Your Central Processing Unit, or CPU as you call it, consists of lots of hardware!
But do you know how the hardware looks like? How do they function? What are their uses?
There are lots of Hardware inside the computer; we will just look at the famous ones!
Its is the Unit that makes your computer work. You can work without monitor using the projector, or without Mouse or Keyboard, but you just cannot operate without CPU because there are devices in it, which runs your computer.
So in this post, we are going to look at the various part inside CPU.
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SMPS
– Switch-Mode Power Supply or SMPS is the most important thing inside your CPU.
– SMPS gives the power your motherboard needs to perform its operations.
– It also transfers power from a source, like mains power, to a load, such as a personal computer, while converting voltage and current characteristics.
– You can’t just directly give voltage from your primary circuit of home to Motherboard.
– Doing so will just burn your motherboard.
– SMPS converts the household Voltage into a range that your motherboard can handle. Let’s rephrase it this way,
If your think of your Computer as Iron Man, SMPS is the Arc reactor.
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Hard Disk.
In detail
The data you store resides the Hard disk. Hard-disk is the big rectangular
box inside your cabinet. There are various slots for hard disks.
Any Normal Hard disk has:
- Spindle: The platter rotates on the spindle, to ease the rotation oil filled bearing is used.
- Tracks: It is a part of platter and in Concentric circle shape
- Sectors: Sectors are subdivisions of tracks. It stores user-accessible data.
- Clusters: A Cluster is groups of sectors.
- Head/Slider: Spinning of platters create a cushion of air.
The head rides on this. It never actually touches the platter. - Actuator: It controls the head.
- Actuator Axis: Controls the Arm of the actuator.
- Actuator Arm: It controls degree rotation of the Slider.
- Platter: Platter is similar to disk and stores your data.There are two types of hard drives: IDE and SATA. Working of both are same, as shown above, just the power connection cable is different in both cases.
Difference between SATA and IDE
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Motherboard
A motherboard is the base of any CPU. All the Hard disks, CD drives, and other Input/Output devices are directly connected to the motherboard.
The Motherboard has lots and lots of IC’s, registers, capacitors in it along with much necessary hardware like RAM, PCI slots, APX power, North Bridge, South Bridge, Processor slot, Battery and many more things attached to it.
Each device performs its function but the power they need it’s provided to them by the Motherboard.
The SMPS provides power to the motherboard.
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PCI Slots.
PCI or Peripheral Component Interconnect slots are located on your motherboard.
You’re LAN Card or Wireless Receiver for your Desktop, or Graphics card or TV Tuner card goes into these slots.
They look like this:PCI slots
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Processor Socket.
Processor Slot
– A processor socket has the Heart Of you machine; that is the Microprocessor.
– There is a fan installed over the processor slot.
– When you remove that fan, you can see the processor slot.
– A Processor slot has a Microprocessor inside it, and so we apply heat sync over that so that Processor does not heat up.
– Your processor starts working from the moment your computer starts, until this time,
you shut down your machine.
– To keep it cool, we use a heat sync over it, and then we place a fan over the socket to control the air flow and keep the processor cool.
– Since the desktop works because of the processor, special attention is given to it.
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Battery
CMOS battery
– The small battery on your motherboard is the clock of your machine. Have you ever wondered, when you switch on you PC, it shows you the correct time, even when the machine was off!
– Well, the battery is the device that keeps track of the Time.
– It also stores the BIOS password.
– If you ever forgot your password and called the computer technician, he will just remove the battery and insert it after 5 minutes.
– So your battery is your time clock of your machine and has the BIOS password.
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North Bridge
The North Bridge is the part that helps the communication between RAM and Processor.
It connects the RAM, Processor, Graphics card and the South Bridge together.
As we know the applications we run, are in the RAM, and from there, the processor executes them.
The communication between RAM and processor happens with the help of North Bridge.
North Bridge is always located near RAM and Processor.
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South Bridge
The Southbridge controls all the USB devices, Sound devices, and various other I/O devices along with BIOS
and PCI devices now installed on the Motherboard.
It is general to the south of the PCI slots, Hence the name ‘South Bridge.’
Southbridge is also known as Input/Output Controlled Hub (ICH) since it deals with all the I/O devices.
South Bridge is also Linked to the Northbridge.
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LAN Card
A LAN Card or a Network card is the one which helps you connect to the Internet or communicate with other computers which are on the same network.
A LAN card is on the motherboard in a PCI slot, and there is a socket at the end of CPU so that the Ethernet cable can connect to the LAN.
A computer can work without LAN card, but then your machine won’t communicate with any other computer.
If you have a LAN card, you need to Install its drivers (only for Windows) before using it.
Else it won’t work without the drivers.
Lan Card
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RAM
To know about RAM check our post on what is RAM?
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/, Google Images.