Hardware Report
Hardware Report
(COE 307)
COMPUTER HARDWARE LABORATORY SUMMARY
PRESENTED BY
UBADIKE CHIDEBEM EMMANUEL
19/ENG02/065
TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS/COMPUTER
ENGINEERING
1
RULES OF A COMPUTER ENGINEERING LABORATORY
A computer engineering laboratory is where students undergo computer experiments practically and
2. Computers and peripherals are not to be moved or reconfigured without approval of Lab
Classrooms staff.
3. Students may not install software on lab computers. If you have a question regarding specific
software that you need to use, contact the Classroom and Labs support team.
4. Food is generally not allowed in computer labs, though some exceptions may apply. Check with
6. Behavior and activities that disturbs other users or disrupt the operations of the lab are not
allowed. This includes, but is not limited to; physical activities such as rough–housing, loud
music, etc.
2
EXPERIENCE GAINED
During the entire practical process, I learnt the importance of the parts of a computer
system and the problems that occurs when its either bad or not connected through the
use of a computer repair trainer. I was also able to understand their functions and learnt
how to connect the computer system and troubleshoot the failed components.
In the case of a power supply I learnt that the wires in the connector carries different voltages
which are supplied to various parts of the mother board to power the system. Also the
connectors are and must be the same with that of the motherboard, for example; an ATX
motherboard makes use of an ATX power supply.
In the case of RAM’s, they are of two types which are SD and DD RAMs. An SD RAM has two
notch at its base while a DD RAM has just one notch and it must also be selected according to
the one the motherboard uses. Also RAMS are volatile whereas there store data but loses them
during power failure.
I also leant various precautionary ways of keeping some of these components safe from damage
which are;
A hard drive shouldn’t drop of fall as it can beak the platters and spoil the drive for good
leading to loss of files.
Ensure that when connecting parts, you don’t connect them wrongly because it could
damage them.
Saving of files which can prevent loss of data.
Not eating, drinking near these components let alone the computer system itself.
I also experienced the knowledge of the history and evolution of these computer system
components which began years ago. I am now vast in the knowledge of how to operate,
maintain, troubleshoot these computer parts.
3
Table of Contents
RULES OF A COMPUTER ENGINEERING LABORATORY..............................................................2
EXPERIENCE GAINED................................................................................................................3
Experiment 1: THE POWER SUPPLY..........................................................................................6
Power supply...........................................................................................................................................6
Where is the power supply located in a computer?................................................................................6
Parts found on the back of a power supply.............................................................................................6
Parts found inside a power supply...........................................................................................................7
What items are powered by the computer PSU?....................................................................................7
Does the fan always run on a power supply?..........................................................................................8
Power Supply Cables and Connectors.....................................................................................................8
Experiment 2: THE HARD DRIVE DISK.......................................................................................9
Hard drive................................................................................................................................................9
Why does a computer need a hard drive?...............................................................................................9
Can a computer work without a hard drive?...........................................................................................9
Hard drives in modern computers.........................................................................................................10
Hard drive components.........................................................................................................................10
Where is the hard drive found in a computer?......................................................................................11
What are the sizes of hard drives?........................................................................................................11
Experiment 3: THE RAM.........................................................................................................12
RAM (Random Access Memory)............................................................................................................12
What is RAM?....................................................................................................................................12
Function of RAM................................................................................................................................12
Types of RAM.....................................................................................................................................12
Experiment 4: THE MOTHERBOARD.......................................................................................14
What is Motherboard............................................................................................................................14
Motherboard Form Factors...................................................................................................................14
Experiment 5: THE VIDEO CARD.............................................................................................17
Video card.............................................................................................................................................17
A visual overview of a computer video card..........................................................................................17
Video card ports....................................................................................................................................18
Video card expansion slots (connections).............................................................................................18
4
Experiment 6: THE MONITOR.................................................................................................19
What is a Computer Monitor?...............................................................................................................19
Function of monitor...............................................................................................................................19
8 Different types of computer monitors and their functions.................................................................19
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitors.....................................................................................................20
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitors................................................................................................20
Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Monitors...................................................................................................21
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) Monitors................................................................................................21
Digital Light Processing (DLP) Monitors.............................................................................................22
Touchscreens Monitors.....................................................................................................................22
Plasma Screen Monitors....................................................................................................................22
Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) Monitors................................................................................23
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................24
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................25
Main Parts of a Desktop PC Computer..................................................................................................25
5
Experiment 1: THE POWER SUPPLY
Power supply
Abbreviated as PS or P/S, a power supply or PSU (power supply unit) is a hardware component
of a computer that supplies all other components with power. The power supply converts a
110-115 or 220-230 volt AC (alternating current) into a steady low-voltage DC (direct current)
usable by the computer and rated by the number of watts it generates. The image shows
an Antec True 330, a 330 Watt power supply.
6
A rocker switch to turn the power supply on and off.
On the front of the power supply, which is not visible unless the computer is opened, you find
several cables. These cables connect to the computer motherboard and other internal
components. A power supply connects to the motherboard using an ATX style connector and
may have one or more of the following cables to connect power to other devices.
Auxiliary connector
Berg connector
Molex connector
P4 connector
The order that these internal power supply components function is as follows.
1. Transformer
2. Rectifier
3. Filter
4. Voltage Regulator
What items are powered by the computer PSU?
Everything contained in the computer chassis is powered by the power supply. For example, the
motherboard, RAM, CPU, hard drive, disc drives, and most video cards (if the computer has
one) are all drawing power from the power supply. Any other external devices and peripherals,
7
such as the computer monitor and printer, have a power source or draw power over the data
cable like some USB devices.
8
9
Experiment 2: THE HARD DRIVE DISK
Hard drive
A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated as a hard drive, HD, or HDD) is a non-
volatile data storage device. It is usually installed internally in a computer, attached directly to
the disk controller of the computer's motherboard. It contains one or more platters, housed
inside of an air-sealed casing. Data is written to the platters using a magnetic head, which
moves rapidly over them as they spin.
Internal hard disks reside in a drive bay, connected to the motherboard using an ATA, SCSI,
or SATA cable. They are powered by a connection to the computer's PSU (power supply unit).
Examples of data stored on a computer's hard drive include the operating system,
installed software, and the user's personal files.
A hard drive is also required for the installation of any programs or other files you want to keep
on your computer. When downloading files to your computer, they are permanently stored on
your hard drive or another storage medium until they are moved or uninstalled.
10
boot files. For example, if the USB device is listed in your BIOS boot sequence, you can boot
from a bootable USB flash drive in a computer without a hard drive.
Examples of bootable flash drives include a Microsoft Windows installation disk, GParted
Live, Ubuntu Live, or UBCD. Some computers also support booting over a network with
a PXE (preboot execution environment).
Although an HDD may still be used as a computer's primary storage, it's common for it to be
installed as a secondary disk drive. For example, the primary SSD may contain the operating
system and installed software, and a secondary HDD may be used to store documents,
downloads, and audio or video files.
SSDs (solid-state drives) have started to replace HDDs (hard disk drives) because of the distinct
performance advantages they have over HDD, including faster access times and lower latency.
While SSDs are becoming popular, HDDs continue to be used in many desktop computers
largely due to the value per dollar that HDDs offer over SSDs. However, more and more laptops
are beginning to utilize SSD over HDD, helping to improve the reliability and stability of laptops.
11
As shown in the picture above, the desktop hard drive consists of the following components:
the head actuator, read/write actuator arm, read/write head, spindle, and platter. On the back
of a hard drive is a circuit board called the disk controller or interface board. This circuit is what
allows the hard drive to communicate with the computer.
The process of initializing these logical blocks on the physical disk platters is called low-level
formatting, which is usually performed at the factory and is not normally changed in the
field. High-level formatting writes data structures used by the operating system to organize
data files on the disk. This includes writing partition and file system structures into selected
logical blocks. For example, some of the disk space will be used to hold a directory of disk file
names and a list of logical blocks associated with a particular file.
12
Experiment 3: THE RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory)
What is RAM?
RAM (Random Access Memory) is the hardware in a computing device where the operating
system (OS), application programs and data in current use are kept so they can be quickly
reached by the device's processor. RAM is the main memory in a computer. It is much faster to
read from and write to than other kinds of storage, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), solid-state
drive (SSD) or optical drive.
Random Access Memory is volatile. That means data is retained in RAM as long as the
computer is on, but it is lost when the computer is turned off. When the computer is rebooted,
the OS and other files are reloaded into RAM, usually from an HDD or SSD.
Function of RAM
Because of its volatility, RAM can't store permanent data. RAM can be compared to a person's
short-term memory, and a hard disk drive to a person's long-term memory. Short-term memory
is focused on immediate work, but it can only keep a limited number of facts in view at any one
time. When a person's short-term memory fills up, it can be refreshed with facts stored in the
brain's long-term memory.
A computer also works this way. If RAM fills up, the computer's processor must repeatedly go
to the hard disk to overlay the old data in RAM with new data. This process slows the
computer's operation.
A computer's hard disk can become completely full of data and unable to take any more, but
RAM won't run out of memory. However, the combination of RAM and storage memory can be
completely used up.
13
Types of RAM
RAM comes in two primary forms:
Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) makes up the typical computing device's RAM,
and as was previously noted, it needs that power to be on to retain stored data.
Each DRAM cell has a charge or lack of charge held in an electrical capacitor. This data must be
constantly refreshed with an electronic charge every few milliseconds to compensate for leaks
from the capacitator. A transistor serves as a gate, determining whether a capacitor's value can
be read or written.
Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) also needs constant power to hold on to data, but
it doesn't need to be continually refreshed the way DRAM does.
In SRAM, instead of a capacitor holding the charge, the transistor acts as a switch, with one
position serving as 1 and the other position as 0. Static RAM requires several transistors to
retain one bit of data compared to dynamic RAM which needs only one transistor per bit. As a
result, SRAM chips are much larger and more expensive than an equivalent amount of DRAM.
However, SRAM is significantly faster and uses less power than DRAM. The price and speed
differences mean static RAM is mainly used in small amounts as cache memory inside a
computer's processor.
14
Experiment 4: THE MOTHERBOARD
What is Motherboard
Motherboard Definition – Here, we will define motherboard with simple term that is used in
computer. Motherboard is also known as different names (meaning) such as “Main Board” or
“Logical Board” “MB”, “Mboard”, “Mobo”, “Mobd”, “Backplane board”, “Base Board”, “Main
Circuit Board”, “Planar Board”, “System Board”. On the computer motherboard, design very
thin layers of may be copper or aluminum, and it also called the “traces”. Various electronic
circuits are printed on the motherboard; with using those circuits can be done communication
through buses in between all components of computers.
Motherboard is backbone of computer as well as also called the “HUB”. My
motherboard allows attaching all essential parts of computer such as CPU (central
processing unit), memory (internal & external), sockets, ports and connectors for connecting
the all input and output peripheral.
AT Motherboard:
AT stands for “Advance Technology”. AT Motherboard was tradition motherboard that was
introduced by IBM Company in 80s. Those types of motherboards were size (dimensions (13.8 x
12 inch)) and shape approximate double to other using motherboards. Due to their big size,
they were not able to use in small size desktop computers because in which was used 386
processors, and had big challenging task if to be install, service and upgrade in
the computer due to their complicated layout.
Examples are P-III Processors
Features are:
SD RAM slots
PGA sockets
20 pin connectors
PCI and ISA expansion slots
Serial mouse connector
Keyboard connector
Baby AT Motherboard:
Baby AT Motherboards was developed by IBM in 1987 while decreasing the dimension to
last AT motherboard
Baby AT motherboard has to combine both features of AT and XT motherboard. Baby AT
motherboard required small space compare to AT motherboard. Due to small size, their
installation and service were performed very easy.
Baby AT motherboard was getting more demands in growing computer hardware
industry. Baby AT Motherboard had only one keyboard connector which was known as DIN, but
if users want to connect more devices to motherboard then in which had expansion slot, and
with using that could be connected more needed card while getting their extra benefits and
functionalities.
Examples are Pentium-III and Pentium-IV
Features are:
SD and DDR RAM slots
PGA processor sockets
12 and 20 pin connectors
PCI and ISA expansion slots
DIN port (big keyboard)
Serial mouse port
16
XT Motherboard:
XT full name is “Extended Technology“. XT motherboard was developed by IBM in 1983. In XT
motherboard, use traditional Logic Board.
Features are:
12 pins connectors
RAM expansion slots ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
DIMM slots
Processor along with LIF(Low Insertion force)
Instead of them, if you want to use other port then you have to go market for buying Add-ON
card, and insert it on the XT motherboard. Now you are able to avail extra functionalities of XT
motherboard.
Fully ATX Motherboard:
ATX stands for “Advanced technology extended“. Due to some problems in AT motherboard,
Intel Corporation was decided for developing the fully ATX motherboard along with extra
functionalities to AT motherboard. Fully ATX motherboard occupies low space compares to AT
motherboard as well as has options to interchange of their connected parts.
Examples are – Pentium-IV, Dual Core, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Quad Core, i3, i5 and i7
Processors
Feature included:
DIMM slots
MPGA CPU socket
12 and 20 pin connectors
SATA and IDE connectors
PCI, ISA, and AGP expansion slots
Micro ATX Motherboards
17
Experiment 5: THE VIDEO CARD
Video card
Alternatively known as a display adapter, graphics card, video adapter, video board, or video
controller, a video card is an expansion card that connects to a computer motherboard. It is
used to create a picture on a display; without a video card, you would not be able to see this
page. More plainly, it's a piece of hardware inside your computer that processes images and
video, some of the tasks normally handled by the CPU. Video cards are used by gamers in place
of integrated graphics due to their extra processing power and video ram.
18
Video card ports
The pictures above also help illustrate the types of video ports used with video cards. For more
information about any of these ports, click the links below.
DVI
HDMI
S-Video
VGA
In the past, VGA or SVGA was the most popular connection used with
computer monitors. Today, most flat-panel displays utilize DVI or HDMI connectors.
19
Experiment 6: THE MONITOR
What is a Computer Monitor?
A computer monitor is an output device that displays the data and information in pictorial form
on the screen.
It is also known as a Visual Display Unit (VDU).
The monitor is just like a TV but the resolution of a monitor is much higher than a Television.
Whatever, the input is being given to the computer by us is displayed in the form of text, image,
video or graphic on the computer screen.
Function of monitor
The main function of the monitor is to allow users to interact with the computer in the form of
text, graphics, display images, and video.
The user uses input devices like a mouse; keyboard etc to give input to the computer and take
the desired output post-processing raw data and information.
To make you understand the things better and clear we will now discuss below the different
types of monitors and their functions.
20
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitors
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitors
Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Monitors
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) Monitors
Digital Light Processing (DLP) Monitors
Touchscreens Monitors
Plasma Screen Monitors
Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) Monitors
So let’s explore each of the above mentioned monitors one by one and understand the
difference between them.
The gun fires electron beams towards the phosphor-coated screen and generates light when
electrons hit the screen.
These monitors were heavy and bulky and occupy a lot of space on the desk. It also consumes a
lot of electricity.
They require refreshing electronically their pixels periodically so that they can retain their state.
On the other hand, the static display retains image or text on their screen even the power
supply is switched off.
LCD monitors consume very little electricity as compared to CRT monitors. Also, it occupies less
space and is lighter in weight.
These monitors are relatively expensive than CRTs.
21
It displays clearer image and the amount of radiation is comparatively less than the CRT
monitors.
In active matrix method each pixel is connected to a transistor that actively maintains the pixel
state at the same time as other pixels are being addressed.
In local dimming feature image can have both higher contrast pixels and very dark pixels
contrast simultaneously.
Edge Backlighting
In this setup, the diodes are placed at the edge of the screen. For example, diodes may be
placed along all four sides, or on the bottom of the screen.
The LEDs supported by edge backlighting are not able to produce pictures of high quality since
they don’t have local dimming features like full-array LEDs.
LEDs are considered much environment friendly than CRTs and LCDs.
22
Also, they consume comparatively less electricity than both of them. The only demerit of
owning a LED is that it is slightly costly.
Features of LEDs
Local dimming feature
Environment friendly since it produces less heat
It consumes less electricity
Produces high quality and resolution images
Digital Light Processing (DLP) Monitors
DLP monitors use digital micro mirror devices or DMD. In this method, millions of micro mirrors
are used to produce a video display like digital projectors.
Touchscreens Monitors
Touchscreens or touch screen monitors consists of both a “touch panel” for input and a
“display” for output.
A touch panel is normally placed over the display.
It enables a user to give input to the computer by using his finger or stylus on the computer
screen.
Touchscreens are widely used in game consoles, POS (point of sale), Airports, EVMs (electronic
voting machines), ATMs (Automated Teller Machine), and personal computers.
A plasma screen is a flat and thin display panel. You can easily mount it on the wall.
There are certain advantages of plasma screens like they provide a better contrast ratio and
deeper blacks.
They have better color and a wide side-to-side viewer angle. A plasma screen performs better in
dim-lit rooms or dark.
23
The main disadvantage of a plasma screen is that it produces more heat and uses more energy
as compared to LCDs.
Also, they don’t perform that much well in higher altitude areas.
Out of these two electrodes at least one is transparent. It works without backlight as it emits
visible light.
OLED is widely used in computer monitors, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant), smartphones, and
smartwatches.
24
REFERENCES
https://www.pcinside.info/inside/inside-power-supplies/power-supply-cables-
connectors/
https://www.classmate4u.com/types-of-computer-monitors/
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/v/video-card.htm
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/ram.htm
https://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/RAM-random-access-memory
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/harddriv.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply_unit_(computer)#Other_form_factors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply_unit_(computer)
https://forum.digikey.com/t/common-computer-power-supply-connectors/328/5
https://digitalthinkerhelp.com/computer-motherboard-types-function-components/
https://www.elprocus.com/classification-power-supply-different-types/
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/power-supply.htm
https://electricalacademia.com/electronics/power-supply-definition-functions-
components/
https://engineering.tamu.edu/cse/cse-internal/lab-rules.html
https://inside.sou.edu/it/it-labrules.html
25
CONCLUSION
Main Parts of a Desktop PC Computer
From that hobby I learned so much about computer parts, and it was so exciting to plan, design,
find the best parts (that should be compatible between them) and finally assemble a custom-
built computer machine.
As you will see below, Desktop computers are made up of a lot of different parts that work
together to perform for you.
Motherboard
CPU
RAM
GPU (Video Card)
Storage (Mechanical Hard Disk or SSD)
Power Supply
Computer Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Optical Drive (DVD/CD ROM)
Network Interface Card or Wi-Fi Card
One of the functions of a desktop is that It houses the physical hardware that makes a
computer run and connects to input devices such as the monitor, keyboard and mouse users
interact with. Desktop computers are commonly used in the enterprise, as well as in consumer
use cases such as gaming.
26