COM103

Richard Anthony C. Rivera BSIT 2A (MT 7:00-8:30am)

Activity # 4
Description of a Mechanism

I.
 Technically, a computer is a programmable machine. This means it can execute a

programmed list of instructions and respond to new instructions that it is given. Today,

however, the term is most often used to refer to the desktop and laptop computers that most

people use. When referring to a desktop model, the term "computer" technically only refers to

the computer itself -- not the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Still, it is acceptable to refer to

everything together as the computer. If you want to be really technical, the box that holds the

computer is called the "system unit."

The main part, processing unit and devices, of a microcomputer is a system unit. A

system unit includes a board called a motherboard that holds a microprocessor chip (or a CPU),

memory chips, and expansion slots. Electronic circuitry is printed on the board and it connects

between two main parts of a microcomputer, the microprocessor and primary storage and other

parts. The system unit is housed within the system cabinet.

II.
A. Computer Case - A computer case (also

known as a computer chassis, cabinet, box,

tower, enclosure, housing, system unit or

simply case) is the enclosure that contains

most of the components of a computer.

a. Power Port – A port were you insert

the cable that gives power to the unit.

insert the keyboard.

c. Mouse Port – A port were you insert

the Mouse.

d. Usb Port – A port were you insert the

USB cables.

e. Serial Port – A port were you insert

the Printer Cable.

f. Monitor Port – A port were you insert

the Monitor Cable.

g. Network – A port were you insert the

Networking cable like RJ11/RJ45.

h. Sound – A port were you insert the

Headset/Speaker Cables.

B. Motherboard - The motherboard, or

mainboard, is the backbone of the computer.

All the individual pieces connect to the

motherboard in some way. The motherboard

is home the processor chip, pci slots, and

memory.

a. North Bridge - The northbridge

typically handles communications

among the CPU, RAM, BIOS ROM,

and the southbridge.

b. South Bridge - A southbridge usually

works with several different

northbridges, but these two kinds of

chip must be designed to work

together; there is no industry-wide

standard for interoperability between

different core logic chipset designs.

c. Memory – The slot were you insert

Ram/Read Only Memory.

d. IDE – The Slot were you insert IDE

cables.

e. SATA – The Slot were you insert

SATA cables.

f. BIOS - The BIOS software is built into

the PC, and is the first code run by a

PC when powered on ('boot firmware').

The primary function of the BIOS is to

load and start an operating system.

g. PCI – The Slot were you insert PCI

cards.

h. AGP/PCI 16x – The Slot were you

insert Video Cards

"thinking" of the computer. These are the

"Pentium" and "AMD" chips you hear about.

Processor speed is measured in

MegaHertz(Mhz) and GigaHertz(Ghz). 1

Ghz = 1000 Mhz.

D. PCI Slot

a. Graphics Card - A video card is an

expansion card whose function is to

generate output images to a display.

Many video cards offer added

functions, such as accelerated

rendering of 3D scenes and 2D

graphics, video capture.

b. Lan/Networking Card - A network

interface controller is a computer

hardware component that connects a

computer to a computer network. The

controller may also be referred to as a

network adapter, or a LAN adapter.

c. Sound Card - A sound card (also

known as an audio card) is a computer

expansion card that facilitates the input

and output of audio signals to and from

programs.

E. Hard Drive

This is the part of your computer where

information is stored for later retrieval. All

the information you access on your

computer, all your documents, pictures,

email messages, and programs are here.

Unlike memory, the hard drive stores

information even after the power is turned

off. The image to the right shows the

inside of a hard drive.

a. Disk Motor - The disk motor has an

external rotor attached to the disks; the

stator windings are fixed in place.

b. Actuator - the end of the head support

arm is the read-write head (near center

in photo); thin printed-circuit cables

connect the read-write heads to

amplifier electronics mounted at the

pivot of the actuator.

c. Platters - The platters are spun at

speeds varying from 3,000 RPM in

energy-efficient portable devices, to

servers. Information is written to, and

read from a platter as it rotates past

devices.

d. Spindle - holds flat circular disks

called platters, onto which the data are

recorded.

F. DVD-ROM - This plays your music and

data cd's, or if you have a DVD drive, it will

also play DVD movies. Data CD's hold up to

700Mb of information. If you have a CD-R

or CD-RW drive, you can store your own

information on CDs.

G. Fan - A computer fan is any fan inside a

computer case used for cooling purposes,

and may refer to fans that draw cooler air

into the case from the outside, expel warm

air from inside, or move air across a heatsink

to cool a particular component.

H. Power Supply - A power supply is a device

that supplies electrical energy to one or more

electric loads. The term is most commonly

applied to devices that convert one form of

electrical energy to another, though it may

form of energy to electrical energy.

I. SATA Cable - Serial ATA (SATA or Serial

Advanced Technology Attachment) is a

computer bus interface for connecting host

bus adapters to mass storage devices such as

hard disk drives and optical drives.

J. Molex – a connector type is the one

pictured, which is used for power

connections for disk drives and other

computer components. An AT or ATX

standard power supply normally has

multiple connectors of this type.