KNOW YOUR COMPUTER

The Intel® Compute Stick Computer that is fit in your pocket

2017-03-29T21:08:00.001-07:00

Intel one of the pioneer in the world of computing. They have been always try to make computers smaller and faster. Intel ® Compute Stick is the new innovation for them. It have only the size of a internet dongle or a pen drive, size don’t matter when come to performance. When plug it in to a LCD monitor or TV through HDMI port it will become a complete computer. We can carry it any were inside and make any LCD monitor which have an HDMI port to a computer by plugging it. It has a build in Windows 10 operating system. Can connect key board and mouse to it through USB port or wireless. Some key features are,

84GHz Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor.
2GB DDR3L RAM.
32GB storage.
Intel HD Graphics.
Windows 10 operating system.
Integrated wireless 802.11AC (Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265).
Bluetooth V4.0.
One USB 3.0 and 2.0 port.

Can do all the regular works smoothly like web browsing, word processing, watching moves and play simple games. By replacing your desktop or laptop computer with Intel® Compute Stick you can save space and power, also it is very easy to carry. It is also available in high configuration for high end image and graphic processing also for gaming which is configured with Intel core M3 and M5 processer and 4Gb RAM.

Image curtesy Amazon.

Buying or Configuring Computer

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Each components have its own important role in the performance of a computer, even a simple cooling fan can slow down a computer. For example if you are using a Intel core i7 processor, to get its maximum performance you needs a liquid cooling heating sink and a 1000w SMPS instead of normal 450 or blow rated SMPS and air cooled heat sink. If your are going to buy a high performance computer don't try to add low performing components to save money. Because that will result in a low performing computer with some high performance parts.

You can find lot processor manufactures in market in these days. Intel and AMD are the leading among them. They are developing lot of high performing, low power consuming and stable processors and motherboards
For data storage using SSD instead of normal hard disk will increase performance.

KNOW YOUR COMPUTER

2011-05-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

In the modern world we use computers for all kind of jobs like communication, entertainment, research and many more, even your are reading this through a computer .Do you ever think about how it is working, what is going on inside it. Now these days there are different type of computers are using like super computers, main frame, servers….etc for different jobs. Also there are two kinds according to their portability laptop and desktop. According to their name the desktop is always sit in top of a desk with a combination of four or more unites and there is not much portability is available. The laptop is portable and it is combined together as a single unit.

As we see that computers are different in size, shape and performance but basically they are working similar. This blog can provide you lots of information about your computer. For that we need to understand different parts that working inside your computer.

You can see that there is a keyboard and mouse for entering your text and navigation, these are both input units. And a monitor for your outputs. There is an another unit in which you are connecting your input and output unites, in there our input data is processed and converted into useful outputs. We are going to look inside this unit and what going on there.

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In order to understand it we need to know it’s different parts and how they play their roles. They are,

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

2011-05-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

The CPU or we simply call it processor is the thing that enable a computer to compute(calculate). Inside a computer it act like our brain. We do lot of tasks with our computer like office works,communication, watching movies, gaming ..........etc, but CPU doing only calculations to execute all this jobs with the help of a language called BINARY CODE. The binary code had only two things in it ONE and ZERO just like this 10101100.

Inside the CPU

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)
ALU is the primary processing component of the data inside the CPU, and it is handling simple tasks.

FPU (Floating Point Unit)
FPU handles complex calculations for application that required it, such as gaming, graphic...etc.

Cache Memory (L1 cache)
CPU have two sets of ultra fast static RAM (SRAM) memory built in,called cache. Some frequently used data is stored in it to avoid the delay that take place when the CPU is take data from main memory (RAM),and it helps the CPU to work fast. More cache means more fast the computer perform.

Registers
These are memory circuit located inside the CPU that hold data before and after processing.

Some CPUs

Another important thing about CPU is the clock speed, this tell you how many calculations a CPU can do per second. one calculation(calculation cycle) per second is equal to one hertz(Hz). But we don't measure it in hertz, but rather in millions of calculation cycle per second or in megahertz (MHz). And modern CPU measured in billions of cycles per second, or gigahertz (GHz). To see your CPU's clock speed take the properties of My Computer.

Motherbord

2011-05-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Motherboard the largest thing we can see in CPU cabinet. CPU and RAM are mounted on it. All the internal and external components of a computer is connected to the motherboard,so if the CPU is the brain the motherboard is the body of the computer and CPU itself is mounted on it. Always motherboard has a an important role in the performance of a computer because all the components in a computer communicating each author through motherboard, also it handles the flow of the data. The data in and out to the CPU from other components of a computer is flow through motherboard. Whenever you choose a motherboard for your computer choose carefully because it can affect performance of your computer more than any other component.
In a motherboard we can see different type of components,ports and slots like north bridge and south bridge chips, CIMOS, processor slot, RAM slot, SATA/PATA(IDE) ports, PCI and PCI Express slots..etc

MOTHEBOARDS

CPU slot

INTEL

AMD
CPU is inserting in this slots. It's different in shape according to the brand and model of the CPU

North bridge

It is a chip that is assist the CPU to control RAM, PCI express slots and its components. It is the fastest in both these chips, it produce lot of heat so you can see a heat sink on it's top to control heat . The data from the RAM and PCI express (GPU) is first comes into north bridge and from there to the CPU. This data flow is called FSB (Front Side Bus), it has a big role in the performance of the computer.

South bridge

It is assist the CPU to control Hard disk and PCI bus. It is working slower than north bridge.

RAM slot

It is the slot we insert the RAM modules

PCI express

This is the slot we insert the GPU module (Graphic Processing Unit) also known as Graphic Card.
It is used for give the computer extra performance while graphic related tasks like gaming

PCI bus

It is used to add modems, sound cards....etc

SATA/IDE(PATA)

SATA port

IDE port

SATA(Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) and IDE(Integrated Drive Electronic) are two type of hard disk we are using today. SATA is new and IDE is the old technology, SATA is more faster and huge in capacity than IDE. Both are using different type of connectors to connect to the motherboard.

CMOS(Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor)

It is a special memory chip that store the BIOS(Basic Input Output System) program. BIOS is a set of simple programs that instruct the computer where to start when the computer is turned on.
You may find lot of things in a motherboard, but these are the impotent ones.

RAM

2011-05-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

RAM means Random Access Memory, it is a ultra fast temporary storage space for data. Many computer users think that the programs are running directly from the hard disk, this is actually wrong, because the fasts hard disk can't keep up with the slowest CPU. To avoid this problem we need a super-fast medium that can keep up withe CPU this the role of RAM in a computer. The data from hard disk is load in to RAM and provide it to CPU when we start our PC, and the data will be erased when we shut down. If we increase the capacity of the RAM it will store more data and computer will work faster. Your desktop and current working files are running in RAM. The RAM also has a problem it can't store data if the power supply is not available. Capacity of RAM measured in Mb(Mega byte) and Gb(Giga byte).These days mostly use Gb.

RAM

Data storage

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Hard Disk
It is the part that store data permanently in our computer. Operating system and all other files are stored in it. We can read data from it and write into it. hard disk have ability to store data to a long time of period without any means of power supply. capacity of the hard disk is measured in Gb(Giga byte) and recently in Tb(Tera byte). if any thing happen with hard disk it can result in total data loss. There is different types of hard disk available, now we are commonly using SATA drives. Now these days we are commonly using SATS hard disks. Old version of it is the PATA Bothe of these are connecting to motherboard with different type of connectors. SATA is connecting using a 9-pin connector and PATA is connecting with a 80-pin connector. SATA is much faster than PATA.

SATA- Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

PATA- Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
IDE- Integrated Drive Electronic

Inside of a hard disk

The data we store inside a hard disk is writ in to a magnetic film that is sicked on a metal disk called Platter, it is rotating in a Spindle very fast(3600-7200 or more). The Platter have two faces in top and bottom. There is two Heads in top and bottom to read and writ data in to hard disk at same time.

PATA(IDE) hard disk

SATA hard disk

SATA connector

PATA(IDE) connector

SSD (Solid State Disk)

It is also permanent data storage device. It don't have any moving parts inside like a normal hard disk, it is using IC (Integrated Circuits) to store data. It can red and write data lighting fast and random access. It only uses very small amount of power to work, so it is very ideal for laptops and other portable computers.

Inside of SSD

Few SSDs

1024 Kb=1024 Mb
1024 Mb=1024 Gb
1024 Gb=1024 Tb

SMPS

2011-05-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

SMPS(Switched-mode power supply) is used to provide power supply to computer. It will provide a regulated out put voltage from the main input voltage. Different components of the computer need different amount of voltage , like 12,5,3.3,1.3 volts. these volts are provided by SMPS. It take power from our main power supply 220v or 110v and split it into different usable voltage for computer components. Components in side the CPU using different type of connectors to connect with SMPS. We connect main power code on back of the SMPS. We can found cooling fans on back or under side of SMPS, it will help to control the temperature inside the SMPS and protect the components of SMPS from melting out due to heat produced inside it. When using computer make sure that all the fans are working well, because overheat can slow down and destroy your computer.

SMPS

In side of an SMPS

Different type of connectors using in an SMPS

SMPS power connector on a mother board

Optical Drives

2011-05-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

Optical drives enabling you to backup data, record music and video, install and store softwares, much more. Discs we insert inside a optical drive is called optical discs.
Optical discs comes in several formates, the most common two is Compact disc(CD) and Digital Versatile Disc(DVD). These discs comes in three different types Read-only, Write-once, Rewritable. New technology comes to this is the Blue ray Disc(BD). It can store more data than any other optical disc and it need blue ray drive to read it.

Optical Drives