PC Hardware
If you have ever opened up your Personal Computer to take a look at what makes it work, you may have felt overcome by the sheer complexity. However, once you have read up a bit on the different parts that make up the average home computer, you will find that it is not nearly as bad as it looks. In fact, once you have come to learn a bit about how PCs work, you will be able to make small repairs and maintenance to your own home computer.
The Motherboard
It is important that you are aware of the motherboard as the entire computer is built around it. Basically speaking, the motherboard is large circuit board. When you look at it, you will see that it has a lot of chips, connectors, and other electronics mounted onto it. Those who have a lot of experience working with computers simply call it a ‘board.’ When a PC is at work, data is constantly being transmitted between the carious devices located within, most of this data exchange takes place on the motherboard itself as most of the working components are connected to it and to each other.
If you have a motherboard handy, it is a good idea to look over it and try to name the different parts. This is an excellent exercise for you to be able to learn the different parts quickly. Essentially, the motherboard is a plastic sheet that contains a very large number of electrical conductors. These conductors, sometimes referred to as ‘tracks,’ run up and down across the board and are connected to the various components in order to transfer the data between them.
The motherboard is mounted to the PC box, usually by small brackets or screws. The PC cabinet and the motherboard are usually designed to complement one another with holes in the metal for the connectors mounted to the board. The board must also be connected to the PC power supply via a connector and a multicolored cable. The various components that you will find on a PC motherboard include: sockets, chips, plugs, connectors, and ports.
The CPU
CPU is an acronym for Central Processing Unit. There are usually a large number of processors in a PC, but only one of them is the CPU. The two primary functions of the CPU are to perform calculations and to move data. The faster the CPU can perform these two functions, the faster the PC performs in general. The CPU is quite small actually and its core, known as the die, is actually smaller than your little fingernail. These units contain a very large number of transmitters; for example, the Pentium 4 processor contains over 125 million of them. This quite interesting when you consider than all of this is crammed into such a small space.
If you do not know where the CPU in your computer is located, you can find it in several different ways. First of all, you will need to know what the name of your CPU is; if you still possess the purchase receipt, it can often be located on there. In order to locate the CPU, you can first start by looking inside your computer. The only difficulty here is that it is difficult to read the model name as it is usually covered up by the cooling fan. The CPU is usually mounted to small socket where it just clicks into place without the need for extra tools.
The South Bridge
The south bridge is responsible for a large number of different functions. For example, it oversees data transfer between the hard disk and all the other I/O devices. It passes this data into the link channel which connects to the north bridge. For obvious reasons, the south bridge is located close to the PCI slots, which are used for a wide variety of I/O devices.
Chipsets & Hubs
There has been a lot of focus on refining chipsets, especially since 1997. The north bridge has gained considerable attention as it is responsible for overseeing the data transfer to and from RAM. The south bridge is always being improved upon as well, but the focus is mainly on adding new facilities. The north bridge on the other hand is being improved so it can transfer more bandwidth between the RAM and CPU.
Data For The Monitor
As PC users, we are dependent on the monitor in order to communicate with the programs on our computers. The computer screen basically shows us a graphical representation of the software that is currently running on our computers. However, in order to present us with a visual form of this data, the monitor must be fed this data. This data is transferred using a video card controller. Traditionally, these computer screens have been analog, also known as the big and bulky CRT monitors. The modern, flat screen monitors are digital devices. Either way, the screen has to be controlled by PC, and this is accomplished by a video card.
Traditionally, the video card had to be connected to an I/O device in order to work. However, in the late 1990s, new demands were placed on video cards, also known as graphics cards, which required them to process enormous amounts of data. This was largely due to the increased popularity of 3-D games which can really place a lot of demand on the bus connection. The solution to this predicament was to keep the video card and the I/O device separate.
Conclusion
This article is only meant to be a very brief introduction to the very complicated subject of PC hardware. In order to increase your knowledge on this subject, there are a vast number of Web sites dedicated to PC hardware that you can look up for free. In addition, your local library may have some good, informative books on this subject as well. You will find that the more you know about your PC hardware, the more fulfilling and convenient your home computing experience will be.
PC Hardware