ISA Slot 2



Above is a picture of three ISA slots. These are used for adding ISA expansion cards. ISA stands for Industry Standard Architecture. PCI slots are newer and faster than ISA slots, but still, many modems and other expansion cards are still frequently used for ISA slots. Below is an ISA card made by Promise called the I/O Max. It has an additional set of serial ports, an additional parrallel port, and another IDE connector, all on the same card.




IDE Cable



IDE stands for Integrated Device Electronics. EIDE is a newer standard of IDE and it stands for Enhanced Integrated Device Electronics. EIDE is three to four times faster than the IDE standard. The picture above shows how to connect an IDE cable to two devices. The top device should be made the "master" and the bottom device should be the "slave." The master drive is the primary drive, and is normally on the end of a two connection IDE cable. The slave, or secondary drive, is connected to the IDE cable between the master drive and the motherboard IDE connection. Since data can not go to and from each drive at the same time, it is neccessary to make one a master drive and the other a slave drive. This is done with a little jumper connection on the back of the drive. IDE cables consist of either 40 individual wires, or 80 individual wires (for newer Ultra ATA/66 drives). Most of these wires are used to transfer data between the motherboard and the drive(s).
IDE AND Panel Connectors



Shown above is the front panel connector on a motherboard as well as the IDE connectors. Most motherboards today have two IDE connectors which will allow two devices to be attached to each. One device is set to master and the other is set to slave by using a jumper located on the back of the device (drive). This allows a total of four IDE devices (drives), to be attached to a typical computer. The motherboard should also have a floppy connector that will support one or two floppy drives. If a person needs to add additional drives, he or she must purchase an expansion card with an added IDE connector. The front panel connector is simply the location on the motherboard where you attach all your front panel wiring. These wires usually include the wiring for the case speaker, hard drive activity lights, computer power on light, reset buton, power button, and key lock (if you have one).
I/O Ports



This picture is kinda hard to see, but it shows an internal view of some I/O ports on the right, and a covered view on the left. I/O stands for Input and Output. The most common instrument for input is the keyboard. When you type, you are putting information into the computer, which is known as input. The most common instrument for output is the monitor. When the information has made its way through the computer, it is sent out to the monitor for us to see. This is known as output. On the back of computers are several I/O (Input/Output) ports. Above on the very top are two PS/2 ports, normally used for mouse and keyboard connections. Below them are the newer USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports. Below those are two serial ports beside a long printer port. On the bottom right is a game port for joysticks or other game controlers. Finally, on the bottom left is a microphone hook up, a speaker hook up, and an additional hook up for another input device like a musical keyboard or something.
Expansion Slot



Expansion slots are located on the back of the computer. They look like those in the picture above. They provide access to the AGP, PCI, and ISA expansion slots. The slot shown on our Click-N-Learn computer, does not appear to have a PCI, ISA, or AGP expansion slot associated with it. To use this slot, a person would need a card like the Sound Blaster Live card shown below, which is actually two cards.



The top card plugs into a PCI slot; while the bottom card recieves its data from the bigger card via the connected cable. The smaller card simply needs an empty slot on the back of the case to mount it. The slot you clicked on would be perfect for the bottom card.
DIMM Sockets



The picture above is of 4 DIMM sockets. What in the world is a DIMM socket! Well, as with everything else in the computer world, they try to make things hard on us with all these abbreviations. Don't feel left out, the majority of Computer Science majors have to carry a computer dictionary with them. ;-) Ok back to DIMM sockets. DIMM sockets are where the computers RAM (Random Access Memory), is installed. DIMM stands for Dual Inline Memory Module. The reason it is called "Dual" is because both sides of the memory card will have completely seperate connections to the DIMM socket. On the older SIMM (Single Inline Memory Modules), both sides were connected together at each connection to the SIMM socket. Below is a partial picture of a memory module's little gold contact points.



These contacts are on both sides of the DIMMs and SIMMs, except with the DIMMs, there will be twice as many contact points because these small gold points are not touching the other points on the other side. On the SIMMs they are touching from side to side, connecting both sides together, which makes them the same connection on both sides.
Chipset
Chip 2 of 2

PCI ISA IDE Xcelerator



Why is it called a chipset? Because there are two or more of these on a motherboard. Chipsets are kinda like the motherboard's traffic cops. They direct the flow of data from one point to the other. Each chip in the chipset has its own particular job. This is chip 2 of 2 chips in the 440BX Chipset. It is slightly less important than the other chip, but of all the motherboard's components, it is still one of the most important. Without it, the computer could not operate. Above is a picture of the 440BX Chipset. The second chip in the chipset is refered to as the "Intel 82371EB PCI ISA IDE Xcelerator, (PIIX4E for short). The PIIX4E chip controls the data traffic between the ISA slots, USB ports, IDE ports, and the BIOS. Both chips share the task of controling the PCI and memory data flow. In the diagram below you can see the data flow paths mapped out for the chipset. Notice the paths managed by chip 2 are blue.



If you noticed, the paths between each component are refered to as "buses." Buses are simply the paths, or wires, that connect one component to the other. You may have also noticed that the chips in the chipset are refered to as bridges. The chips actually are bridges that bridge the components together, and ensure that the data flow is directed to the proper place. The better chipsets are those that can handle data the fastest. Below is a picture of both chipsets on a motherboard.




Chipset
(Chip 1 of 2)

PCI/AGP Controler



Why is it called a chipset? Because there are two or more of these on a motherboard. Chipsets are kinda like the motherboard's traffic cops. They direct the flow of data from one point to the other. Each chip in the chipset has its own particular job. This is chip 1 of 2 chips in the 440BX Chipset. It is the more important of the two because it links directly to the Microprocessor. Above is a picture of the 440BX Chipset. Below is Chip 1, known as the "Intel 82443BX PCI/AGP Controller." It is hidden under a heat sink that protects it from overheating.



The 82443BX chip controls the data traffic between the microprocessor and the AGP card. Both chips share the task of controling the PCI and main memory data flow. In the diagram below, you can see the data flow paths mapped out for the chipset. Notice the paths managed by chip 1 are red.



If you noticed, the paths between each component are refered to as "buses." Buses are simply the paths, or wires, that connect one component to the other. You may have also noticed that the chips in the chipset are refered to as bridges. The chips actually are bridges that bridge the components together, and ensure that the data flow is directed to the proper place. The better chipsets are those that can handle data the fastest. Below is a picture of both chipsets on a motherboard.




Case Rear Panel



From the picture above, you can see that there are lot of openings on the back of a computer case. The largest opening, on the left, is where the motherboard's input and output ports are located when installed. In the top left hand corner you can see the main power supply on/off switch. The slightly larger black opening, below it, is where the power cord plugs in from the wall outlet. Barely visible, between the two, is a small switch that allows you to select different voltage types, for different countries. Many parts of Europe as well as other countries have slightly different electrical voltages than in the U.S.. The big circular shaped holes beside these three items are where the power supply fan ventilates. All the small holes down the right side help provide increased ventilation. Finally, near the bottom are all the expansion slot covers, which can be removed to connect an AGP video expansion card, PCI expansion cards, and ISA expansion cards.
Case Front Panel



The front panel of the Mid Tower case shown above has two external 3.5 inch drive expansion bays, and three 5.25 inch drive expansion bays. Most front panels have an on/off switch, as well as a reset switch, in case the computer locks up. Most front panels also have a power on indicator light and at least one hard drive activity light. Case speakers are often just right behind the front panel.
Case Fan



Case fans are relatively inexpensive and are extremely important. Computer components generate quite a bit of heat and must be kept as cool as possible. The case fan is the primary source of cooling for your com
The Case



The computer case is a very important part of the computer. It protects all the electronic components inside, and must provide adequate ventilation to prevent overheating. The case also needs to be capable of allowing you to expand your hardware if the need arises. Some cases only have 5 or 6 bays for expansion. This may not be enough if you plan to add several drives. Also there needs to be plenty of expansion slots on the back for adding PCI, ISA, and AGP expansion cards. At the present, there are two basic types of cases for two different motherboard types. The ATX case as shown above is for the Pentium Slot 1, ATX type motherboard. The AT Case is for the Socket 7, AT type motherboard. There have been other types of motherboards, but for now these are the two most common types. Some cases are made so that both the AT and ATX motherboards will work in them. There are several different sizes of cases. The smallest is the Desktop type which lies flat. The next size is the Mid Tower, then the Full Tower, and finally the largest is the Server case which is primarily for commercial server computers.Below is a side view of a Mid Tower case, which is probably the most widely sold case for personal use.


Motherboard Battery



The battery is used to preserve the computer's clock's time, and your BIOS settings while the computer is turned off. Some of the newer motherboards only need the battery in case of a power outage. They draw the needed electricity from your house's electrical outlet, as long as the computer stays plugged in and the power does not get shut off.
Audio Cable



The audio cables shown above are what connect your multimedia drives (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Ect.), to your sound card. They allow the transfer of sound data to the sound card so it can be decoded and played. The quality of your sound depends primarily on your sound card and speakers. The 4 pin, (or wire) cable is for analog audio, and the two pin, (or wire) cable is for digital audio. Analog audio is continuous, like the normal sound waves we hear everyday. Digital audio is broken into non-continuous pieces. The sound card takes digital audio and translates it back into analog audio. One way of thinking about the difference in the two, would be like the difference in the sun (continuous light), and a strobe light (rapid bursts of light). Also you could think of it like signing your name in cursive, (a smooth continuous line), or typing your name, (one keystroke at a time). A digital voice sounds robotic, while analog voices are the way we speak to each other.
AGP Expansion Slot

The AGP Port is where most of the newer video expansion cards go, like the Asus TNT2 video card with T.V. input/output shown above. Video expansion cards are also known as graphic expansion cards. AGP stands for Accelerated Graphics Port. AGP cards are capable of a higher and faster data transfer rate than PCI graphic cards. The card like the one shown simply plugs into the AGP slot and connects your monitor to your computer. The Asus AGP V3800TNT2/TV card shown, is cabable of displaying your computer's video output on a TV. It can also display your TV's video output on your computer, through the TV input connection on the expansion card. The AGP card and your monitor are what determine the quality of your screen's display. The photo below shows what the AGP slot looks like.



The video card is in charge of controling your video display. The brain of the video card shown above is the NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 3D Graphics and Video Accelerator Chip. It is responsible for making decisions for graphical data input and output. It is hid under the fan in the picture above to keep it cool so it won't overheat. Below is a picture of it uncovered.