ACTIVITY 1
Motherboard Components
Expansion Slot
Expansion Slot (bus slot / expansion port) is a connection port on the motherboard which is used
when we have to add more functionality to the computer by adding additional hardware
components. By the help of it we can improve the memory, speed, and displays, and more
functionalities.
Types of Expansion Slot
PCI Express (PCIe): It is the fastest and latest expansion slot that quickly communicates with
the motherboard and microprocessor. It is used for input output device communication.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect): It’s the most common and slower. Some computer
consists of both PCI and PCI Express.
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port): It is designed to add the functionality regarding graphics and
videos.
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture): Mostly available on old computers
Memory Slots (Memory Sockets / Ram Slots)
Memory slot is the connector that is used to insert or hold the RAM to the Computer. There can
be 2 to 4 or even more (in high end Computers) memory slots in a motherboard from which we
can determine the total installed RAM in the computer.
Types of Memory Slots: DDR (Double Data Rate), DDR2 (faster), DDR3 (even faster), DDR4
(fastest and recent generation)
Power Connector
It is a device that provides power to a device allowing the computer to operate by allowing
electric current to flow through it.
Onboard disk drive connectors (Drive interface)
Onboard disk drive connectors are the physical connectors on the motherboard that is used to
connect different storage devices such as Hard disk drives (HDDs) and Solid state drives (SSDs).
Types:
1. Floppy Connector: It is used to connect and provide power to Floppy Disk Drives
(FDDs).
2. Hard Disk Connector: It is used to connect and interface with Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)
3. Parallel ATA (PATA- Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) / Integrated Drive
Electronics (IDE): It is used to connect different storage devices like hard disks, floppy
drives, solid state drives, and optical drives. They are bulky and don’t support hot
swapping.
4. Serial ATA (SATA): More recent and widely used and is considered as replacement for
PATA. It is slim, narrow and also supports hot swapping.
5. Small Computer System Interface (SCSI): It can directly connect to the board without the
need of external adaptor.
Motherboard headers
They are the pins/connectors/ports directly attached on the computer motherboard which are
mostly used when components not directly connected with motherboard needs connection.
BIOS (Basic input/output system)
It is a small memory chip program used by microprocessor to start computer system after power
is on. Its fundamental role is to ensure the operation of all the computer hardware and assist on
computer startup process. It works as a middleman between microprocessor and I/O devices and
can arrange data flow.
Jumpers and DIP Switches
Jumpers are the small pins that are used to configure hardware settings and make changes to the
settings and functions of motherboard.
DIP switch is a set of manual small switch which helps to configure the computer peripherals. It
is mostly used in place of jumper blocks as it is reliable and less likely to get lost.
CMOS (Complementary metal oxide semiconductor) battery
It is a battery which tracks and saves important information such as date, time and other
computer configuration even if the computer is unplugged. It is directly connected with the
motherboard.
ACTIVITY 2
240-pin DIMM (DDR2 or DDR3)
240-pin DIMM (DIMM – Dual in-line memory module) is used to expand computer RAM and is
designed to work on DDR2 (Double Data Rate 2) or DDR3 (Double Data Rate 3).
DDR2
Older generation
Operates in high voltage (1.8V standard)
Memory is volatile
DDR3
Newer generation
Operates at lower voltage (1.5V standard)
compared to DDR2
Have option of memory reset
288-pin DIMM (DDR4 or DDR5)
It is also used to increase RAM capacity and best suitable for latest generations of DDR memory:
DDR4 and DDR5. It supports higher data transfer and improved power efficiency than DDR2
and DDr3.
DDR4
DDR5
It has lower bandwidth (3.2 Gbps) compared to
DDR5
Voltage is 1.2V
Brust length is 8
It has higher bandwidth (4.8-6.4 Gbps) so it
can transfer data faster.
Low voltage (1.1V) so low power consumption
Increased brust length (16)
200-pin SODIMM (DDR or DDR2)
200-pin SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) provides RAM capacity for the
portable computers especially smaller form of computing devices like laptops, notebooks. It
supports DDR or DDR2 memory technology. It is usually not compatible for desktop.
204-pin SODIMM (DDR3)
It is also used to increase RAM for small devices like laptops and notebooks and supports
DDR3. It delivers increased data transfer and high bandwidth than 200-pin SODIMM DDR2.
260-pin SODIMM (DDR4)
It supports the DDR4 memory. It also provides the enhanced performance and energy usage so
are mostly used in modern laptops and notebooks.
ACTIVITY 5
Sound-1/8”
It is a small and round audio connecting port which uses a audio jack of length 1/8 inches. It
carries both input and output signals. It is commonly used to make connection of headphones and
earphones to laptops, smart phones, or music players.
Video – VGA, DVI, Display port, HDMI
VGA (Video Graphics Array) is a graphic display system. It used to be in use in old computers
but most of the modern computers use displays such as display port and HDMI which gives the
better video quality.
DVI (Digital video interface) is also the interface developed to connect device to displays and
has digital video standard as compared to VGA. It has also been replaced by display port and
HDMI,
Display port and HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) are the most widely used audio
and video interface which provides high quality audio and video transmission. For common
customer electronics and entertainment HDMI is widely used whereas for professional settings
Display ports are used.
USB
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a hardware interface which is used to connect various devices to
computer. Types of USB are: USB-A, USB-B, USB-B Mini, USB- Micro, USB-C.
USB-C is mostly preferred in new device due to its small size and speed data transfer.
eSATA
eSATA (extended serial advanced technology attachment) is a data transfer interface for
connecting the external storage devices. It cannot handle wider range of devices so isn’t widely
used like thunderbolt or USB.
Thunderbolt
It supports high speed data transfer and can handle wide range of devices through a single cable.
It is mostly used in high end laptops like Apple.
NIC
Network Interface Card is a fundamental hardware component which is used to connect wired
and wireless network to the computer and different devices.