LAB REPORT-3

COMPUTER HARDWARE

Processor:

T
he processor is also known as the CPU which stands for Central
Processing Unit and the Heart of the computer system which
controls everything. The CPU is what functions most of your
electronic products. What the CPU does is carry out most of the data
processing by accepting input data and processing the data and
then sending the information to the components that needs this
information to carry out the action. In other words, the CPU is what
performs the commands and the CPU manages each command
separately, even though the CPU is capable of processing multi
commands in matter of seconds. This will all depend on how powerful
your processor is because the more powerful it is, the faster your CPU
can process commands.

 HOW THE PROCESSOR WORKS?

I
f you double click on an icon to run a program, the program that is stored inside the hard disk drive
will get transferred to the RAM Memory. Using a circuit called memory controller, the CPU loads the
program data from the RAM memory. Once the CPU has loaded the program data it will then get
processed inside of the CPU. What happens next totally depends on what instructions are inside the
program, as a program is a series of instructions for the CPU. The processed data may have instructions
inside the program which tell the CPU to display certain information on the screen such as opening up

word processor or a game.

The diagram above shows how the CPU communicates with all the components on the
motherboard. As you can see on the diagram, if the CPU wanted to communicate with any of the
components it will have to go through the BUS in order to reach the component.
 Motherboard:

T
he Motherboard is the most important component in the system unit and the main function of the
motherboard is to act as the main circuit board. The motherboard is what connects and
communicates with all the devices and components that are attached to it. The necessary parts
of the computer system and all connections between the computer system and the Peripheral go
through the motherboard. The chipset that is on the motherboard directs the flow of data between a
variety of buses that are connected with each components and the main purpose is to make sure the
information reaches where it is supposed to.
The motherboard contains the CPU, PCI Slots,
Graphic Cards, BIOS, memory, serial and parallel
ports and also external connectors such as the
keyboard and the mouse. The CPU which is
responsible for taking commands and carrying out
the action are not compatible with every
motherboard but only certain motherboards. The
PCI Slot also known as Peripheral Component
Interconnect which allows the components to be
placed directly onto the motherboard. The
Graphics Cards is a device which takes the data
and then converts it into information that can be
read by you such as images so that this can be
displayed on the computer monitor.
There are two chips on the motherboard which are
known as South Bridge and North Bridge. The South
Bridge and North Bridge are what manages what
goes on within the computer and also helps the
communication between multiple devices and chips. The North Bridge is responsible for
communications between the CPU interface, the memory and many video processes, whereas, the
South Bridge communicates with all the remaining devices. The North Bridge is directly connected with
the CPU, RAM and graphic controller, so it acts as a bridge for the South Bridge chip to communicate
with these components.

 BIOS:

B
IOS stand for Basic Input / Output
System which allows the software
and hardware to interact with one
another. The BIOS is usually found on a
ROM chip which comes with the
computer and it is called the ROM BIOS.
For starters let me explain what the BIOS
do. The first thing that the BIOS do when
you start your computer system is that it
identifies all the system devices and
makes sure that they are all in working
order.As the BIOS are on the ROM it is not
affected by power failure and it also
makes it possible for the computer to
boot itself. So what the BIOS actually do
is it boots up the PC such as starting up
the computer system whenever it is turned
On by the user. The BIOS then the actual hardware configurations are checked against the
configuration data. It makes sure of the reliability of the computer system and proves to be the most
important diagnostic tool available to you. The BIOS also allows the operating system to use particular
features of hardware within the configuration by managing the input and output of the computer.
Bios communicate using a process called “POST”. POST is like a test that runs as soon as you start your
Computer System. What the POST does is it checks that all your hardware is functioning as it is
designed to, and this takes place before the BIOS starts to boot up. The POST test is so fast that
sometimes we wouldn’t even realize it happened unless it detects a problem. If the POST test detects
any faults, then you will hear a beep sound and the computer system would stop without booting up.

 Fan and Heat Sink or Cooling:

H
eat sink is a device that is attached to the processor chip which serves a purpose to draw heat
from the processor to make sure that the temperature of
the processor is down. The heat sinks are made of an
aluminum alloy and have fins to maximize the heat that is
sucked in by the heat sink. A Cooling Fan is a small fan that is
fitted on to the heat sink to prevent it from overheating. So in
other words most computer systems have a heat sink and a
cooling fan together where they both work together to prevent
components from overheating. So when the heat sink sucks in
the heat, the air flow produced by the fan will lower the
temperature of the heat sink in order to prevent it from
overheating. As certain components overheat it is necessary to
have a heat sink and fan into to cool down the temperature of
the components. It is important to prevent components
overheating due to the fact that it can affect other
components around it and that will those components around
it will get damaged.

 Hard Drive Configuration and

Controllers (e.g. IDE, SATA,
Master/Slave)

T
he most commonly used type of Hard Disk Drive controllers are SATA, IDE can also be used but are
not used a lot. The hard drive for a computer can be located within the processor box and they
are IDE devices which are controlled by an IDE
controller. There are two types of IDE controllers:
Primary and Secondary. The hard drive will be
attached to the primary IDE controller, whereas, a CD
drive will be attached to a secondary channel on the
motherboard. Each IDE ribbon that is connected to
any one of these controllers can support two drives.
Each drive will be identified as either the master or the
slave drive in order to know which data relates to
which drive. This allows both devices to communicate
with one another such as by transferring data. If the
Slave Drive wanted to transfer data, it would have to
communicate to the Master Drive and wait for a
response whilst the Master Drive communicates with the computer and then the Slave Drive will get
informed when it can transfer the data.

 Master Drive: A Master Drive is what manages all the traffic on the IDE cable.
A Master Drive’s controller saves its own data and passes on data to the slave drive.

 Slave Drive: The Slave Drive can only see the data that has been passed on to
it by the Master Drive. There will be no slave drive if there is only one drive connected to the
cable.

 Ports e.g. USB, Parallel, Serial

T
he functions of ports are to allow peripheral devices to connect to the computer. There are a
variety of ports that are found on the back of the system unit in order to connect a range of
peripherals to connect to the processor. Two
types of Ports can be found on the system unit:
Serial Port and a Parallel Port.

 Serial Port: is an interface

that can be used for serial communication.
A Serial port only transmits 1 bit at a time
and the cable is usually circular.

 Parallel Port: Parallel Port

allows the user to use devices side by side.
Printers, USBs are all examples of peripherals
that use Parallel Ports.
These ports are used to transfer data from a
peripheral device to the computer. Serial
communication is done through a transmitter
which then sends data to a receiver using a single
communication. These types of methods are
really suitable for transferring or sending and
receiving data over a long distance.

 Internal Memory e.g. RAM, ROM,

cache

I
nternal Memory serves two main purposes: One is to store programs that are being run and other is
to store the data that the program works on. Within the PC there are two types of memory: RAM and
ROM.
R
AM is also known as the Random Access Memory
which is volatile and everything/applications that
you have opened on your computer are what are
stored in the RAM. RAM allows information to be stored
and accessed quickly from random locations. All the
programs and data will be transferred to the RAM from the
Hard disk drive before it displayed on the screen for us to
read.
As all the processing has to go through the CPU, it also
requires the RAM to communicate with the CPU. The CPU
will retrieve data from the RAM then it will send the
information along to the data bus in order to reach the final destination such as the computer monitors
which in an Output.

R
OM is also known as Read-Only Memory which is non-volatile
which is used to store small programs that cannot be altered
or changed so basically it is permanently stored. ROM is mainly
used to store the programs that are required to boot the computer.
RAM is volatile memory so when the power is turned off everything
is lost but ROM is non-volatile meaning that whatever is stored in it
will remain even if the power is turned off.
How the ROM communicates is by sending instructions to the CPU
in order to make sure that the hardware is correctly functioning in
the way that they are supposed. Then the ROM will send instructions
to the CPU to find the operating system of the computer. If the
operating system is found, then it will be loaded into the RAM in order
for RAM to take over the boot up process.

 Specialized cards e.g. Network and

Graphic Cards

T
he main function of a Network card is to provide a physical
link to a computer network which allows the computers to
communicate with the servers. Each and every Network
Interface Card has a unique serial number, which is called a
MAC address. Every computer that is connected to a network
has to have a unique MAC Address. How a Network card works
is by sending an electrical or radio signals to each other using
an agreed upon MAC protocol and network cards can either
be wired or wireless The main function of a Graphics card is to
allow computers to produce graphics and images quickly with
better detail. The Graphics card has its own Processor called
the GPU which accelerates the speed of the process. Usually
graphics cards will have its own cooling system as it heats up
due to the amount of power it uses. The way Graphics card
communicates is by sending data to the CPU on the
motherboard. Then the data is sent to the graphics card where
it gets converted into images and ready to be displayed on
the monitor.
  Backing Storage

B
acking storage are backup devices which we use to save data and files on and these devices
are external devices so which means that these are not inside of the system unit. These backup
devices come in small sizes which means that they are
portable. Examples of Backing Storage Devices Are External
Hard Drives, USB Pen Drives and Flash memory cards. These
backup devices can be connected via USB ports on the system
unit which makes it easier for files to be moved from one
computer to another.
External Hard Drives are used as external storage space if your
computer does not have enough memory to save your data or
files. These External Hard Drives have a large storage space
meaning that you can store as much data and files as you
want. You do not need to worry about graphics files taking up
much space as these hard drives have a large capacity.

U
SB Pen drives are usually used to move data and files from
one computer to another due to its small size and also as
they have a low storage capacity. USB’s can also be
used to save work that you have started on one computer then
carry on with it on another computer. For example, if you start
a Document at work and then want to continue with the
document at home, you simply save it onto the USB. Then plug it into your home computer and you
have access to the document at home.