Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
A computer within a business environment is a necessary tool for each employee to
function at their highest capability individually and working within a work team. The best
website to give information, with layman’s terms, that I found was a children’s website, Kids
On-line: click and learn website. But, the knowledge within the website served my purposes to
complete this paper. The inside of a computer is a world all to its own.
PC Tower
The front panel of the tower case shown above has two external 3.5 inch drive expansion bays,
and three 5.25 inch drive expansion bays. Most front panels have an on/off switch, as well as a
reset switch, in case the computer needs to be re-booted or locks up. Most front panels also have
a power on indicator light and at least one hard drive activity light. Case speakers are often just
right behind the front panel. The computer case is a very important part of the computer as it
protects all the electronic components inside and must provide adequate ventilation to prevent
overheating. The tower is hardware to allow the expansion of your system. The more expansion
slots the more options available for future needs. There are even different sizes of cases. The
smallest is the Desktop type that lies flat. The next size is the mid-tower, and then there is a full
tower. But, the largest is the Server case which is primarily for commercial server computers.
The most widely used for personal PCs is the Mid Tower case above, for personal computers.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
Synchrotech has introduced a new line for the Universal Serial Bus (USB). The USB
offers the advantages of multi-platform standard combined with decreased cost, increased
compatibility, and a greater number of available peripherals. The USB supports numerous
devices such as printers, digital cameras, game pads, joysticks, keyboards, and mice, and storage
devices.
Ethernet Cards and Modems
An Ethernet is a network interface card. The EtherFast shown below is a high performance
network adapter for desktop computers with 32-bit PCI expansion slots.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
The inside of a Mid-Tower
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
Case Front of the Tower
The front panel of the tower case shown above has two external 3.5 inch drive expansion bays,
and three 5.25 inch drive expansion bays. Most front panels have an on/off switch, as well as a
reset switch, in case the computer needs to be re-booted or locks up. Most front panels also have
a power on indicator light and at least one hard drive activity light. Case speakers are often just
right behind the front panel. The computer case is a very important part of the computer as it
protects all the electronic components inside and must provide adequate ventilation to prevent
overheating. The tower is hardware to allow the expansion of your system. The more expansion
slots the more options available for future needs. There are even different sizes of cases. The
smallest is the Desktop type that lies flat. The next size is the mid-tower, and then there is a full
tower. But, the largest is the Server case which is primarily for commercial server computers.
The most widely used for personal PCs is the Mid Tower case above, for personal computers.
Synchrotech has introduced a new line for the Universal Serial Bus (USB). The USB
offers the advantages of multi-platform standard combined with decreased cost, increased
compatibility, and a greater number of available peripherals. The USB supports numerous
devices such as printers, digital cameras, game pads, joysticks, keyboards, and mice, and storage
devices.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
Case Rear Panel
Case Rear Panel
From the picture above, you can see that there are many openings on the back of a computer
tower. The largest opening, on the left, is where the motherboard’s input and output ports are
located when installed. In the top left hand corner you can see the main power supply on/off
switch. The slightly larger black opening, below it, is where the power cord plugs in from the
wall outlet. Barely visible, between the two, is a small switch that allows you to select different
voltage types, for different countries. Many parts of Europe as well as other countries have
slightly different electrical voltages than in the United States. The big circular shaped holes
beside these three items are where the power supply fan ventilates. All the small holes down the
right side help provide increased ventilation. Finally, near the bottom are all the expansion slot
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
covers. The expansion slots provide access to the AGP, PCI, and ISA expansion slots. The
expansion slot can be removed to connect an AGP video expansion card, PCI expansion cards,
and ISA expansion cards.
What is an AGP slot?
AGP Expansion Slot (with fan): Video Card
The AGP port is where most of the newer video expansion cards go. Video expansion cards are
also known as graphic expansion cards. AGP means Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). AGP
cards are capable of a higher and faster data transfer rate than PCI graphic cards. The AGP card
and the monitor determine the quality of the screen’s display. The photo below shows what the
AFP slot looks like.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
The card shown above simply plugs into the AGP slot and connects the monitor to the
computer.
This is an Asus AGP V3800TNT2/TV card and is capable of displaying the
computer’s video output on a TV. It can also display the TV’s video output on the computer,
through the TV input connection on the expansion card.
The video card controls the video display. The brain of the uncovered, video card shown
above is the NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 3D Graphics and Video Accelerator Chip. It is responsible
for making decisions for graphical data input and output. It is hid under the fan in the picture
above to keep it cool and not overheat.
What is a PCI? This section will teach what is a PCI/AGP Controler (Chipset, Chip 1 of 2)
Why is it called a chipset?
This is a photo of a chipset. There two or more of these on a
motherboard. Chipsets are the motherboard’s traffic cops. The direct the flow of data from one
point to the other. Each chip in the chipset has a specific job. Chip 1 is more important than
Chip 2, because it links directly to the Microprocesser (the microprocessor is the brain of the
computer). The microprocessor contains the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and it’s cache
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
memory. The CPU contains the Control Unit and the Arithmetic/logic Unit, both working
together to process the data inside the computer.
Microprocessor
The Control Unit is the brain of the brain. Below is a microprocessor without the fan or
heatsinks. It is being inserted into a slot on the motherboard connection.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
The control unit controls the computer by fetching, decoding, executing, and storing the data
inside the computer.
The arithmetic/logic handles all the math calculations and logical
comparisons for the CPU. The microprocessors Level 1 cache memory, is memory that is
contained within the CPU, storing the most frequently used instructions and data. The CPU can
access the cache memory much faster than having to access the Random Access Memory
(RAM). The more memory in a computer the more it can remember.
What is memory (RAM)? A computer’s memory is like a person’s member, the more it has, the
more it can remember. Memory modules can be purchased and added to the PC. Memory has
progressed from 16MB, 128 Mb, 256 Mb to today’s common memory capacity of megabytes to
Pentium processor memory loads (i.e., Pentium III ). DIMM sockets are where the computers
RAM (Random Access Memory) is installed. DIMM stands for Dual Inline Memory Module.
The reason it is called “dual” is because both sides of the memory card will have completely
separate connections to the DIMM socket.
Memory
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
A picture of what is inside a Pentium processor.
Below is Chip 1, also known as the “Intel 82443BX PCI/AGP Controller”. It is hidden
under a heat sink that protects it from overheating. This chip controls the data traffic between
the microprocessor and the AGP card. Both chips share the task of controlling the PCI and main
memory data flow.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
In the diagram below, you can see the data flow paths mapped out for the chipset. The paths
managed by Chip 1 are RED.
Notice the Buses and Bridges
The paths between each component are referred to as “buses”. Buses are simply the paths, or
wires, that connect one component to the other. The chips in the chipset are referred to as
bridges. The chips actually are bridges that bridge the components together and ensure that the
data flow is directed to the proper place. The better chipsets are those that can handle data the
fastest.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
Below is a picture of both chipsets on the motherboard.
What is a motherboard?
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
The motherboard is similar to the blood vessels inside the human body which connect to all
the vital organs. In the computer, instead of blood vessels, the motherboard uses tiny electrical
paths to connect each component of the computer. The motherboard ties everything together
inside of a computer. As stated previously, each chip of the chipset has a specific purpose. The
Chipset (2 chips on the motherboard), manage and direct the flow of data between the
components. The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System).
The power supply supplies the fuel
(power) for the computer. The power supply powers the motherboard, the drives, and contains a
fan that helps assist cooling the computer. Power supplies come a variety of wattages.
BIOS
The BIOS Setup program below, is used to setup a computer’s hardware. BIOS is where the
computer’s settings are stored and changed.
Without any disks or a hard drive, the BIOS program is always available, written permanently on
the BIOS chip. The BIOS chip contains enough information to operate the computer all by itself.
When the computer is turned on (booted), the BIOS program is in control. After performing
system checks, the BIOS turns the computer over to our primary operating system, Windows, for
example.
In learning about computers, I was shocked to find that the motherboard has a battery.
This battery for the motherboard is used to preserve the computer’s clock’s time, and your BIOS
settings while the computer is turned off. Some of newer motherboards only need the battery in
case of a power outage.
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
Panel Connector Cables
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
The panel connector cables connect the front panel to the motherboard. The front panel
is where the hard drive activity lights, case speaker (normally), reset button, on/off button,
computer power on light, and key lock (if applicable), are located.
These items must be
connected to the motherboard like everything else in order to function. Above is a view of the
panel connector cables inside a computer.
Today’s PCs have drive bays where drives such as CD-R drives (Compact Disk ReWriteable) which can read, write, erase, and rewrite data including music. Drives provide the
computer with the capability of storing, writing, retrieving, and transporting data.
There are zip drives for easily transportable disks for lots of memory, along with other
types of drives. And, the technology for TV viewing on a computer has advanced to include
DVD viewing.
Drive Bays
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Understanding Computer Technology: Small Business Systems
MIT 201-04
Nadirah Shakir
And, with music from the PC, there is the need to have the sound card.
SoundCard
When you hear music coming from a PC, there is something inside called the sound card
handling the sound data. The sound card is responsible for what you hear coming from the
computer’s speakers. The better the sound card, the better the sound. The Sound Blaster Live
Value card allows you to connect a microphone, an input device (like a musical keyboard), front
speakers, and rear speakers which combined with the front, give the superior stereo sound. The
sound card has its own processor, in charge of managing the sound data.
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