Mr. Jonathan M.

Habac
Resource Speaker
Part 1 – Hardware and Software Overview
Computer System’s Components
Popular Software Used

Part 2 – PC Troubleshooting and Maintenance

Troubleshooting
 Popular Troubles and their Solutions
PC Maintenance

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 Computer System’s Components

Main Components of the PC

System Board (Motherboard)
Memory (RAM)
Processor (CPU)
Secondary Storage devices
 Hard Disk Drive
 Optical Drives
 Floppy Disk Drive
 Flash Drive

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Input/Output Ports and Devices
 Keyboards/Mice
 USB, Serial, Parallel Ports
 Other input/output devices
Interface Cards
 Sound Card
 Video Card
 Network Interface Card (LAN)
 Modem
 Other Add-on interface

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 Monitor/ LCD
Power Supply
PC Casing

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System Board (motherboard)
The main circuit board of a microcomputer.
It contains the connectors for attaching additional boards.
Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS,
memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports,
expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control
standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen,
keyboard, and disk drive. Collectively, all these chips that
reside on the motherboard are known as the
motherboard's chipset.

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Motherboard Form Factors
The form factor refers to the physical dimensions (size
and shape) as well as certain connector, screw hole,
and other positions that dictate into which type of
case the board will fit.

Obsolete Form Factors

■ Baby-AT
■ Full-size AT
■ LPX (semiproprietary)
■ WTX (no longer in production)
■ ITX (flex-ATX variation, never
produced)

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ATX - Standard desktop, mini-tower, and full-tower
systems; most common form factor today; most
flexible design for power users, enthusiasts, low-end
servers/workstations, and higher-end
home systems; ATX boards support up to seven
expansion slots.

Mini-ATX - A slightly smaller version of ATX that fits

into the same case as ATX. Many so-called ATX
motherboards are actually mini-ATX motherboards;
mini-ATX boards support up to six expansion slots.
micro-ATX - A smaller version of ATX, used in Mid-
range desktop or mini-tower systems. Fits micro-ATX
or ATX chassis.

Flex-ATX - Smallest version of ATX, used in expensive or

low-end small desktop or mini-tower systems;
entertainment or appliance systems. Fits in flex-ATX,
micro-ATX, or ATX chassis.

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Mini-ITX - Minimum-size flex-ATX version, used in set-top
boxes and compact/small form factor computers; highly
integrated with one PCI expansion slot. Fits in mini-ITX,
flex-ATX, micro-ATX, or ATX chassis.

NLX - Corporate desktop or mini-tower systems; fast and

easy serviceability.

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 All Others
■ Fully proprietary designs (certain Compaq,
Packard Bell, Hewlett-Packard,
notebook/portable systems, and so on)

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 When mounted inside the case, the ATX motherboard is
oriented so that the CPU socket is near the power supply fan
and case fan (if your case includes one)
ATX, mini-ATX, & micro-ATX motherboard I/O Ports

PS/2 mouse port

Parallel Port

Line In

Line/Speaker
Out

Mic In

PS/2 Keyboard
port Serial
Ports
USB Ports

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ATX Motherboard Parts
Chipset
BIOS I/O Ports
Chip AGP Slot

PCI Slots
CPU
Socket

ATX
CMOS Power
battery Supply
Connector

DIMM/DDR IDE Drive Floppy Drive

Memory Socket Connectors Connector
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Motherboard Slots
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
standard specifies a computer bus for attaching
peripheral devices to a computer motherboard.
These devices can take the form of:

 integrated circuits fitted on the motherboard itself

(called planar devices in the PCI specification); or
 expansion cards that fit in sockets.

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 The PCI bus is common in modern PCs, where it has
displaced ISA and VESA Local Bus as the standard
expansion bus, but it also appears in many other
computer types. The bus will eventually be
succeeded by PCI Express and other technologies,
which have already started to appear in new
computers.

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 32-bit PCI expansion slots on a motherboard

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AGP
The Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) (also called
Advanced Graphics Port) is a high-speed point-to-point
channel for attaching a graphics card to a computer's
motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D
computer graphics. Many classify AGP as a type of computer
bus, but this is something of a misnomer since buses
generally allow multiple devices to be connected, while AGP
does not. Some motherboards have been built with
multiple independent AGP slots. AGP is slowly being
phased out by PCI Express.

As of 2004, newer versions of AGP increase the transfer rate

from two to eight times. Available versions include:
AGP 1x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz
resulting in a maximum data rate of 266 megabytes per
second, doubled from the 133MBytes/s transfer rate of PCI
bus 33MHz / 32bit; 3.3 V signaling.

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 AGP 2x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66
MHz double pumped to an effective 133 MHz
resulting in a maximum data rate of 533 megabytes
per second; signaling voltages the same as AGP 1x;
AGP 4x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66
MHz quad pumped to an effective 266 MHz
resulting in a maximum data rate of 1066
megabytes per second; 1.5 V signaling;
AGP 8x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66
MHz octuple pumped to an effective 533 MHz
resulting in a maximum data rate of 2133
megabytes per second; 0.8 V signaling.

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AGP slot (maroon), although the color is usually brown.

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PCIe (PCI Express)

PCI Express, or PCIe, (formerly known as 3GIO

for 3rd Generation I/O, not to be mistaken for PCI-
X) is an implementation of the PCI computer bus
that uses existing PCI programming concepts, but
bases it on a completely different and much faster
serial physical-layer communications protocol.

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 PCI Express is intended to be used as a local
interconnect only. As it is based on the existing PCI
system, cards and systems can be converted to PCI
Express by changing the physical layer only –
existing systems could be adapted to PCI Express
without any change in software. The higher speeds
on PCI Express allow it to replace almost all
existing internal buses, including AGP and PCI.

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PCI Express slots (from top to bottom: x4, x16, x1 and
x16), compared to a traditional 32-bit PCI slot (bottom)

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Memory (RAM)

Memory is the workspace for the computer’s

processor. It is a temporary storage area where the
programs and data being operated on by the
processor must reside. Memory storage is
considered temporary because the data and
programs remain there only as long as the
computer has electrical power or is not reset.
Before being shut down or reset, any data that has
been changed should be saved to a more
permanent storage device (usually a hard disk) so
it can be reloaded into memory in the future.
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 Memory often is called RAM, for random access
memory. Main memory is called RAM because you
can randomly (as opposed to sequentially) access
any location in memory. This designation is
somewhat misleading and often misinterpreted.
Read-only memory (ROM), for example, is also
randomly accessible, yet is usually differentiated
from the system RAM because it maintains data
without power and can’t normally be written to.
Disk memory is also randomly accessible, but we
don’t consider that RAM either.

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Types of RAM Package
DIP (dual in-line package)
SIPP (single in-line pin package)
SIMM (singe in-line memory module)
 30-pin module
 72-pin module (EDORAM)
DIMM (dual in-line memory module)
 168-pin module (SDRAM)
 184-pin module (DDR)
 240-pin module (DDR2)
RIMM (Rambus in-line memory module)
 184-pin or 232-pin RDRAM RIMMs

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 Latest

DDR2 OCZ platinum edition 2GB

Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC3-

12800 DDR3 Dual Channel
Memory Kit
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Microprocessor (CPU)
The brain or engine of the PC is the processor
(sometimes called microprocessor), or central
processing unit (CPU). The CPU performs the
system’s calculating and processing. In terms of
computing power, the CPU is the most important
element of a computer system. The speed of the
CPU is measured in Megahertz (MHz) and
Gigahertz (GHz)

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Common microprocessors available for desktop PC’s
are from Intel and AMD.

Integrated Electronics Advanced Micro Devices Corp.

Corp.

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 Examples of Microprocessor

Intel Pentium III

(Socket 370)

Intel Pentium 4 Socket T

(LGA-775)
AMD Athlon XP
(Socket A/462)

Intel Pentium 4
(µPGA 478)

AMD K6/III AMD Athlon 64 FX

(Socket 7 / Super 7) (Socket 939)

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Latest Processor

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Cache Memory
Cache memory is a high-speed memory buffer that
temporarily stores data the processor needs,
allowing the processor to retrieve that data faster
than if it came from main memory. But there is
one additional feature of a cache over a simple
buffer, and that is intelligence. A cache is a buffer
with a brain. It holds the data the processor is most
likely to need in advance of it actually being
needed.
Internal Level 1 Cache
All modern processors starting with the 486 family
include an integrated L1 cache and controller. The
integrated L1 cache size varies from processor to
processor, starting at 8KB for the original 486DX
and now up to 32KB, 64KB, or more in the latest
processors.
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Level 2 Cache
Newer processors have integrated L2 cache that runs
at the same speed as the processor core, which is
also the same speed as the L1 cache. L2 cache holds
data that the L1 cache missed, therefore reducing
the time it takes to access if it would be from the
main memory.
The organization of the cache memory in the 486
and MMX Pentium family is called a four-way set
associative cache, which means that the cache
memory is split into four blocks. Each block also is
organized as 128 or 256 lines of 16 bytes each.

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L3 cache (level three)
A third-level memory cache external to the processor
core. The only current Intel compatible processors
to include L3 cache are the Itanium and Itanium 2
processors from Intel. Depending on the model,
these contain 2MB or 4MB of L3 cache that runs at
full processor speed. If a motherboard provides L2
cache, such as many Super Socket 7 motherboards
made for Pentium and Pentium-compatible
processors, L2 cache becomes L3 cache if a
processor with integrated L3 cache, such as the
AMD K6-III, is used. Motherboard-based cache
modules run at FSB speeds, which are much slower
than on-chip or on-die processor speeds. See also
cache and disk cache.

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 Processor Features
SMM (Power Management) - Spurred on primarily by the goal
of putting faster and more powerful processors in laptop
computers, Intel has created power-management circuitry. This
circuitry enables processors to conserve energy use and
lengthen battery life.

Superscalar Execution - The fifth-generation Pentium and

newer processors feature multiple internal instruction
execution pipelines, which enable them to execute multiple
instructions at the same time.

MMX, Extended MMX, SSE, SSE2,SSE3 (Intel), 3DNow!,

Enhanced 3DNow!, Professional 3DNow! (AMD) – these are
instruction sets designed to enhance the processors
performance in terms of multi-media applications, such as
games.
Hyper-threading
Hyper-Threading works by duplicating certain sections of
the processor - those that store the architectural state -
but not duplicating the main execution resources. This
allows a Hyper-Threading equipped processor to pretend
to be two "logical" processors to the host operating
system, allowing the operating system to schedule two
threads or processes simultaneously.

64-bit microprocessor architecture

AMD64 (also x86-64 or x64) is a 64-bit microprocessor
architecture and corresponding instruction set designed
by Advanced Micro Devices. It is a superset of the x86
architecture, which it natively supports.
Extended Memory 64-bit Technology (EM64T) is Intel's
implementation of AMD64, a 64-bit extension to the IA-
32 architecture.

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CPU Sockets

Intel and AMD have created a set of socket and slot

designs for their processors. Each socket or slot is
designed to support a different range of original and
upgrade processors.

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PAC611 PAC418 Socket T (LGA- Socket Socket Socket 480 Socket 479 Socket
775) 604 603 478

Intel Intel Intel Pentium Xeon Xeon Intel Intel Intel

Itanium Itanium 4, Pentium D, Pentium M Pentium M Pentium 4
Pentium (Dual core) (Single core) & Celeron
Extreme & Celeron M
Edition, &
Celeron

Socket Socket Socket AM2 Socket F Socket Socket 939 Socket 940 Socket
423 370 S1 754

Intel Intel AMD AMD AMD AMD Athlon AMD AMD

Pentium Celeron "Orleans" Opteron Turion 64 64 / AMD Opteron Athlon
4 & Athlon 64, processor mobile Athlon 64 64 /
Pentium AMD "Windsor" s. processor FX to Sempron
III Athlon 64 X2, s 1GHz /
AMD Sempron
"Orleans4"
Athlon 64 FX.

Sorted by date (most recent to oldest).

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 Socket A Socket 563 Slot 2 Slot 1 Slot A Socket 8 Super Socket Socket 7
(Socket 7
462)
Later AMD Low-power Intel Intel Early Intel AMD K6-2 & Intel
Athlon, Mobile Pentiu Pentium II AMD Pentium AMD K6-III Pentium
Athlon XP, Athlon XP- m II & early Athlon & Pro (socket 7 with &
Duron and M (µ-PGA Xeon & Pentium III Alpha 100 MHz compatibl
Sempron Socket, Pentiu 21264 Front side bus es from
mostly m III and AGP Cyrix,
mobile Xeon interface AMD
parts) compatibility)

Socket 6 Socket 5 Socket Socket 3 Socket 2 Socket 1 486 Socket

4
Intel 486 Intel Intel Intel 486 Intel 486 Intel 486 Intel 486
Pentium Pentiu (3.3v and
75-133MHz m 5v) and
and 60/66M compatible
compatible Hz s
s

Sorted by date (most recent to oldest).

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 Socket A (462)

Socket 478

Socket 939

Socket T
(LGA-775)
Land Grid
Array

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Processor Codenames

Code names have been used to identify

microprocessors while in development. In some
cases, the code name became the completed
product's name, but most of these code names are
no longer used once the associated products are
released.

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 Secondary Storage Devices
Secondary storage is also called auxiliary storage and
is used to store data and programs when they are
not being processed. Secondary storage is more
permanent than main memory, as data and
programs are retained when the power is turned
off.

Secondary storage is data on hard disks, tapes, and other

external devices. Primary storage is much faster to access
than secondary storage because of the proximity of the
storage to the processor or because of the nature of the
storage devices. On the other hand, secondary storage can
hold much more data than primary storage.

Primary Storage – RAM & ROM

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HDD (Hard Disk Drive)

A rigid magnetic disk fixed

permanently within a
drive unit and used for
storing computer data.
Hard disks generally offer
more storage and quicker
access to data than floppy
disks do.

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Most desktop hard disks are IDE (ATAPI/EIDE),
whereas SCSI drives have traditionally been found
on servers and high-performance workstations.
The SCSI advantage is that from seven to 15 devices
can be attached to the same controller board,
which uses only one slot in the PC. SCSI was the
first drive technology to employ fault-tolerant
RAID systems. Today, IDE drives are used in RAID
arrays and in high-performance machines. Hard
disks provide fast retrieval because they rotate
constantly at high speed, from 5,000 to 15,000 rpm.
In laptops, they can be turned off when not being
used to preserve battery life.

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 Parts of a Hard Disk Drive

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Types of Hard Disk Drive

IDE (IDE/ATAPI) – Integrated Drive

Electronics/Advanced Technology Attachment
w/ Packet Interface - A single IDE ATA channel
can support up to two drives, master & slave. IDE
can only access one drive per channel at a time.
There are four IDE drive capabilities, IDE ATA33,
IDE ATA66, IDE ATA100 and the latest IDE ATA133.

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 SCSI – Small Computer System Interface. - SCSI
(pronounced “scuzzy”) stands for Small Computer
System Interface and is a general-purpose interface
used for connecting many types of devices to a PC.
SCSI is a fast interface, generally suited to high-
performance workstations, servers, or anywhere
the ultimate in performance for a storage system
interface is needed.

Serial ATA (S-ATA) - is a computer bus primarily

designed for transfer of data to and from a hard
disk. It is the successor to the legacy Advanced
Technology Attachment standard (ATA, also
known as IDE).

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Serial ATA 1.0 uses a seven-wire data/ground cable
and supports direct point-to-point connections to
host adapters at initial speeds of up to 150MBps,
which is faster than UltraATA-133. Serial ATA II is a
version of the SATA standard designed for servers.

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 ATA
ATA (AT Attachment
Interface) An IDE
disk interface
standard introduced
in March 1989 that
defines a compatible
register set, a 40-pin
connector, and its
associated signals. See
also IDE and SATA.

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 IDE ATAPI Cable

RED Wire (Pin 1)

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SCSI
SCSI is most commonly
used for hard disks and
tape storage devices, but
also connects a wide range
of other devices,
including scanners, CD-
ROM drives, CD writers,
and DVD drives. SCSI
remains popular on high-
performance
workstations, servers, and
high-end peripherals.

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 SCSI Cable & SCSI Host Adapter

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Serial ATA
Serial-ATA is a serial link -- a
single cable with a
minimum of four wires
creates a point-to-point
connection between
devices. Transfer rates for
Serial ATA begin at
150MBps. One of the main
design advantages of Serial
ATA is that the thinner
serial cables facilitate more
efficient airflow inside a
form factor and also allow
for smaller chassis designs.

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 Serial ATA connectors on
motherboard

Serial ATA Cable and

power supply adapter

Serial ATA PCI

Controller Card

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Floppy Disk Drive
The floppy disk drive
(FDD) was the primary
means of adding data to a
computer until the CD-ROM
drive became popular. In
fact, FDDs have been an key
component of most personal
computers for more than 20
years.
Basically, a floppy disk drive
reads and writes data to a
small, circular piece of
metal-coated plastic similar
to audio cassette tape.

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Floppy Disk
floppy disks : Relatively
slow and have a small
capacity, but they are
portable, inexpensive,
and universal.
Basically, a floppy disk
drive reads and writes
data to a small,
circular piece of
metal-coated plastic
similar to audio
cassette tape.

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Optical Storage

The optical storage device that most of us are familiar

with is the compact disc (CD). A CD can store huge
amounts of digital information (783 MB) on a very
small surface that is incredibly inexpensive to
manufacture. The design that makes this possible is a
simple one: The CD surface is a mirror covered with
billions of tiny bumps that are arranged in a long,
tightly wound spiral. The CD player reads the bumps
with a precise laser and interprets the information as
bits of data.

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 CD-ROM Drive 52X

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When you play a CD, the
laser beam passes through
the CD's polycarbonate
layer, reflects off the
aluminum layer and hits an
optoelectronic device that
detects changes in light. The
bumps reflect light
differently than the flat
parts of the aluminum layer,
which are called lands. The
optoelectronic sensor
detects these changes in
reflectivity, and the
electronics in the CD-player
drive interpret the changes
as data bits.
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DVD Drive

Philips DVD 52X rewriter Portable Drive

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 Flash Storage
A keydrive is a small removable data
storage device that uses flash
memory and a USB connector. These
storages device are active only when
powered by a connection to a
computer, and require no external
power source or battery power when
not in use. To access the data stored
in a keydrive, it must be connected to
a computer, either by direct
connection to its USB port or via a
USB hub.
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Most keydrives feature
the larger type-A USB
connection, although
some feature the smaller
"miniUSB" connection.
There is no separate
power connection;
keydrives are run from
the limited supply
afforded by the USB
connection.

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Input Devices
These are devices that are
used to input data and
give instructions to the
computer. The most
common input device is
the keyboard. In a GUI
environment, a pointing
device, typically a mouse
is used to move and
select objects on the
screen for action.

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Keyboard

One of the most basic system components is the

keyboard, which is the primary input device. It is
used for entering commands and data into the
system.

The primary keyboard types are as follows:

 104-key Windows keyboard
 101-key Enhanced keyboard
 83-key PC and XT keyboard (obsolete)
 84-key AT keyboard (obsolete)

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Keyboards are also classified
according to their design:
Windows keyboard –
keyboards with  key
Ergonomic keyboard – a
good example of
ergonomic keyboard is the
MS natural keyboard.
(shown below)
Specialized keyboards –
are keyboards with special
keys or buttons added
such as volume controls
for the audio, or launch
the browser.

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Keyboard Connectors

• 5-pin DIN (PC/AT) PC/AT

• 6-pin mini-DIN (PS/2)

• USB (Universal Serial

Bus)
PS/2

USB

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Mice
A mouse is a handheld pointing device for
computers, involving a small object fitted with one
or more buttons and shaped to sit naturally under
the hand. The underside of the mouse houses a
device that detects the mouse's motion relative to
the flat surface on which it sits. The mouse's 2D
motion is typically translated into the motion of a
cursor on the display.
It is called a mouse primarily because the cord on
early models resembled the rodent's tail, and also
because the motion of the pointer on the screen
can be mouse like. In popular usage, the plural can
be either mice or mouses.

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The standard mouse consists of several components:
 A housing that you hold in your hand and move around on
your desktop
 A method of transmitting movement to the system: either
ball/roller or optical sensors
 Buttons (two or more, and often a wheel or toggle switch) for
making selections
 An interface for connecting the mouse to the system;
conventional mice use a wire and connector, whereas
wireless mice use a radio-frequency or infrared transceiver in
both the mouse and a separate unit connected to the
computer to interface the mouse to the computer

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Onto-mechanical Mouse

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Optical Mouse uses
laser light to detect
and transfer motion
instead of ball and
rollers
Pointing Device Interface

• Serial
• PS/2
• USB
• Wireless
(via USB port)

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Input/Output Ports

USB – Universal Serial Bus is an external

peripheral bus standard designed to bring Plug and
Play capability for attaching peripherals externally
to the PC. USB is a high-speed I/O port which
enables you to connect several devices on a single
USB port. It has a data transfer rate up to 60Mbps.

Devices which connects to USB port:

 Printers, Scanners
 External drives
 Digital cameras

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 Parallel Port - Parallel ports are normally used
for connecting printers to a PC. Even though that
was their sole original intention, parallel ports
have become much more useful over the years as
a more general-purpose, relatively high-speed
interface between devices (when compared to
serial ports).

Parallel Port

USB Port

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Serial Port - The asynchronous serial interface
was designed as a system-to-system
communications port. Asynchronous means that
no synchronization or clocking signal is present, so
characters can be sent with any arbitrary time
spacing. Serial refers to data that is sent over a
single wire, with each bit lining up in a series as the
bits are sent.

Devices that connects to a Serial Port

 Serial Mouse
 External Modem

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Interface Cards

Interface cards generally refer to devices which are

inserted into the expansion slots on the
motherboard to add capabilities to the computer
such as playing music, connect to the internet and
many more. Devices such as Sound card, internal
Modems, and Network Interface card are just some
of the examples.

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Sound Cards
An expansion board that enables a computer to
manipulate and output sounds. Sound cards are
necessary for nearly all CD-ROMs and have become
commonplace on modern personal computers. Sound
cards enable the computer to output sound through
speakers connected to the board, to record sound
input from a microphone connected to the computer,
and manipulate sound stored on a disk.

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Sound Cards converts
digital signals on your
computer to analog
signal and send it out to
the speakers. It can also
accept sound from
external sources such as
microphone or stereo
system for recording.

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Current sound cards usually plug into a Peripheral
Component Interconnect (PCI) slot, while some
older or inexpensive cards may use the Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Many of the
computers available today incorporate the sound
card as a chipset right on the motherboard. This
leaves another slot open for other peripherals.

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Sound Card Jacks MIDI / Game
Port (gold)
Line IN (blue or light blue)

Mic IN (pink Line Out (no

or red) Speaker Out standard
(lime or green) color)
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Video Cards
A graphics card or video
card is a component of a
computer which is designed
to convert a logical
representation of an image
stored in memory to a
signal that can be used as
input for a display medium,
most often a monitor
utilizing a variety of display
standards. Typically, it also
provides functionality to
manipulate the logical
image in memory.

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Video Adapter Types

The three ways computer systems connect to either

CRT or LCD displays are as follows:

 Add-on video cards. This method requires the use of an

AGP or a PCI expansion slot but provides the highest
possible level of performance, the greatest amount of
memory, and the largest choice of features.
 Video-only chipset on motherboard. Performance is
generally less than with add-on video cards because older
chipset designs are often used.

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  Motherboard chipset with integrated
video. This has the lowest cost of any
video solution, but performance can also
be very low, especially for 3D gaming or
other graphics-intensive applications.
Resolution and color-depth options are
also more limited than those available
with add-on video cards.

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ATX Motherboard with on-board Video, Sound, and Network
Interface card.

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 Network Interface Card
A network card (also called
network adapter, network
interface card, NIC, etc.) is a
piece of computer hardware
designed to provide for
computer communication
over a computer network.
Most newer computers have a
network interface built into
the motherboard, so a
separate network card is not
required unless multiple
interfaces are needed or some
other type of network is used.

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Modem

The word "modem" is a contraction of the words

modulator-demodulator. A modem is typically
used to send digital data over a phone line. The
sending modem modulates the data into a signal
that is compatible with the phone line, and the
receiving modem demodulates the signal back
into digital data.

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 Modems come in two forms: External modem
which are connected to your PC by means of Serial
Port or USB Port. USB modem doesn’t require
external power source, it get its power from the
USB port. Internal modems are installed on the
expansion slot on the motherboard, usually on the
PCI slot.

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 Typical 56K Internal Modem

External 56K USB Modem

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Power Supply

The basic function of the power supply is to convert

the type of electrical power available at the wall
socket to the type the computer circuitry can use.
The power supply in a conventional desktop system
is designed to convert either 115-volt (nominal)
60Hz AC (alternating current) or 230v (nominal)
50Hz AC power into +3.3v, +5v, and +12v DC (direct
current) power.

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Power Supply Form Factor

Form factor is used to describe the size and format

of PC motherboards, but also of hard drives, power
supplies, cases, and add-in cards. The term can
also be used refer to the shape of a housing or
package or mechanical connection associated with
a device or mechanism within the context of its
interface with other devices or mechanisms, also in
regards to a human interface.

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 Other power supply form factors are already obsolete,
below are the still available in modern PC:

 AT/Baby AT (being phased out)

 ATX (new PC’s have this type of power supply)

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 Power supply removed from the
PC case

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Power Supply Output Voltage

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 All power supplies are generally sold based on their
wattage rating. What people don't know is that this is
the combined total wattage rating of the power supply
at full load across each of the individual voltage lines.
Since the power supply has multiple voltage outputs,
each voltage rail will pull its own current from the
power supply.

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Below is a chart of various PC case sizes and the
recommended ratings of a power supply for that size
case with the number of devices that could potentially
be installed in the case:

Case Size Recommended Wattage Min. +12v Max Load

Mini-tower 330-350 W 15 A

Mid-tower 350-380 W 15 A

Full tower 380-450 W 18 A

Server tower 450-550 W 20A

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Monitor
A computer display, monitor or screen is a
computer peripheral device capable of showing still
or moving images generated by a computer and
processed by a graphics card. Monitors generally
conform to one or more display standards.
Monitors can either be CRT (cathode ray tube or
LCD (liquid crystal display)

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CRT monitor
The original display technology, and still the most
popular, is cathode ray tube (CRT) technology the
same technology used in television sets. CRTs
consist of a vacuum tube enclosed in glass. One
end of the tube contains an electron gun assembly
that projects three electron beams, one each for the
red, green, and blue phosphors used to create the
colors you see onscreen; the other end contains a
screen with a phosphorous coating.

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 LCD monitor
LCD or flat panel computer
displays are the latest and
greatest offerings in the desktop
computer industry. They have
been used for years in the
portable and notebook
computing markets, but recent
developments have increase
performance and size while
reducing costs making them
viable in the desktop
environment. LCD displays are
lightweight, extremely thin and
use much less power than CRT
based monitors.

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Resolution is the amount of detail a monitor can render.
This quantity is expressed in the number of horizontal
and vertical picture elements, or pixels, contained in the
screen. The greater the number of pixels, the more
detailed the images. The resolution required depends on
the application. Character-based applications (such as
DOS command-line programs) require little resolution,
whereas graphics intensive applications (such as desktop
publishing and Windows software) require a great deal.

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Casing
This is the box where all the components of the PC are
installed. Usually made of plastic and metal. The case
provides electromagnetic insulation to keep radio
radiation within. It also offers structural integrity for all
the components in the system. It also provide a hard
mounting point for all the components is the system,
keep the system cool by providing good ventilation.
Most of all, it defines the cosmetic look of the system.

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•Full Tower
•Mid-Tower
•Mini Tower
•Desktop
•Cube

Cube Cases are designed for

micro-ATX motherboards.
Different case form factors:
(right to left) desktop case, mini-tower, full-tower, mid-towers and LPX)

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Popular Software Used
Popular Software Used

Operating System
 Windows Family
 Windows 98, ME, XP, Vista
 Windows 2000, 2003, 2007
 Windows Longhorn

 Linux Operating System

 Linux XP Desktop
 Mandriva
 Ubuntu
Software Applications
 Microsoft Office 2003, 2007
 OpenOffice.Org

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Other Software
 Anti-virus
 Network and Computer Games

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 Mandriva Linux

•(formerly Mandrakelinux or Mandrake

Linux) is a Linux distribution created by
Mandriva (formerly Mandrakesoft).

•The first release was based on Red Hat

Linux (version 5.1) and KDE (version 1.0)
in July 1998.
•It has since diverged from Red Hat and
has included a number of original tools
mostly to ease system configuration.
Mandriva Linux
•Mandriva Linux (at the time named
Mandrake Linux) was originated by Gaël
Duval, who was also a co-founder of
Mandrakesoft and was fired from the
company in 2006.
Ubuntu
 (official IPA
pronunciation /ùbúntú/
(oo-BOON-too)) is a
predominantly desktop-
oriented Linux distribution,
based on Debian Ubuntu Linux
GNU/Linux but with a
stronger focus on usability,
regular releases, and ease of
installation.
Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd, owned
by South African billionaire entrepreneur Mark
Shuttleworth.
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 End of Part 1

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