Introduction to Computer

● Computer is an electronic device which performs the

operations such as accepts the data, store the data,
manipulate or process the data and produce desired result.

or
● The computer is a machine that processes data according to
a set of instructions that are stored either temporarily or
permanently.
Block Diagram of Computer
Introduction to Computer Hardware:

● Input devices: which is used to enter data & instructions into computer.

● Output Devices: which is used to get the data from computer or display the
generated information.

● CPU: it acts as the computer brain. It responsible for the overall working of
all components of the computer. It can be called as the heart of a computer
system.

● Storage Devices: which are used to store data and instructions given to the
computer.

i. Primary storage

ii. Secondary storage

Generations of computers
● 1st generation :( 1946-1954) computers were based on vacuum tubes.

● 2nd generation :( 1955-1964) computers were based on transistors.

● 3rd generation: (1965-1974) computers were based on Integrated

circuits(IC‘s).

● 4th generation: (1975- till date) computers are microprocessors

based.

● 5th generation: computers are artificial intelligence (AI) based.

Information Processing System
● DATA is a collection of numbers, alphabets, symbols.

● INFORMATION is the processed and organized data presented

in a meaningful form. Information is obtained from data after a
program processes it.

● DATA PROCESSING is the course of doing things in a

sequence of steps.
Basic Units of Measurement
● BIT is a unit of information its consisting of 2 possible alternatives
binary number system.

● Ex: 0 or 1(Ture or False)

● BYTE is a sequence of 8 bits processed as a single unit for

information.

● A byte can be used to represent a single character, such as:

● A letter
● A number
● A special character or symbol, or
● A space
Basic Units of Measurement
❖ bit = 0 or 1
❖ 8 bits = 1 byte
❖ 1,024 bytes = 1 kilobyte (K or KB)
❖ 1,024 KB = 1 Megabyte (MB)
❖ 1,024 MB = 1 Gigabyte (GB)
❖ 1,024 GB = 1 Terabyte (TB)
● Computer is an electronic machine with the
combination of hardware & software components.

Software :
● Software is a set of programs or instructions that allows
Hardware to do specific job.

● The software can be classified into two categories

i. System software

ii. Application software.

Hardware :

● Hardware is the all physical Parts of the devices.

● Which we can touch and feel.

● Computer Hardware consists of the Monitor, CPU, Keyboard,

Mouse and all other devices connected to the computer either
externally or internally.
Peripherals of a computer

● Cabinet ( CPU )

● Monitor
● Keyboard
● Mouse
● External devices.
 Cabinet ( CPU )
● There is a cabinet for every computer.

● A computer cabinet is used to protect components from

outside parts.

● It have power switch , power indicator, Restart Button, Audio

and USB Connecters are available at front side.

● It have keyboard port, USB port, serial port, parallel port,

HDMI, LAN port, audio ports are available at back side.
Front side & Back side view of CPU
Monitor :
● Monitor of a computer is like a television screen.

● The monitor is the piece of computer hardwareThe monitor is the piece

of computer hardware that displays the video and graphics information
generated by the computer through the video card.

● Older monitors used a cathode ray tube (CRT).

● monitors were used for data processingmonitors were used for data
processing while television sets were used for entertainment

● In the monitor , the screen will be displayed in pixels format.

i. 800 by 600 pixels

ii. 1024 by 768 pixels

iii. 366 by768 pixels ….etc

Key Board:

● This is the input device like a type writer, which contains keys
to feed the data or information into the computer.

● Keyboards are available in two modules. These are

i. Standard key board with 83-88 keys

ii. Enhanced key board with 104 keys or above

Mouse :
❖ Mouse is a point and click interface for entering commands
which works well in graphical environments.

❖ Every mouse has one primary button (left button) and one
secondary button (right button).

❖ The primary button is used to carry out most tasks, where as

secondary button is used in special cases you can select
commands and options.
 Parts of CPU
1.
●2
Network Adapter Card ●1
●3

2. Floppy Disk Drive

3. CD-Rom Drive
4. Hard Disk ●4

5. Ribbon Cables
6. RAM
7. CPU
8. Heat Sink/Cooler Fan
9. Mother Board
●6

10. Sound Card ●7

11. VGA Card ●8

SMPS (switched-mode power supply )
● SMPS is an electronic power supply unit that has been fitted inside
cabinet & Identification is the rectangular box shape.

● SMPS converts ac(240volts) mains power to low voltage dc power

needed by pc components.
● SMPS is used to supply the power to Mother Board HDD,CD ROM,
FDD

Interior view of an ATX SMPS

ATX Power connecter: Advanced Technology eXtended

● ATX power connecter is used to connect ATX power plug(

This is from SMPS)
● ATX Power connecter has 20/24 pins available.

● It is white color and it has ATX name is available on Mother

Boar
System board/Motherboard :
● This is the major part of the PC hardware

● It manages all transactions of data between CPU peripherals.

● The Mother Board contains various components, which support the

functioning of a PC. Such as the Processor, Memory and expansion
slots and connects to every part of the PC.

● It is rectangle shape .

● All components communicate with the processor through the

chipset- it is the hub of all data transfer.
Micro Processor :
● It is brain of the computer system.

● It reads instructions from the software & It tells othercomponents

what to do and when to do them.
● The speed of CPU processes is measured in MHz(mega hertz).

● It is 1.5 inches square shape.

● The CPU is paired up with a heat sink and a CPU fan.

● MHz = One million cycles per second

● 1 GHz = 1000 MHz.

Block Diagram of Micro Processor :
64-bit Microprocessor –

● INTEL CORE-2 : 1.2GHz to 3GHz

● INTEL i7 : 66GHz to 3.33GHz

● INTEL i5 : 2.4GHz to 3.6GHz

● INTEL i3 : 2.93GHz to 3.33GHz

RAM :
● RAM is system's short-term memory. Whenever your computer
performs calculations, it temporarily stores the data in the RAM until
it is needed.

● This short-term memory disappears when the computer is turned off

so it is called as volatile memory.

● RAM is measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).

● If you don't have enough RAM, you may notice that your computer is
slow-running when you have several programs open.

● Computer stores data in units called bits and bytes.

● Integrated RAM chips are available in two form:
□ SRAM(Static RAM)
□ DRAM(Dynamic RAM)
● SRAM memories are used to build Cache Memory.
● DRAM stores the binary information in the form of electric charges that applied
to capacitors. The main memory is generally made up of DRAM chips.

● Most of the DRAM used in modern systems is synchronous DRAM, or SDRAM.

● Manufacturers also sometimes use the acronym DDR(double data rate) (or DDR2,
DDR3, DDR4,etc.) to describe the type of SDRAM (synchronous)used by a PC
or server.

● DDR stands for double data rate, and it refers to how much data the memory can
transfer in one clock cycle.
RAM Slots :
● Ram slots are used to install the rams
● It is large rectangle shape and each ending has small clips.
North Bridge:
● A Northbridge is one of the two chips in the core
logic chipset architecture on a PC and motherboard

● It converts electronic signals to binary values and binary

values to electronic signals .

● Northbridge is connected directly to the CPU, AGP

(Accelerated Graphics Port), and the memory via the
front-side bus (FSB).
South Bridge:
● It controls major components of the mother board and it is
back bone of the input output devices.
● The Southbridge typically implements the slower capabilities of
the motherboard in a Northbridge/Southbridge chipset computer
architecture.
● It is communicates PCI slots (peripheral component interconnect),
IDE-1, IDE-2, (Integrated development environment) floppy connecter,
BIOS chip.

● It is near by CMOS battery

CMOS Battery:
● Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
● It looks like a coin or button shape.
● It provides voltage to the BIOS (Basic Input and Output System)
and system clock.
● It generates the clock signal and it manage system continues
time .
BIOS Chip :
● BIOS controls how the operating system and hardware work
together
● We can identify the BIOS name written on chip or mother
board
AGP Slot & AGP Card :

● AGP(Accelerated Graphics Port) Slot is used install the AGP card.

● AGP back view same as VGA port(15-pins) and used to
connecting the monitors.
● This slot is above PCI slots and its color is Black or Brown
● AGP card is used to display the data to the user.

● It is indirectly linked with the computer memory and is built in

the mother board.

● Adapter cards are installed in this slot like Display card, Sound
card, Network Interface card, etc
PCI(Expansion) Slots :
● PCI (Peripheral component interconnect) slots are used to
install the PCI cards such as

i. LAN (Ethernet) Card

ii. Sound Card

iii. TV Tuner(Internal) Card

● PCI Slots are white or yellow color

● PCI Card has Single gap only

PCI(Expansion) Cards :

44
Types of Ports :
● Serial Port:- It is nine pin connector used for connecting peripheral
devices such as mice, gaming controllers, modems, and older
printers.

● Parallel Port:- It is a twenty five-pin connector used for connecting

peripheral devices such as printers or a scanner. The parallel port
may transfer data at more speed than a serial port because of 25 pins.

● USB Port:- It is the Universal Serial Bus used for connecting

peripheral devices. It is a four pin connector.
Input & Out put ports :
● IO ports are used to connecting IO device such as key
boards, mouse, monitor, printer, scanner, speakers
etc...
Floppy connecter :
● Floppy connecter is used to connect Floppy Disk Drive.

● This is beside of ATX power connecter

● We can identify the FDD name written on the mother board.
Bus Cables or Data Cables :
● A Bus is a collection of wires through which data is transmitted
from one device to another device
● Cables are two types
● IDE cable : it is used to connect HDD, CD ROM, DVD ROM
● FDD cable: it is used to connect FDD (braking or manufacture defecting)
Hard Disk Drive :
● The hard disk drive is the main, and it is used to store data in a
computer.

● HDD is where your files are permanently stored on your computer.

● Parallel ATA Connector (PATA): It is 40 Pin connector. A ribbon

cable connects the Hard disk drive and CD/DVD Drive to the
interface, as shown in the figure below.

● 11
● HDD 2.5” and 1.8” are used in Notebook and Laptop
Computers and 3.5” in Desktop Computers.

Figure HDD 1.8 “ 2.5” and 3.5”

CD ROM Drive & CD Writer :
● CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read only Memory) Drive is a device
that reads the information from Compact Disks (CD).

● CD/DVD drive(s) are used to read/write data, where files are stored
permanently.

● CD-Writer is used to write the data into Compact Disks only once.
Floppy Disk Drive :
● The floppy disk drive is used to read the information stored in
floppy disks.

● Floppy disks also called as a diskette.

● Identification is smaller than CD writer.

Floppy Disk Drive :
Printers :
● A device that i s u s e d t o prints data (numbers, alphabets,
graphs, etc…) on paper is known as Printer.

● We have different types of printers to take printouts.These

are as follows:

i. Dot matrix printer

ii. Inkjet printer

iii. Laser printer ….etc
Printers :
Laser Printer

Dot Matrix Printer

Multifunctional Printer Inkjet Printer
Speakers :
● Speakers make your system much more delightful to
use entertain you while you are working on computer
LCD Projectors:

● Projectors is an optical device that projects an image on to a

surface/projector screen.
Scanner :

● Scanner is used to scan images and text