Configuring A Computer - 1.14 - 1.17

1.14  SMPS

          i)switched mode power supply.

         ii)to supply power to computer and its parts.

         iii)Converts Alternate current(AC) into Direct Current(DC)

 1.15 POWER  CONSUMPTION OF PC

            The power consumption  of  pc  is around 180 watts excluding monitor.

Components	Power Consumption
Monitor	80-100 watts
Hard Disk Drive	80-100 watts
CPU	30 watts
CD-ROM	30 watts
Motherboard	20 watts
Video Graphics card	20 watts
RAM	10 watts
PCI card	5-10 watts
Floppy Drive	5 watts

 1.16 ADVANCED FEATURES

1.16.1 Cache memory :

            i) A small fast memory, which is between the CPU  and the main memory.

            ii)CPU-Resident cache is called as LEVEL1 cache or primary cache.(256-512KB memory)

            iii)Motherboard-Resident cache is called as Level 2 cache.(512-1024KB memory)

           

1.16.2 ADVANCED I-O  INTERFACES

           

1.      USB(Universal serial Bus) : i)Plug and Play devices can be inserted without restarting the computer.

                                         ii)Allows multiple devices-up to 127- to run simultaneously on a computer

2.      I-O PORT : i)Non USB devices

                       ii)can  be connected through serial or parallel port.

3.      PCI interface : i)Peripheral component interconnect  interface is used for all kinds of expansion cards.

                        ii)All sorts of PCI expansion cards are available, including modems,  network cards, sound cards, and video cards.

4.      AGP port : Accelerated Graphic port  interface is used only for video cards.

5.      MIDI Port(Musical instruments Digital Interface) : To connect musical instruments to the system.

6.      Game port : To connect gaming devices to the system.

1.17 CONFIGURING SPECIFICATION OF A PC:

           

1.       Cost:             i)Selecting the components according to budget.

2.      Intended use: i)Selecting the components according to the purpose.

                        ii)Purposes can be office applications , internet surfing, gaming, audio or video editing, music composition etc…

3.      Lifespan:         i)Selecting the current components for the longer duration.

4.      Reputation:    i)Selecting the components according to reviews, newsgroups, and message boards.

5.      Operating system: i)Most of the present computers are with the OS WINDOWS.

                             ii)System components should support, when the purchase is a non Microsoft windows OS.

6.      Compatibility: Reviews can be gathered from newsgroups and message boards about the selected components.

Plug and Play Devices

i.     Plug and play USB devices: i)Devices like keyboards, modems, external hard disk, external CD drive, pen drive, scanners, printers and video devices can be attached easily.

                                       ii)Can be attached through USB ports without switching off or restarting the system.

ii.      Plug sand play cards: i)These cards can be inserted or removed while the system is on preserving data integrity.

                                         ii)The cards such as fax card. Modem card, sound card and AGP card can be  fit easily which are plug and play in nature.

iii.    Expanding the main memory: Main memory can be expanded by adding memory modules.

iv.    Adding HDD, FDD and CDROM drive :These drives can be added to computer through IDE connecters

v.      PC card:  i)Personal computer memory card industry  association Or PCMCIA card or PC card is a small device.

                ii)Designed specifically for notebook and laptop computers but available for desktops also.

              iii)PC cards are used to add memory and plug and play in nature.

          vi) UPS : i)Uninterruptible Power Supply. Can be used during power outage.

                          ii)Types are, Offline UPS(Standby Power Systems) and Online UPS systems