Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
Lecture 4
Processing Devices
A processing device is any device in a computer that handles and controls
information. For example, the CPU is the processing device.
Motherboard
The motherboard is a circuit board that is the foundation of a computer,
located on the back side or at the bottom of the computer chassis. It allocates
power and allows communication to the CPU, RAM, and all other
computer hardware components. A motherboard has connected directly or
by cable to the CPU, Memory, Hard Drive, SSD or GPU. A motherboard is
the primary components of the computers. It determines which hardware is
necessary for you and hardware upgrade. They have a connection between
motherboard and all input and output devices.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
1) Input/Output Ports
Generally, input and output ports are placed at the back of computer chassis.
The I/O ports is built to connect the monitor, speakers, a microphone, an
Ethernet networking cable and multiple USB devices. I/O ports include the
following:
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
PS/2 Mouse Port;
PS/2 Keyboard Port;
Serial Port;
HDMI Port;
VGA Port;
DVI Port;
LAN Port;
USB Ports;
Microphone jack;
Speaker jack
PS/2 Connectors
It is the very common connects and all the motherboard contains two of it’s
for connecting the keyboard and mouse.
Serial Port
A serial port is a serial communication interface through which information
transfers in or out one bit at a time. It is a parallel port. Beforetime data was
transferred through serial ports to devices such as modems, terminals, and
various peripherals.
HDMI Port
HDMI(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is an audio/video interface for
transmitting audio and video data. It connects some source device, such as
computer monitor, video projector, digital television, or digital audio device,
HD-DVD to audio and video devices. HDMI is a digital replacement
for analog video standards.
VGA Port
VGA Port is a port for Video Graphics Array (VGA). It provides the
resolution. VGA connector was provided on many video cards, computer
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
monitors, laptop computers, projectors, and high definition television sets.
On laptop computers or other small devices, a mini-VGA port was
sometimes used in place of the full-sized VGA connector.
DVI Port
Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video display interface.
The digital interface is used to connect a video source, such as a video
display controller, to a display device, such as a computer monitor. DVI port
is designed to transmit uncompressed digital video and can be configured to
support multiple modes such as DVI-A (analog only), DVI-D (digital only)
or DVI-I (digital and analog).
VGA and DVI connectors are used to transmit video from a source (like a
computer) to a display device (like a monitor, TV or projector). The main
difference between VGA and DVI is in picture quality and the way the video
signals travel. VGA connectors and cables carry analog signals while DVI
can carry both analog and digital.
Main difference between HDMI and DVI, is that HDMI carries video and
audio. DVI only carries video. In contrast to HDMI, neither VGA nor DVI
support audio. So when connecting with a TV or a projector or home theater
system, you can use a single HDMI cable to carry both audio and video
signals or use a single VGA/DVI cable for video and a separate audio cable.
LAN Port
LAN (Local Area Network) port is Ethernet socket on a computer or
network device such as a switch or router. All client machines, servers and
network devices on the local network are cabled together at their LAN ports.
USB Port:
USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is located on every motherboard for
connecting external devices or storages including pen drive or audio jack.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
2) Central Processing Unit
The CPU is often called as the brain of the computer. The CPU is a chip inside
the computer. A computer's CPU handles all instructions it receives
from hardware and software running on the computer. The processor is placed
and secured into a compatible CPU socket found on the motherboard.
Processors produce heat, so they are covered with a heat sink to keep them cool
and running smoothly. The CPU chip is usually in the shape of a square or
rectangle and has notched corner to help place the chip properly into the CPU
socket. On the bottom of the chip are hundreds of connector pins that plug into
each of the corresponding holes in the socket. Also, over the years, there have
been dozens of different types of sockets on motherboards. Each socket only
supports specific types of processors and each has its own pin layout.
The CPU's main function is to take input from a peripheral (keyboard, mouse,
printer, etc) or computer program, interpret what it needs, and then either
output information to your monitor, or perform the peripheral's requested task.
CPU Socket
CPU socket helps to install the processor into the Motherboard. That means the
CPU connects to the socket for connecting to the motherboard.
Components of the CPU
In the CPU, the primary components are the ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)
that performs mathematical, logical, and decision operations,
the CU (Control Unit) that directs all of the processors operations and MU
(Memory Unit) that stores instructions, data and intermediate results.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
Over the history of computer processors and capabilities of the processor
have dramatically improved. For example, the first microprocessor was the
Intel 4004 that was released November 15, 1971, and had
2,300 transistors and performed 60,000 operations per second. The Intel
Pentium processor has 3,300,000 transistors and performs around
188,000,000 instructions per second.
The CPU is also known as processor and consist of three units namely
- Control Unit (CU)
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
- Main Memory unit (MMU)
3) BIOS (ROM chip)
ROM chip is another component of motherboard. It contains the BIOS in it.
BIOS is a collection of very small programs permanently stored on it. These
programs are executed when the computer starts.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
BIOS is the short form of “Basic Input Output System.” BIOS is the
components of Motherboard. BIOS contains all the information and settings
of the motherboard, and you can update or modify the setting from the BIOS
mode. BIOS is the program to get the computer system started after you turn
it on. It also manages data flow between the computer's operating
system and attached devices such as the hard disk, video
adapter, keyboard, mouse and printer. BIOS is a program that is made
accessible to the microprocessor. When you turn on your computer, the
microprocessor passes control to the BIOS program. When BIOS boots up
(starts up) your computer, it first determines whether all of the attachments
are in place and operational and then it loads the operating system. For
connecting to the BİOS you have to press F2, F12, <Ctrl+Alt+Enter> or
<Ctrl+Alt+Esc>.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
4) CMOS Battery
“Complementary Metal Oxide Semi-Conductor” is abbreviated as CMOS. It
is a battery or cell. The work of CMOS Battery is - it helps to store or keep
the information in the BIOS mode. For example: providing o’clock.
5) RAM (Memory) Slots
RAM is most needed parts of the motherboard and it refers to Random
Access Memory. It is the temporary memory of the computer, but it helps to
run the applications and opening the files. Motherboard may have more than
one slots, and it is positioned near the CPU socket. Particularly, if the
processors have a large amount of RAM, it can operate the computer more
smoothly and surely it helps to increase the performance of the computer.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
6) Expansion Card Slots
When you need to add new components to the motherboard or if you want to
update any parts of the motherboard, a motherboard’s expansion card slots
allow you do that. An expansion card slots help to add external devices to
display. For example, a video card needs to connect to the monitor to display
the video or 3D or rendering the graphics. Here, expansion card slots can do
it. For this reason, it is positioned on the line of the back side of the
motherboard.
a) PCI Slots: PCI Slots is the short form of “Peripheral Component
Interconnect.” It is the most familiar and latest components of the
motherboard.
b) PCI Express: PCI Express which supports the full-duplex serial bus and
it is also known as PCIe. It is one of the fastest and most uses components
on the motherboard.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
Difference between PCI and PCI-e
PCI Express uses a serial interface while PCI uses a parallel interface. It also
utilizes individual buses for each of the devices connected to it instead of a
shared one like what PCI uses.
The difference in speed is quite huge when comparing the standard PCI slot
which runs at 133MB/s to a 16 slot PCI Express that can send or receive up
to 16GB/s.
c) AGP slot: AGP which is the short form of “Accelerated graphics port”.
It is used to install the latest graphics card. For installing high-end gaming
display cards it can be run on both PCIe and AGP. At the same time, it can
be run on the 32-bit bus.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
7) Northbridge and Southbridge
The northbridge is also named as a memory controller hub (MCH)
or graphics and memory controller hub. It controls communication between
CPU and AGP and memory. Unlike the southbridge, the northbridge is
directly connected to these components. It acts as a "bridge" for the
southbridge chip to communicate with the CPU, RAM, and graphics
controller. Today, the northbridge is a single-chip that is north of the PCI
bus, however, early computers may have had up to three separate chips that
made up the northbridge. The southbridge is also known as the Input/Output
Controller Hub (ICH). It allows the CPU to communicate with PCI, PCI-e
slot, SATA connector, USB port, Ethernet port and BIOS.
8) Storage Device Connectors
A computer needs some other types of storage devices to store the data or
performing efficiently including hard drives, optical drives, and floppy
drives. As it needs to connect to the motherboard, here has the cable which
is compatible with the motherboard to transfer the data. In the motherboard,
you will find at least two storage device connectors to fulfill the needs of
storage components on the computer.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
9) Connectors
A Motherboard needs connectors for connection. The most important
connectors are like that:
a) ATX connector (Advanced Technology eXtended): These types of the
connector is found on the latest forms of the motherboard. It consists 20 or
24 pin connectors and it is considered as the latest power connectors.
b) IDE connector
IDE is the short form of “Integrated Drive Electronics” and it is used to
connect the disk drives including floppy disk drives and HDD (Hard Disk
Drives). Here you will find 40-pin male connector that connects HDD. At
the same time, the 34-pin male connector that connects the FDD.
Lecture 4 Introduction to Computer Science I ZU-019
c) SATA connector
SATA is the abbreviation of “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment.”
Important to realize, it is the latest connectors with 7-pin interface. It is used
to connect the SATA hard disks or optical drives. It is faster and better than
the IDE Connector.
