6

CHAPTER
THE SYSTEM
UNIT
 6-2

Competencies

Describe the function of the system clock,

expansion slots, boards, and bus lines

Discuss ports, cables, and power supply

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 6-3

System Clock

Important measurement indicating speed

Located on a small chip
Produces electrical beats
Synchronizes operations
Expressed in gigahertz
Faster clock speed, faster computer

What is a gigahertz?

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 6-4

System Clock

Controls speed and synchronizes operations

Expressed in megahertz
Faster the clock speed, the faster the computer

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 6-5

Expansion Slots and Cards

Allow for new devices to be added

Open architecture
Slots provide for expansion
Expansion cards are also called …
Plug-in boards
Controller cards
Adapter cards
Interface cards

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 6-6
Section D
.. Expansion Slots and Cards
Expansion slot - long, narrow socket on the
motherboard into which you can plug an expansion
card
Graphics card (for connecting monitor)
Modem (for transmitting data over phone or cable lines)
Sound card (for connecting speakers)
Expansion card - small circuit board that provides
computer with ability to control storage, input or
output device
Most computers have 4 - 8 expansion slots
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 6-7

Page 88
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 6-8

PC Cards
Do notebook computers also contain
expansion slots?
Most notebook computers are equipped with a
special type of external slot called a PCMCIA
slot (personal computer memory card
international association)
Typically a notebook only has one slot, but the
slot can hold more than one PC card (PCMCIA
expansion cards)

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 6-9

PC card

Page 90
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 6-10

Commonly Used Expansion Cards

Video cards
Modem cards
Network interface cards (NIC)
TV tuner cards
PC cards

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 6-11

Installing a New Expansion Card

Internal devices
Tools required
Screwdriver
Directions
Before installing
Unplug the computer
Ground yourself
Installing
Follow the directions
Page 92
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 6-12

.. Installing a New Expansion Card

Some devices require software, called a device

driver
The device driver sets up communication
between your computer and the device
Normally, disk or CD used only once
Today’s PCs include Plug and Play (PnP) that
automatically takes care of these technical
details
Page 92
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 6-13

Installing a New Expansion Card

For installing a new device, following setup is

needed:
Inserting the device card into the matching slot
Installing the device driver program for the device
Configure the system (tedious step, requires
sufficient technical background)

“Plug and Play” is a new technology for

making the device installation procedure much
faster and easier.
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 6-14

“Plug and Play”

A plug-n-play card requires
the user to:
Hardware and software standards •Switch off the system

Makes system expansion easy for •Insert the card

the user •Open the system
again.
Automatically installs drivers and
system configuration •System automatically
configure itself for the
System unit recognizes the new newly installed device
device -User is asked for the
latest device driver.

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 6-15

Bus Lines

Connect parts of the CPU to each other

Data roadway for traveling bits
Measured as bus width
More lanes, faster traffic
Two basic categories
System buses
Expansion buses

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 6-16
Chapter Section D Input and Output Devices
2
Expansion slots, cards and ports: How does a
computer get data from RAM to a peripheral
device?

Data Bus carries data from one component to

another
I/O (computer jargon for input/output) refers to
collecting data and transporting results.
Expansion bus - the segment of the data bus that
transports data between RAM and peripheral
devices
Page 88
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 6-17

Types of Expansion Buses

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
Advanced Graphic Port (AGP)
Universal serial bus (USB)
FireWire buses
HPSB – high performance serial bus
Used with digital
camcorders & video editing software

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 6-18

… Types of Expansion Buses

The microcomputer motherboard typically has

up to three types of expansion slots:
ISA - older technology, modems and slow devices
PCI - for graphics, sound, video, modem or network
cards
AGP - for graphics cards
Expansion cards are built for only one type of
slot
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 6-19

AGP slot

ISA slot

PCI slot

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 6-20

ISA Bus

Developed by IBM for personal computers

Slow

Originally 8 bit, later expanded to 16 bit

Still used by some expansion cards

Replaced by PCI bus in the near future

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 6-21

PCI Bus

Originally developed to meet demands of graphical

user interfaces
High speed
32 bit or 64 bit
Widely used to connect CPU, memory, and
expansion cards

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 6-22

AGP Bus

Dedicated bus for acceleration of graphics

performance

Replacing the PCI bus for transfer of video data

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 6-23

Other Bus Types

USB
Connects directly to the PCI bus on the
motherboard
Supports external devices without inserting
expansion cards for each device
HPSB
FireWire
Similar to USB but faster

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 6-24

Expansion Ports

To connect a peripheral device to an expansion

card, you plug a cable from the device into the
expansion port
Expansion port - any connector that passes data
in and out of a computer or peripheral device

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 6-25

Power plug socket

Keyboard port

Mouse port

USB ports

DB-9 serial port

Parallel port
(printer)

Speaker and
microphone jacks

Monitor port

Modem port

Network port

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 6-26

Ports

Socket for connecting external devices

Four common ports
Serial
Parallel
USB
FireWire

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 6-27

Serial & Parallel Ports

Serial Port
Data sent one bit at a time
Good long distance transmission of data
Parallel Port
Data sent 8 bits simultaneously
Used for short distances

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 6-28

USB and HPSB Ports

USB Port
Replacing serial and parallel ports
Faster
Each port can support
more than one device
HPSB Port
FireWire ports
Faster then USB ports

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 6-29

What’s the best port to use for connecting

peripheral devices?

USB port
Most popular port
Most computers feature at least 2 USB ports
USB devices
Mouse
Scanner
Printer
Joystick
Windows automatically recognizes USB devices
Page 91
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 6-30

Cables

Connect Input/Output Newer cables

devices AGP
Mouse graphics monitor
USB
Keyboard
joy stick; scanner
Printer
HPSB
Monitor video camera

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 6-31

Major types of expansion cables

Page 90-91
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 6-32

Power Supply

Computers require direct current (DC)

DC power provided by converting alternating
current (AC) from wall outlets or batteries
Desktop computers use power supply units
Notebooks and handhelds use AC adapters

Power Supply
Unit
AC adapter

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 6-33

Look to the Future

Wireless Technology and PDAs

Personal wearable computer
POMA®
Wireless pointing device, head
mounted display
Developed by Xybernaut
Corporation
Currently being evaluated for use in
airport security
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