PC Assembly &

Hardware Maintenance

Information Technology Center

University of Peradeniya

How a Computer System Works

Input

Processing

Output

Storage

What is a Computer System

Computer System

Hardware

Software

Input H/W

Application S/W

Output H/W

System S/W

Live Ware

Storage H/W
Processing H/W
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What is Computer Hardware

All tangible physical components (inside or
outside) of a computer system
Examples :

Keyboard,

Mouse, Scanner
Printer, Monitor, Plotter
CD drive, Floppy drive, Hard disk, RAM
NIC, CPU, Motherboard, etc
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Identify Hardware Components

1.

2.

Physical identification
Just by looking at (observing) the
components
Using Software
Use a software application to identify the
hardware components & configuration

Common Hardware
Motherboard
Keyboard, Mouse, Touchpad, Light pen
Scanner
Speakers
Monitor
Printer

Laser

printer
Ink jet, bubble jet
Line printer, Dot-matrix printer

Common Hardware Cntd

How to connect
Why a driver is needed

Computer Monitor
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
LCD (Liquid Crystals Display)
Aspect Ratio - ratio of the width of the
display screen to the height (Ex:- 4:3,
Wide Screen 16:9)
Screen size - measured in inches from
one corner to the corner diagonally across
from it (Ex:- 15. 17, 19, 21)

Computer Monitor cntd.

Refresh rate Number of times that the
image on the screen is drawn in each
second
Resolution Total Number of pixels in the
screen
Written as (number of pixels in to Width X
number of pixels in to height)
Ex: 640X480, 800X600, 1024X768,
1600X1200, etc

Computer Monitor cntd.

Colour bit depth number of bits used

to describe a pixel

Bit-Depth

Number of Colors

2 (monochrome)

4 (CGA)

16 (EGA)

256 (VGA)

16

65,536 (High Color, XGA)

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16,777,216 (True Color,

SVGA)

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16,777,216 (True Color +

Alpha Channel)
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How a CRT Monitor works

A CRT monitor contains millions of tiny
red, green, and blue phosphor dots that
glow when struck by an electron beam
Use three independent electron guns

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How a CRT Monitor works cntd..

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How a LCD Monitor works

There are some substances that can exist
in an odd state that is sort of like a liquid
and sort of like a solid
Liquid Crystals are neither a solid nor a
liquid
How to recover stuck pixels in LCD

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Inside the System Unit

Processor
Mother board
RAM
Cache
Hard disk
Optical disk drives
Floppy disk drives
VGA
Network Card, Sound Card, Modem

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The CPU (Central Processing

Unit)
Abbreviation for Central Processing Unit
The CPU is the brain of the computer
On personal computers and small
workstations, the CPU is housed in a
single chip called a microprocessor
CPUs are small and square and contain
multiple metallic connectors or pins on the
underside

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CPU

16

A Dual CPU computer

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CPU
The CPU is inserted directly into a CPU
socket, pin side down, on the motherboard
Each motherboard will support only a
specific type or range of CPU
There are two typical components of a
CPU

arithmetic logic unit (ALU) -Performs

arithmetic and logical operations
control unit (CU) - which extracts instructions
from memory and decodes and executes
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Microprocessor
A silicon chip that contains a CPU or a
computer processor on a microchip
The terms microprocessor and CPU are
used interchangeably
Microprocessors also control the logic of
almost all digital devices, from clock radios
to fuel-injection systems for automobiles

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Characteristics of Microprocessors

Instruction set: The set of instructions that the

microprocessor can execute
bandwidth : The number of bits processed in a
single instruction
clock speed : Given in megahertz (MHz), the
clock speed determines how many instructions
per second the processor can execute.
The higher the value, more powerful the CPU
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Some Processor Models

Intel
Intel

Core i7 Processor
Intel Core2 Extreme processor
Intel Core2 Quad Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo

AMD
AMD

Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core
AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core
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Some Processor Models Cntd..

CYRIX
CYRIX

5x86
CYRIX 486

IBM
IBM

PPC750GX/GL

Comparisson on Intel Processors from

www.intel.com web site
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Characteristics of Microprocessors

Example : a 32-bit microprocessor that

runs at 50MHz is more powerful than a 16bit microprocessor that runs at 25MHz

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Motherboard
Central circuit board connecting all
components together
Form Factor
Sockets
Chipset
Bus
Slots
Other features

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Form Factor
Shape & layout of a motherboard
Determines what kind of PC case the
motherboard can fit into
Determines what types of components it
can hook up
Ex: ATX, mini ATX

ATX- Advanced Technology Extended

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Sockets
Place where the CPU is hooked up on the
motherboard
Determines what kind of CPU it can use
Earliest socket type is socket 7

Socket

PGA 478, PGA 423 - for older Pentium

and Celeron processors
Socket LGA 775 - for Pentium Dualcore &
pentium4
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Sockets cnt.
Socket

PGA 754 - for AMD Sempron and

some AMD Athlon processors
Socket PGA 939 - for newer and faster AMD
Athlon processors

PGA Pin Grid Array

LGA Land Grid Array (pins are part of
the socket)

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Picture of a Sockets

Chipset

Chipset is usually made up of the

Northbridge and the Southbridge

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Chipset cnt
Northbridge and the Southbridge connect
the processor to other parts of the
computer
Chipset can not be upgraded or replaced

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CPU

31

Northbridge
Connect directly to CPU via the front side
bus (FSB)
Connects to the AGP or PCI Express bus
and the memory to itself
A memory controller is located on the
Northbridge, which gives the CPU fast
access to the memory.

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Southbridge
Slower than the Northbridge
information from the CPU has to go
through the Northbridge before reaching
the Southbridge
Other busses connect the Southbridge to
the PCI bus, the USB ports and the IDE or
SATA hard disk connections.

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Bus
A circuit (path) that connects one part of
the motherboard to another
If the bus can handle more data at a time it
can transfer data fast
Speed measured in megahertz (MHz)
Bus speed usually refers to the speed of
the front side bus (FSB)
FSB - connects the CPU to the
Northbridge

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Bus cntd.
The back side bus connects the CPU with
the level 2 (L2) cache (secondary or
external cache)
The faster a computer's bus speed, the
faster it will operate

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Slots in Motherboard

PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect

Used

to connect Network cards, Sound cards,

etc

ISA - Industry Standard Architecture

Used

to connect older VGA

AGP - Accelerated Graphics Port

targeted

at 3D graphical display applications

Several versions
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37

AGP versions

AGP 1.0
1x

(266Mbps) (8 bytes per two clock cycles)

2x (533Mbps) (8 bytes per clock cycle)

AGP 2.0
1x

(266Mbps) (8 bytes per two clock cycles)

2x (533Mbps) (8 bytes per clock cycle)
4x (1.07Gbps) (16 bytes per clock cycle)
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AGP versions Cntd

AGP Pro
1x

(266Mbps) (8 bytes per two clock cycles)

2x (533Mbps) (8 bytes per clock cycle)
4x (1.07Gbps) (16 bytes per clock cycle)

AGP 3.0
1x

(266Mbps) (8 bytes per two clock cycles)

2x (533Mbps) (8 bytes per clock cycle)
4x (1.07Gbps) (16 bytes per clock cycle)
8x (2.1Gbps) (32 bytes per clock cycle)
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Other Features in Motherboard

Onboard VGA
Onboard Network
Onboard Sound

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Main memory (RAM)

Physical memory that is internal to the
computer
Another term for main memory is RAM
RAM - Random Access memory
The CPU can manipulate only data that is
in main memory
Every program you execute and every file
you access must be copied from a storage
device into main memory

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Main memory
The amount of main memory on a
computer is crucial
Computers often have too little main
memory
There are two different types of RAM

DRAM

(Dynamic Random Access Memory)

SRAM (Static Random Access Memory)
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DRAM Vs SRAM
Differ in the technology they use to hold
data
DRAM being the more common type
In terms of speed, SRAM is faster
DRAM needs to be refreshed thousands of
times per second while SRAM does not
need to be refreshed
SRAM is faster than DRAM

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DRAM Vs SRAM
Despite SRAM being faster, it's not as
commonly used as DRAM because it's so
much more expensive
Both types of RAM are volatile

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SDRAM
Synchronous DRAM
Synchronous Dynamic Random Access
Memory
SDRAM can run at 133 Mhz

45

DDR RAM
DDR RAM - Double-Data-Rate RAM
DDR RAM is based on the same
architecture as SDRAM
Very fast computer memory

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DDR1 vs DDR2
DDR1 Memory

DDR2 Memory

Module package

184-pin DIMM/ 200-pin

SODIMM

240-pin DIMM/ 200-pin

SODIMM

Speeds (in
MHz)

200, 266, 333, 400

400, 533, 667

Voltage

2.5 volt

1.8 volt

Chip package

TSOP/BGA

FBGA

Module
Bandwidth

E
Up to 6.4GB/second

Up to 10.6GB/second

Chip densities

Up to 1Gb

Up to 4Gb

CAS Latency

2/2.5

3/4
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Cache Memory
A special high-speed storage mechanism
It can be either a reserved section of main
memory or an independent high-speed
storage device
Two types of caching

memory

caching
disk caching
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Cache Memory
Also called a cache store or RAM cache
is a portion of memory made of highspeed Static RAM (SRAM) instead of the
slower and cheaper Dynamic RAM
(DRAM) used for main memory
Memory caching is effective because most
programs access the same data or
instructions over and over

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Cache Memory
By keeping as much of this information as
possible in SRAM, the computer avoids
accessing the slower DRAM
Some memory caches are built into the
architecture of microprocessors
Example : The Intel 80486
microprocessor, contains an 8Kb memory
cache and the Pentium has a 16Kb cache

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Cache Memory
Such internal caches are often called
Level 1 (L1) caches
Most modern PCs also come with external
cache memory, called Level 2 (L2) caches

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L2 cache
Short for Level 2 cache
Cache memory that is external to the
microprocessor
Also called the secondary cache
Resides on a separate chip from the
microprocessor chip

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Disk caching
Works under the same principle as
memory caching
Instead of using high-speed SRAM, a disk
cache uses conventional main memory
(RAM)
The most recently accessed data from the
disk (as well as adjacent sectors) is stored
in a memory buffer

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Disk caching
When a program needs to access data
from the disk, first checks the disk cache
to see if the data is there
Disk caching can dramatically improve the
performance of applications
because accessing a byte of data in RAM
can be thousands of times faster than
accessing a byte on a hard disk

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Cache hit
When data is found in the cache, it is
called a cache hit
Effectiveness of a cache is judged by its
cache hit rate

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Hard disk
Non Volatile
Less Expensive
Slower than RAM
How Hard disk Works

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ATA, SATA and SATA II

ATA - Advanced Technology Attachment

ATA hard drives also known as IDE or
'Integrated Drive Electronics'
SATA - Serial Advanced Technology
Attachment
Electronic method of transferring information
(data) backwards and forwards between the
hard drive and the rest of the computer
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ATA
ATA standard has moved through seven
recognized phases, (ATA-1, 2, 3, etc)
These could make data transfer rates of
up to133 MB/sec
ATA, PATA and IDE similar
ATA is based on a 16 bit parallel interface
ATA hard drive uses a ribbon cable with
40 channels

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SATA
in the year 2000, hard drive technology
came up with a new hard drive standard
called Serial ATA
SATA cable which only has 7 wires
SATA hard drives operate cooler and on
higher bandwidths which equates to faster
data transfer
150 MB/second

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SATA

as of 2004 the new SATA II standard

allows for transfer rates of 300 MB/second

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Software tools to detect Hardware

DirectX :run
dxdiag
System Information :
Accessories
System tools
BIOS setup utility
Available other software tools (CPUID,
AIDA32, etc)

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Identify Hardware using Software

Processor
Speed
Type

Main memory (RAM)

Size
Speed

Bus Speed
Cache

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Lab Sheet 1

Preparing Specifications

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