeze the lever, sweep the nozzle from side
to side
• FSB - front-side bus
• DSP - digital signal processor
• SD - secure digital