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Motherboard and its components (The Bus (The bus that connects the CPU to…
Motherboard and its components
RAM
Volatile
This means it is temporary memory and requires power to retain its data.
High Speed
Stands for "Random Access Memory"
ROM
Non Volatile
This means it is permanent memory and it keeps its content even when it has no power
Stands for "Read Only Memory"
Can not be written to, only read (hence the name)
Comes on a small, factory-made chip built into the motherboard
It contains all instructions a computer needs to properly boot up. These instructions are called the BIOS (basic input output system)
As soon as the computer is powered on, the CPU reads the instructions from the ROM
Hard Drive
Traditional internal storage in PCs and laptops.
Made up of a stack of magnetised metal disks spinning at a rate between 5400 and 15000 rpm (revolutions per minute)
Data is stored magnetically in small areas called sectors within circular tracks. Read / write heads on a moving arm ar used to access sectors on the disks.
Portable HDDs are popular for backing up and transporting large amounts of data.
Despite their moving parts, HDD are generally very long lasting and reliable, although they could be damaged by large impacts like being dropped
BIOS
Stands for Basic Input Output System.
Hardware can be configured in the BIOS
The BIOS contains all instructions needed to properly boot up.
The BIOS loads the OS
The BIOS also can detect errors and display them to you.
Cache
The cache (p2) is data storage inside the CPU that's much faster than RAM.
A larger CPU cache gives the CPU faster access to more data it needs to process.
The GPU
Stands for "Graphics Processing Unit"
GPUs are specialised circuits for handling graphics and image processing. They relieve the processing load on the CPU, freeing it to do other things
Computers have basic GPU's integrated onto the motherboard or the CPU. For better graphics performance, a dedicated GPU is often used.
Using high-end graphics cards can greatly improve performance in graphics-intensive applications, e.g. PC gaming and design software.
The Bus
Buses are circuits on the motherboard that connect the CPU to other components.
There are many buses on the motherboard.
A bus moves instructions and data around the system.
he speed of a bus is measured in megahertz (MHz).
The faster the bus, the faster data is communicated.
The speed of the motherboard is defined by the bus speed.
Buses are limited by their width in bits. They are usually 8, 16 or 32-bits wide. This tells us how many bits can be sent by the bus at any one time, eg a 32-bit bus can send 32 bits at once.
On small CPUs, the data bus and address bus are sometimes combined into 1 bus. This is called multiplexing.
The bus that connects the CPU to the memory is called the front-side bus (FSB).
The FSB contains two types of buses.
Address bus - this sends information about where data needs to go by sending an address to the memory. The address bus only sends data in one direction - from the CPU to RAM.
Data bus - this sends data to the memory or receives data from the memory. Data can flow both ways along the data bus.
The NIC
A NIC is a computer expansion card for connecting to a network (e.g., home network or Internet) using an Ethernet cable with an RJ-45 connector. Due to the popularity and low cost of the Ethernet standard, nearly all new computers have a network interface build directly into the motherboard.
Stands for Network Interface Card
How does a computer with a network card connect to a network?
Network cards can communicate with each other over the same network using a network switch, or if two computers are directly connected. When computers need to connect to a different network (e.g., the Internet), they must be use a router to route the network packets to the correct network.
Where is a network card located in a computer?
In a desktop computer, the network card is most often located near the USB ports on the back if it is an onboard version. If it is a separate network card (not onboard), it usually is located at the back of the computer, near the bottom, taking up a PCI slot.
In a laptop, the network card is integrated into the motherboard. The network port where you plug in a network cable is often located on the side on the laptop, or it may be located on the back. If you cannot find a network port on your laptop, it may only have a wireless network. You can purchase a network card for laptops, which is installed into a PC card slot on the side of the laptop, if available.