How Computers Work

•The Four Basic Operations

•The Boot Process
•Hardware Components & Their Functions
•Differences in Portable Devices
 The Four Basic Computer
Operations
 Input – Getting data from the
outside world into the computer
 Processing – Manipulating the
information
 Output – Presenting data from the
computer to the outside
 Storage – Efficiently and
inexpensively holding data for later
use.
Hardware to Provide
Four Functions
 The Boot Process

1. The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)

setup program loads and runs
2. The Power-On-Self-Test (POST) runs
3. The Operating System loads
4. System Configuration
5. System utilities load
 PC Components
 Case
 Processor
 Power Supply
 Motherboard
 Memory
 Hard Drives
 Removable Media Drives
 Video, Audio Functionality
 Monitor
 Mouse, Keyboard
 The Processor
 Single core vs. Dual core
 Intel vs. AMD
 Trade-off between price and speed
• The newest, fastest processors are
always overpriced. Best "bang for the
buck" is with the next step down.
 System Memory
 How much?
• Single core or dual core processor
• Types of applications
 What kind?
• Types
 SDRAM
 DDR SDRAM
 DDR2 SDRAM
• Motherboard and CPU must support.
 Choosing a Power Supply
 Enough power for high class video
cards
 Special connectors available for SATA
Hard Drives and PCI-E video cards
 Motherboard may have a 20-pin or
24-pin main connector
 Storage
 Hard Drives
• How much, based on applications used
• What type (SATA or PATA)?
 Optical Drives
• CD Burner, DVD-ROM, DVD Burner
(Single Layer or Dual Layer)
• How many? Two really make copying
disks easy.
 Floppy Drive?
 Hard Drives
 IDE (ATA)
• EIDE – ATA2 aka Fast ATA
• ATA3 – Ultra ATA - Improved interface,
hard drives can report status
information to the MB.
• Two devices per channel (or cable)
 SATA – Serial ATA
• One device per channel
 SCSI – Many devices can be daisy-
chained.
 Choosing a Motherboard
 Supports the chosen Processor
 Storage connectors ( PATA [aka
IDE], SATA150, SATA 3.0)
 Memory type and amount
 Built-ins (Video, Audio, LAN)
 Graphic Card support (PCI-e, AGP)
 PCI Expansion slots
 RAID support
 Factors in Choosing a Case
 4 Form Factors
• Desktop
• Mid-Size Tower
• Full-Size Tower
• Little, Teeny, Tiny Cases (VSFF)
 External and Internal Drive Bays
 Front (Top) Panel Multi-Media
Connectors
 Cooling System (can also add-on)
 Display
 Made up of two components
• Monitor
• Video card or circuitry
 Monitors
 CRT
• Cheaper
• Takes up more desktop real estate
• Can tire your eyes
 Flat Panel
• More expensive
• Saves space
• Sharper Image
 Video Cards
 PCI
• Fits in a standard expansion slot
• General purpose video
 Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
• AGP 2X/4X, AGP 4X/8X, AGP Pro 4X/8X
 PCI Express (PCIe)
• PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, PCIe x16
 Replacing a Video Card
 Make sure you don't buy too much
card for the monitor.
 It doesn't matter if the original video
was built-in to the motherboard.
Installing a video card and loading
drivers "takes over" from the old
video.
 Get a card the motherboard supports.