HACCH Motherboards Processors and Memory Discussion – Description
prompt: Explain the importance of motherboard components, their purpose, and properties. Compare and contrast various RAM types and their features.1.First, I’m going to discuss motherboards. I personally used an ATX in my PC and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The motherboard is the central unit that allows all the components to communicate with each other. The motherboard has many slots and sockets for the components to be able to function in their designated locations. The chipset controls the data that travels to and from the various components of the motherboard. The chipsets include the north and south bridge, which allows the flow of functions between the CPU and GPU for example. The expansion slots include the PCI, PCIe, and PCI-X. They allow the computer to utilize the necessities that every computer needs such as: a graphics card, audio cards, and disk interphase cards. The CPU is the brain of the computer system. The control unit and arithmetic logic unit are the two main components of the CPU. The control unit is what sends the instructions to the rest of the system itself. The arithmetic logic unit is basically the logistics officer of the unit. Also, the arithmetic logic unit communicates with the primary memory as well as the backup storage. The BIOS is something I knew nothing about when doing my build and is where I struggled. It is a firmware program that starts all the hardware components for the computer and the operating system. The BIOS will be the first program you see when starting up your computers. While booting up, you can open the BIOS with a proper function command.RAM is another major component of any computing system, and it stores data for a short period of time. The two main categories of RAM include DRAM and SRAM. DRAM is dynamic, which in turn is constantly changing to maintain its capabilities. Though slower and more power consuming, it is relatively cheaper than SRAM. Some PC gamers will utilize this as their first build to save money. SRAM is the static form of RAM that that stays constant. There is no need for it to change while providing faster speeds at a lower power consumption rate.2. The motherboard’s importance lies in it being the center of every personal computer (PC). All the outside attachments such as the power button, audio jacks, and USB ports receive and send data to the motherboard for processing. The motherboard itself is made on a printed circuit board (PCB) which is a multilayer medium containing hundreds of copper wires running current from the power source to individual components of the motherboard. The motherboard comes in a handful of form factors varying in dimensions of the board and of the components. The primary form factors include Advanced Technology Extended (ATX), micro ATX (µ ATX), and Information Technology Extended (ITX). The purpose of the motherboard is to contain all the components and maintain control of the current into the board and distribute it in a controlled manner throughout the board. The CPU is the motherboard’s center for processing power and data. The importance of a CPU lies in running applications on PCs. Properties of the CPU include cache memory, cores, and compatibility. The first property is the cache memory which is an internal memory in a CPU and like the motherboard form factors it comes in various types: Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. Secondly, in the earliest production of CPU, it came with a single-core processor, and its speed was slowed down when running multiple PC applications. Now, CPUs come with multiple cores which significantly aided multitasking. The two leading manufacturers of CPUs are AMD and Intel which come in 32-bit and 64-bit processors. In short, a 64-bit processor can process more data than a 32-bit and many modern systems are transitioning towards 64-bit processors while being able to run on older 32-bit systems. When building a PC, it is recommended to buy the CPU first and then find the motherboard compatible with it. For instance, when buying an AMD processor, purchase an AMD motherboard. Other chipsets of the motherboard include the Northbridge chip and the Southbridge chip. Northbridge is usually located near the upper edges of the motherboard, hence the name. The function of Northbridge lies in its responsibility to directly communicate with the accelerated graphics port (AGP), the CPU, and the memory. Towards the south side of the motherboard is the Southbridge chip. The function of the Southbridge chip is to process input and output devices (I/O devices), the hard drive, and integrated hardware such as USB, Serial ports, and BIOS. RAM stands for random access memory, and it is storage for short-term memory data. RAM is accessed faster than any other data stored onboard or outboard (i.e., hard drive) because of its direct connection to the Northbridge chip. On the other hand, hard disk drive (HDD) data must travel to the Southbridge chip and then the Northbridge chip to make its way to the CPU for processing. In terms of memory, Short-term data is stored in the RAM while long-term data is stored in a chip specializing in storing memory (also known as flash memory) and still retaining the data in the absence of power. Furthermore, the main types of RAMs include Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), and SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM). The difference between dynamic and static RAM includes the storage of data. DRAM stores the temporary data in capacitors that require periodic bursts of power every few milliseconds. On the other hand, SRAM makes use of transistors that preserve data continuously through the small steady influx of current. DRAM is seen more to be used for main memory while SRAM is used for cache memory or temporary memory. SDRAM is a much faster-upgraded form of DRAM. Due to the large volume of data going in and out of the RAM, error correction technology has been implemented to ensure accurate data is being relayed throughout the computer. The RAM’s error-correcting code memory has parity checking which allows RAM to store and then check the data to be free from error. The RAM either receives and stores even or odd parity bits in 1s or 0s. After successfully receiving the parity bits, the bits will be checked by part of the CPU, or a special chip located on the motherboard. If the parity bits from the RAMs is the same as what is stored, then the computer determines the data to be error-free
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