URM112 Course Overview

URM112 Introduction to Computers - Lecture 3, Lecture 28, Week 5

• Course: URM112 Introduction to Computers
• Department: Computer Science
• Week: 5
• Lecture: 3, Lecture 28
• Year: Fall 2024

Motherboard

• Definition: The main electronic board that connects all parts of a computer together and allows communication among them.
• Components: CPU, Power, Disk Interfaces, External Ports, Expansion Slots, Memory Slots, CMOS, Battery

Form Factor

• Definition: A specification of physical dimensions and layouts that helps ensure the hardware works with products that support that form factor.
• Purpose: Prevents incompatibilities between multiple hardware manufacturers.
• Examples: Standard-ATX (12" x 9.6"), Micro-ATX (9.6" x 9.6"), Mini-ITX (6.7" x 6.7"), Pico-ITX (4.7" x 4.7"), Nano-ITX (3.8" x 2.8")

Bus

• Definition: A collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another.
• Types: Internal/local bus and External/expansion bus
• Internal Bus: Enables communication between internal components (e.g., video card and memory).
• External Bus: Enables communication with external components (e.g., USB or SCSI device).

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

• Function: Contains instructions and setup for how the system should boot and operate.
• Location: Chip located on all motherboards.
• POST (Power-On Self Test): A test that helps the computer boot up properly. It includes instructions on how to load basic computer hardware. An error during POST results in beeps indicating the issue.

CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor)

• Function: Stores any changes made to the default BIOS configuration.
• Power Source: Powered by a small battery.
• Default BIOS Restoration: Removing the motherboard battery for a few minutes can restore BIOS settings to defaults.

Standard CMOS Features

• Listing of settings for the motherboard. This menu allows users to look at motherboard, system, and boot settings.

CPU Socket

• Definition: A mechanical component(s) that provides mechanical and electrical connections between a microprocessor and the motherboard.
• Material: Made of plastic, a lever or latch, and metal contacts.
• Purpose: Connects pins/lands on the CPU.
• Examples: AMD "AM3" Socket, Intel® LGA "1366" Socket

Memory Banks

• Definition: The area of a motherboard that contains slots for memory modules.
• Arrangement: Typically double-sided (allowing for single- or double-sided memory modules).
• Numbering: Banks in the slots are numbered.
• Organization: Organized into units representing minimum number of memory chips that must work in tandem.

North Chipset

• Function: Connects a CPU to memory and the AGP or PCle bus.
• Communication: Communicates with the CPU through the Front Side Bus (FSB).

South Chipset

• Function: Controls computer I/O functions (e.g., USB, audio, serial, system BIOS, ISA bus, interrupt controller and IDE/SATA channels).
• Connection to North Chipset: Connects to the north chipset via Direct Media Interface (DMI).

Front Side Bus (FSB)

• Function: Used in Core 2 Quad/Duo processors and earlier to allow the processor to communicate with other components like memory, PCIe, video, USB, hard disk, and network.
• Communication: communication with north chipset

Direct Media Interface (DMI)

• Technology used in Intel Core i Series processors
• Multiple communication channels: Connects processor to RAM, other components, and PCIe through one channel

Memory

• Key components: RAM, ROM
• Types of RAM: DRAM (Dynamic RAM), SRAM (Static RAM)
• Types of DRAM: RDRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, (DDR2, DDR3, DDR4).

PCI Express

• Designed to replace PCI and AGP
• Data transmission format: Data sent over wires called lanes in full duplex mode
• Lanes: Each lane capable of around 250MBps and the specification can be scaled from 1 to 32 lanes
• Widths: x1, x2, x4, x8, x12, x16, and x32.

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)

• Used with sound, network, video, satellite, modem cards and customized cards for special devices

Parallel ATA (PATA)

• Physical storage interface for hard drives and optical drives.
• Transfer rate: Up to 100 MBps

Serial ATA (SATA)

• Physical storage interface (replacement for PATA).
• Transfer rate: Up to 6Gbps (600 MBps) to each drive

Audio Modem Riser (AMR)

• Provides analog functionality (e.g., sound cards, modems) on an expansion card.

Communication and Networking Riser (CNR)

• A riser card for ATX family motherboards for implementing LAN, home networking, audio, and modem subsystems.

Throughput

• Definition: Communication speed, a numerical value representing the total amount of data transferred through the computer or device in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second (Bps).
• Bus Examples and Throughput: Shows examples of different bus names with their throughput measured in GBps and MBps

Front Panel Connectors

• Function: Controls computer's power button, reset button, and LEDs.
• Chase Cables: Color-coded; black/white is ground (GND) and other colors are powered wire

Expansion Slots and Bus

• Slots allow insertion of extra components (cards)
• Compatibility: Each slot compatible with specific electronic cards (e.g., audio, modem, network).

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), TV Tuner/Video Capture Cards, Network Interface Adapters

• Cards with specific functions, typically plugged into expansion slots.

Processor (CPU)

• Definition: The "brains" of the computer for calculations
• Components: Registers, ALU, Control Unit, I/O Unit, Cache Memory (L1, L2, L3), Internal and External bus, Front Side Bus

CPU Components

• I/O Unit: Allows data and instructions to enter or leave the CPU.
• Control Unit: Manages activities within the CPU.
• Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Manages calculations.
• Cache Memory: High-speed storage area that holds data and instructions ready for processing.
• Register: High-speed storage area holding memory addresses instead of the actual data.

Cache Memory Levels

• High-speed memory to speed up computer processing.
• Different Levels: L1 (on-chip to be faster), L2, and L3 (off-chip, slower).

CPU Speed

• Measured in Hertz (Hz) which is the number of cycles in a second.
• Overclocking: Running the CPU beyond its recommended speed.
• Dynamic Frequency Scaling (throttling): Automatically changes CPU speed up and down for heat control/power conservation.
• Processor Width: The number of data bits that can travel through the internal bus simultaneously which is either 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64).

Threading

• Single Threading: One core processes only one thread at a time.
• Hyper-threading/Multi-threading: One core processes multiple threads simultaneously.

Pipelining

• A technique to speed up processing by starting multiple instructions' different processing steps.

Multi-Core Processors

• Building two or more processor cores onto one chip
• Cores: Each core has its own dedicated processing resources (registers, etc).

Intel Socket Types

• LGA 775, LGA 1155, LGA 1156, LGA 1366 - Different processor socket types related to the specific generations of Intel processors.

AMD Socket Types

• 940, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+... Different processor socket types related to the specific generations of AMD processors.

Cooling

• Method for reducing CPU heat through the use of heat sinks, fans, and thermal paste (heat sink compound).

Read-Only Memory (ROM)

• Types: Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)
• Characteristics: Non-volatile, data cannot be modified once written, commonly used for firmware distribution.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

• Definition: Main system memory for quick access to information stored in random locations.
• Physical Components: Modules with circuits, chips (capacitors to store electrical charges).
• How Memory Works: Data stored as binary digits (bits, 0s and 1s) represented by charged capacitors Organized into columns and rows (a matrix).
• Types: SRAM, DRAM, (different types of DRAM like FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, BEDO DRAM, RDRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM (DDR2, DDR3, DDR4). Each type has its own speeds measured in MHz, speed rating

Power Supply

• Definition: Converts AC current to DC current, regulates voltage.
• Connectors: Power supply connectors that provide power to PC devices. 20 pin P1, 24 pin P1, PCIe, Molex, Mini/Floppy, SATA
• Selection: Wattage, size, connectors, form factor compatibility.

PC Performance Factors

• Components: Processor, Memory (RAM and Memory Controller), Hard Drive, Video card
• Performance Factors: Number of cores, clock speed, bus speed, cache memory for processor; Clock Speed, Size (GB), Latency (nSec.), Number of Channels for Memory; Cache memory, Motor speed, seek time / size, GB (hard drive), Core/memory Clock speed, memory interface, GB (videocard)
• Other factors: Using hard drive that is almost full, Running multiple program at the same time ("multitasking"), System maintenance (e.g. uninstalling programs, arranging files and cleaning temporary files), upgrade hardware (using multi-core processors, upgrading RAM and use video card)

Storage Devices

• Types: Magnetic (e.g., hard drives), Optical (e.g., CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray), Flash (e.g., SSDs, USB flash drives), Hybrid
• External Devices: Separate storage devices connected to the main computer.

Clusters, Platters, Tracks, Sectors

• Hard Disk Geometry: Arrangement on hard disks for storing and accessing data.
• Platters: Circular disks with magnetic material for storing data.
• Tracks: Concentric circles on a platter.
• Sectors: Arcs on a track for data storage.
• Clusters: Arrangement of sectors to represent logical units of data storage
• Controllers, Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) components in a Hard Disk Drive.

File System

• Index or database for locating data on hard drives.

• File allocation table: Used to find data location on the disk (like FAT 32).

• Other file systems: NTFS, exFAT, HFS +, ext4

• Cluster Size: Determines efficiency of file storage use.

• Example calculations: Calculations to figure out size of HD using components.

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