The System Unit

• The system unit is

a case that
contains
electronic
components of
the computer
used to process
data

Page 210 1
Figure 4-1
The System Unit

• The inside of the system unit on a desktop

personal computer includes:
Drive bay(s)

Power supply

Sound card

Video card

Processor

Memory
Page 211 2
Figure 4-2
The System Unit

• The motherboard is the main circuit board of the

system unit
– A computer chip contains integrated circuits

Page 212 3
Figure 4-3
Processor

• The processor, also called the central processing

unit (CPU), interprets and carries out the basic
instructions that operate a computer
– Contain a control unit and an arithmetic logic unit
(ALU)

Multi-core Dual-core Quad-core

processor processor processor
Page 213 4
Page 213 5
Figure 4-4
Processor

• The control unit is the component of the

processor that directs and coordinates most of
the operations in the computer
• The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs
arithmetic, comparison, and other operations

Page 214 6
Processor

• For every instruction, a processor repeats a set of

four basic operations, which comprise a machine
cycle

Page 215 7
Figure 4-5
Processor

• Most current personal

computers support
pipelining
– Processor begins
fetching a second
instruction before it
completes the machine
cycle for the first
instruction

Pages 215 – 216 8

Figure 4-6
Processor

The processor contains registers, that

temporarily hold data and instructions

The system clock controls the timing

of all computer operations
• The pace of the system clock is called the clock
speed, and is measured in gigahertz (GHz)
Page 216 9
Processor

• The leading
manufacturers of
personal computer
processor chips are Intel
and AMD

Pages 216 – 217 10

Figure 4-7
Processor

• Determine how you plan to use a new computer

before selecting a processor

Page 218 11
Figure 4-8
Processor

• A processor chip
generates heat that
could cause the chip to
burn up
• Require additional
cooling
– Heat sinks
– Liquid cooling
technology

Pages 219 - 220 12

Figures 4-9 – 4-10
Processor

• Parallel processing uses multiple processors

simultaneously to execute a single program or task
– Massively parallel processing involves hundreds or thousands of
processors

Page 220 13
Figure 4-11
Data Representation

Analog signals are continuous and vary in

strength and quality

Digital signals are in one of two states: on

or of
• Most computers are digital
• The binary system uses two unique digits (0 and 1)
• Bits and bytes
Page 221 14
Data Representation
A computer circuit represents the 0 Eight bits grouped together as
or the 1 electronically by the a unit are called a byte. A byte
presence or absence of an represents a single character
electrical charge in the computer ASCII character

Page 221 15
Figures 4-12 – 4-13
Data Representation

• ASCII (American
Standard Code for
Information
Interchange) is the most
widely used coding
scheme to represent
data

Page 221 16
Figure 4-14
Page 222 17
Figure 4-15
Memory

• Memory consists of electronic components that

store instructions waiting to be executed by the
processor, data needed by those instructions, and
the results of processing the data
• Stores three basic categories of items:
Data being
The operating
Application processed and the
system and other
programs resulting
system software
information

Page 223 18
Memory

• Each location in memory has an address

• Memory size is measured in kilobytes (KB or K),
megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes
(TB)

Page 223 19
Figure 4-17
Memory

• The system unit contains two types of memory:

Nonvolatile
Volatile memory
memory
Loses its contents when Does not lose contents
power is turned of when power is removed

Examples include ROM,

Example includes RAM flash memory, and
CMOS

Pages 223 - 224 20

Memory
• What is CMOS?

Complementary Used in some

metal-oxide RAM chips, flash
semiconductor memory chips, and
memory other types of
memory chips
Uses battery
power to retain Stores date,
information when time, and
other power is computer’s
turned off startup
information

p. 146 Next
Page 224 22
Figure 4-18
Memory

• Three basic types of RAM chips exist:

Dynamic RAM Magnetoresistive
Static RAM (SRAM)
(DRAM) RAM (MRAM)

Page 225 23
Figure 4-19
Memory

• RAM chips usually reside on a memory module

and are inserted into memory slots

Page 225 24
Figure 4-20
Memory

• The amount of RAM necessary in a computer

often depends on the types of software you plan
to use

Page 226 25
Figure 4-21
Memory

• Memory cache speeds the processes of the computer

because it stores frequently used instructions and data

Page 227 26
Figure 4-22
Memory

Read-only memory (ROM) refers to memory chips

storing permanent data and instructions

• Firmware

A PROM (programmable read-only memory) chip is

a blank ROM chip that can be written to
permanently
• EEPROM can be erased

Page 228 27
Paging
Paging (or swapping) involves loading processes into
memory when they're in use, storing them when they're
not and swapping them back in when they're next needed.

28
Memory

• Flash memory can be erased electronically and

rewritten
– CMOS technology provides high speeds and consumes
little power

Pages 228 – 229 29

Figure 4-23
Memory

• Access time is the amount of time it takes the

processor to read from memory
– Measured in nanoseconds

Page 229 30
Figures 4-24 – 4-25
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
• An expansion slot is a
socket on the motherboard
that can hold an adapter
card
• An adapter card enhances
functions of a component of
the system unit and/or
provides connections to
peripherals
– Sound card and video card

Page 230 31
Figure 4-26
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

• With Plug and Play, the computer automatically

can configure adapter cards and other peripherals
as you install them

Pages 230 – 231 32

Figure 4-27
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

• Removable flash memory includes:

– Memory cards, USB flash drives, and PC
Cards/ExpressCard modules

Page 231 33
Figure 4-28
Ports and Connectors

A port is the point at which a peripheral attaches to or

communicates with a system unit (sometimes referred
to as a jack)

A connector joins a cable to a port

Page 232 34
Page 232 35
Figure 4-29
Ports and Connectors

• What are ports and connectors?

 Port connects external devices to system unit
 Connector joins cable to peripheral

p. 148 - 149 Fig. 4-21 Next

Ports and Connectors
• On a notebook computer, the ports are on the
back, front, and/or sides

37
Standard Computer Ports

– Keyboard
– Mouse
– USB ports
– Parallel
– Network
– Modem
– Audio
– Serial
– Video

38
Standard Computer Ports

39
Ports and Connectors
• What is a serial port?
 Transmits one bit of data at a
time
 Connects slow-speed devices,
such as a mouse, keyboard, or
modem

p. 149 Fig. 4-22 Next

Serial and parallel ports

• Extending The Processors Power

• Connect to printers or modems
• Parallel ports move bits simultaneously
– Made of 8 – 32 wires
– Internal busses are parallel
• Serial ports move one bit
– Lower data flow than parallel
– Requires control wires
– UART converts from serial to parallel
41
Serial Communications
• Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART)
is a type of "asynchronous receiver/transmitter", a
piece of computer hardware that translates data
between parallel and serial forms.

42
Parallel Communications
• a parallel interface
can handle a higher
volume of data than
a serial interface
• more than one bit
can be transmitted
through a parallel
interface
simultaneously

43
Ports and Connectors

• What is a parallel port?

 Connects devices that can

transfer more than one bit at
a time, such as a printer

p. 149 Fig. 4-23 Next

Ports and Connectors

• What are USB ports?

USB
USB (universal
(universal serial
serial bus)
bus) port
port can
can connect
connect
up
up to
to 127
127 different
different peripherals
peripherals together
together
with
with aa single
single connector
connector

PCs
PCs typically
typically have
have
six to eight USB
USB ports
ports Single
Single USB
USB port
port can
can The latest
latest version
version of
of
on
on front
front or
or back
back of
of be
be used
used to
to attach
attach USB
USB isis called
the
the system
system unit multiple peripherals
peripherals USB 2.0
using
using aa USB
USB hub
hub

p. 149 Next
Ports and Connectors

• What are special-purpose ports?

 Allow users to attach specialized peripherals or transmit data to wireless devices

 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) port

 eSATA port
 SCSI port
 IrDA port
 Bluetooth port

p. 150 Next
Expansion Slots and Boards

• Allows users to configure the machine

• Slots allow the addition of new devices
• Devices are stored on cards
• Computer must be of before inserting

47
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
• An expansion slot is a
socket on the motherboard
that can hold an adapter
card
• An adapter card enhances
functions of a component of
the system unit and/or
provides connections to
peripherals
– Sound card and video card

48
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
• Removable flash memory includes:
– Memory cards, USB flash drives, and PC Cards/Express
Card modules

49
 External Bus Standards
• Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
• Local bus
• Peripheral Control Interface (PCI)
• Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
• Universal Serial Bus (USB)
• IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
• PC Card
• High Definition Multimedia Interface
(HDMI)
50
Industry Standard Architecture
• bus standard for IBM PC compatible computers
introduced with the IBM Personal Computer to support its
Intel 8088 microprocessor's 8-bit external data bus and
• extended to 16 bits for the IBM Personal Computer/AT's
Intel 80286 processor.
• further extended for use with 32-bit processors as
Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA)
• the ISA bus was synchronous with the CPU clock, until
sophisticated bufering methods were developed and
implemented by chipsets to interface ISA to much faster
CPUs

51
Industry standard Architecture (ISA)
Peripheral Control Interface (PCI)
• Connects modems and sound cards
• Found in most modern computers
• higher maximum system bus throughput
Peripheral Control Interface (PCI)

54
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)

• Connects video card to motherboard

• Extremely fast bus
• Found in all modern computers
• high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a
video card to a computer's motherboard, primarily
to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer
graphics. Since 2004 AGP has been progressively
phased out in favor of PCI Express (PCIe).

55
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
• primary advantage of
AGP over PCI is that it
provides a dedicated
pathway between the
slot and the processor
rather than sharing the
PCI bus.
• Lack of contention for
the bus, the direct
connection allows for
higher clock speeds.
Ports and Connectors

• Other types of ports include:

Firewire Bluetooth
SCSI port
port port

eSATA port IrDA port Serial port

MIDI port

57
SCSI
• Small Computer
System Interface
• Supports dozens of
devices
• External devices
daisy chain
• Fast hard drives
and CD-ROMs

58
SCSI
• Instead of forcing the user to plug multiple cards into
the computer’s expansion slots, a single SCSI adapter
ex tends the bus outside the computer by way of a
cable. SCSI is like an extension cord for the data bus.
• define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical
interfaces
• intelligent, peripheral, bufered, peer to peer interface.
• hides the complexity of physical format
• Up to 8 or 16 devices can be attached to a single bus
• There can be any number of hosts and peripheral
devices but there should be at least one host
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
• an industry standard that defines the cables, connectors and
communications protocols used in a bus for connection,
communication and power supply between computers and electronic
devices
• USB 1.0 and 1.1
– Specified data rates of 1.5 Mbit/s (Low-Bandwidth) and 12 Mbit/s (Full-
Bandwidth).
– Does not allow for extension cables or pass-through monitors (due to timing
and power limitations)
• USB 2.0:
– Added higher maximum bandwidth of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s) (now called "Hi-
Speed")
• USB 3.0
– Maximum transmission speed of up to 5 Gbit/s (625 MB/s), which is more
than 10 times as fast as USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s, or 60 MB/s)
60
USB
• Universal Serial Bus
• Most popular external bus
• Supports up to 127 devices
• Hot swappable

61
USB
• A USB port can connect up to 127 diferent
peripherals together with a single connector
– You can attach multiple peripherals using a single USB
port with a USB hub

62
Firewire (IEEE 1394)
• FireWire, is a serial bus interface standard for
high-speed communications and isochronous
real-time data transfer.
• The 1394 interface is comparable with USB and
often those two technologies are considered
together, though USB has more market share
• IEEE 1394 replaced parallel SCSI in many
applications, because of lower implementation
costs and a simplified, more adaptable cabling
system
63
Firewire (IEEE 1394)

• Cameras and video equipment

• Hot swappable
• Port is very expensive so is not very popular

64
PC Cards
• PC Card was originally designed for computer storage
expansion,
• but the existence of a usable general standard for notebook
peripherals led to many kinds of devices being made
available based on the form factor, including
– network cards,
– modems, and
– hard disks.
• The cards were also used in early digital SLR cameras, such as
the Kodak DCS 300 series
• Their original use as storage expansion is no longer common.

65
PC Cards

• Used on laptops
• Hot swappable
• Devices are the size of a credit card

66
PC Cards
• Expansion bus for laptops
• PCMCIA
• Hot swappable
• Small card size
• Three types, I, II and III
• Type II is most common

67
HDMI
• HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact
audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed digital
audio/video data from a HDMI-compliant device ("the source" or
"input") to a compatible digital audio device, computer monitor,
video projector, and digital television
• Type A Nineteen pins, with bandwidth to support all SDTV, EDTV
and HDTV modes
• Type B has 29 pins and can carry six diferential pairs instead of
three, for use with very high-resolution future displays such as
WQUXGA (3,840×2,400)
• Type C intended for portable devices
• Type D keeps the standard 19 pins of types A and C but shrinks the
connector size to something resembling a micro-USB connector
68
Bluetooth and IrDA
A Bluetooth wireless port A smart phone might
adapter converts a USB port into communicate with a notebook
a Bluetooth port computer using an IrDA port

69
 Plug and Play
• With Plug and Play, the computer automatically
can configure adapter cards and other peripherals
as you install them

70
Plug and Play

• New hardware detected automatically

• Prompts to install drivers
• Non-technical users can install devices

71
System Devices

• USB port - intended to replace Serial, Parallel and

PS/2 ports with a single standard. 127 devices can
be connected to a single USB port. Hot swappable
- devices can be connected and disconnected while
the computer is on

There are diferent USB standards in use:

 
• USB 1 - original standard - transfer data of 1.5MBps.
• USB 2 - current standard - transfer rate of 60MBps.
• USB3 - future standard (2009) transfer rate of 600MBps.
 System Devices

• FireWire port - (IEEE 1394) is an Apple 

technology There are two versions available 
and a third is planned:
 
• FW 400  -  transfer rate of 50MBps.  
• FW 800  -  transfer rate of 100MBps.
• FW S3200  -  transfer rate of 400MBps. 
 

• USB devices must be connected to a host 
computer while FireWire devices can be 
connected to each other without using a 
computer.
 System Devices
• Ethernet port  -  used to connect to a network. 
Known as RJ45, it is larger than a modem port.

• Audio ports  -  used to input and output audio 
from the computer.  Three mini jack ports but 
there may be more:
 
• Light blue  -  Line in  -  connect external devices
• Lime  -  Connect the speakers to this port.
• Pink  -  Connect a microphone to this port.
System Devices
Graphics card 3

4
2

Graphics card handles it’s own processing making it

1 Processor and fan
almost independent of the processor.

2 Board connector AGP or PCI-Express

Graphics card has it’s own memory. This makes it much

3 Memory
faster. Most new cards use DDR3 memory.

4 DVI connector Digital output is supplied through this port.

5 VGA connector Analogue output is provided through this port.

 System Devices

Graphic card  -  screen images are made up of dots 
called pixels (picture elements).  The graphics card 
must process each of these pixels to create the image. 
 
 
The resolution of a screen is the number of  pixels 
being displayed.  Typical resolutions include:
 
• 800 x 600  -   480,000 pixels
• 1024 x 768  -   786,432 pixels
• 1280 x 1024:  -   1,310,720 pixels
• 1600 x 1200:  -   1,920,000 pixels
System Devices

There are two types of graphic card available:
 
• AGP (accelerated graphics port) -  the older 
technology but still available. It can output in 
analogue or digital or both.
• PCI-Express - the newer technology  -  faster 
than AGP.  Allows for two graphics cards to 
improve the performance  -  called Scalable
Link Interface (SLI).  PCI-Express can also 
output in analogue or digital or both.
• These cards are mutually exclusive and the 
choice is made according to the graphics slot 
on the motherboard.  
System Devices

The main functions of a sound card are:
 
• To use a DAC (digital to analogue converter) 
to prepare audio for speakers etc.

• To use an ADC (analogue to digital converter) 
to convert the audio coming into the computer.
 
A sound card can be connected to the following:
 
• Analogue input devices  -  Microphone, Radio, 
Tape deck, Record player etc
• Headphones and speakers
• Output to tape etc.
Buses

• What is a bus?
 Channel that allows devices inside and
attached to the computer to
communicate with each other

 System bus connects processor

and main memory
 Bus width determines number
of bits transmitted at one time

p. 151 Fig. 4-24 Next

Bays

• What is a bay?

 Opening inside system

unit used to install
additional equipment
 Drive bays typically
hold disk drives

p. 151 Fig. 4-25 Next

Power Supply

• What is a power supply?

Converts
AC Power
into
DC Power

External peripherals
might use an AC
adapter, which is an
external power supply
p. 152 Next
Mobile Computers and Devices

• What is a mobile computer?

 Notebook, weighing between
2.5 and 9 pounds, or mobile
device such as a PDA

p. 152 Fig. 4-26 Next

Mobile Computers and Devices

• What ports are on a notebook computer?

p. 153 Fig. 4-27 Next

Mobile Computers and Devices

• What ports and slots are on a tablet PC?

p. 153 Fig. 4-28 Next

Keeping Your Computer Clean

•Over time, the system unit collects dust – even in a clean

environment
 Preventative maintenance requires a few basic
products:

p. 155 Fig. 4-30 Next

Ports and Connectors

• On a notebook computer, the ports are on the

back, front, and/or sides

Pages 232 - 233 86

Figure 4-30
Page 233 87
Figure 4-31
Ports and Connectors

• A USB port can connect up to 127 diferent

peripherals together with a single connector
– You can attach multiple peripherals using a single USB
port with a USB hub

Page 234 88
Figure 4-32
Ports and Connectors

• Other types of ports include:

Firewire Bluetooth
SCSI port
port port

eSATA port IrDA port Serial port

MIDI port

Pages 234 - 236 89

Ports and Connectors
A Bluetooth wireless port A smart phone might
adapter converts a USB port into communicate with a notebook
a Bluetooth port computer using an IrDA port

Page 235 90
Figures 4-33 – 4-34
Ports and Connectors
• A port replicator is an
external device that
provides connections to
peripherals through ports
built into the device
• A docking station is an
external device that
attaches to a mobile
computer or device

Page 236 91
Figure 4-35
Buses

• A bus allows the various

devices both inside and
attached to the system
unit to communicate with
each other
– Data bus
– Address bus
• Word size is the number
of bits the processor can
interpret and execute at a
given time
Page 237 92
Figure 4-36
Buses

• Expansion slots connect to expansion buses

• Common types of expansion buses include:

PCI Express Accelerated

PCI bus
bus Graphics Port

USB and
PC Card bus
FireWire bus

Page 238 93
Bays

• A bay is an opening
inside the system unit in
which you can install
additional equipment
– A drive bay typically
holds disk drives

Page 238 94
Figure 4-37
Power Supply

The power supply converts the wall

outlet AC power into DC power

Some external peripherals have an AC

adapter, which is an external power
supply
Page 239 95
Putting It All Together

Home Small Office/ Mobile

Intel Core i5 or Home Office Intel Core i7 Extreme or
Intel Core 2 i3 or Intel Core i7 or Intel Core i7 or
AMD Athlon II or Intel Core i7 Extreme or AMD Phenom II or
AMD Sempron AMD Phenom II or AMD Turion II
AMD Athlon II
Minimum RAM: 2 GB Minimum RAM: 2 GB
Minimum RAM: 4 GB

Page 239 96
Figure 4-38
Putting It All Together

Power Enterprise
Intel Xeon or Intel Core i7 or
Intel Itanium or Intel Core i7 Extreme
AMD Opteron or AMD Phenom II or
Minimum RAM: 8 GB AMD Athlon II

Minimum RAM: 4 GB

Page 239 97
Figure 4-38
Keeping Your Computer
or Mobile Device Clean

Clean your computer or mobile device once or twice a year

Turn of and unplug your computer or mobile device before

cleaning it

Use compressed air to blow away dust

Use an antistatic wipe to clean the exterior of the case and a

cleaning solution and soft cloth to clean the screen
Page 240 98
Summary

Sequence of operations
How memory stores
Components of the that occur when a
data, instructions, and
system unit computer executes an
information
instruction

Comparison of various
How to clean the
personal computer
exterior and interior of
processors on the
a system unit
market today

Page 241 99