Computer 101: What is a Computer Motherboard Really?

A lot of topic has been discussed about this one major component of the personal computer. Then why create one and add more to the confusion? There are so many articles out here that adding this one might only make things more complicated. We based on my fifteen years of experience building and repairing personal computer, the computer motherboard is more than just connection, and circuit. To me it is the central focal point of all things in a personal computer. In this article we will go in depth regarding how a motherboard works in real life environment and how it is affected by inside and outside forces not just parts and function or this works like this and it is connected to this and that. There are already a lot of those kind of stuff in the internet just some research and it will pop-up.

For anatomy that computer motherboard can be compared to the human skeletal system. But why, well for one the bones in our body is the one responsible for keeping up all that is you and me. Yup there is the muscle but without the bones we will all look like a big lump of a mass bulging on the ground. The motherboard is more that just connection it is a means of communication between devices and different system integrated or added in the motherboard. To generalize all electronic devices has a main board inside each and everyone of theme. From the newest smart phone, tablet, laptop, Television and more each and every one of these items has a main board inside them. Those lines that we saw in every motherboard are more than just line of connection there are the line of communication.

PCI Slot

Dual CPU Slot

Let’s take a closer look what are the different system that connect and communicate with each other and with the motherboard. On top of the list is the mighty brain of the computer, the central processing unit or CPU also known as processor or micro processor. These device is the one that process all the information being used by all the separate system inside the computer and is connected via the motherboard. The processor communicates via the motherboard to all the other system in the computer while it also processes all the information for all the different systems. Another such different systems in your computer are the hard disk drive unit. It is a complete system that is connected also to the motherboard via the cable like the older IDE cable and the newer SATA cable. Lets take a look at these two different system, while the processor is the brain the hard disk drive is the main permanent storage of all types of information used in the computer. The processor’s job is to process information but what happen after processing all those information. Where are all that process information goes too? Or what happen to information before and after being process by the processor?

IDE Cable

SATA and Power Cable

Well before being process all information stays in the hard disk drive and after being process it comes back to the hard disk drive. Yup that why the hard disk drives is the main permanent storage of all types of information being used by the computer. Ever notice I keep adding the word permanent to all storage word that because there are two types of data storage in computer, one is the permanent type while the other is the temporary type. But why do we need a temporary type of data storage since all our information and data is important? Well yup that is correct all the information and data that we put inside the computer is important that why we used computer to almost anything today. It’ likes this temporary information and data is what we call the ones being use at the moment. Let’s say the user is going to watch a movie stored in the computer, the file of that movie is stored permanently in the hard drive. In order for that movie to brought to the screen of the computer it needs to be process by the process and then sent via the motherboard to the memory or RAM to be stored temporarily and than sent via the graphics card to be process or converted to analog signal for displaying in CRT type screen or process then displayed to an LCD or LED type screen.

RAM

Ops we mentioned three things there, the Memory, graphics card and screen. If the hard disk drive is the permanent storage facility inside the computer then the memory or RAM is the temporary holding area for the information and data while that data is being use by the computer or while we watch the movie it is temporary stored in the memory. This is one reason why we need a larger amount of memory so that while playing a movie it would continue to play properly and we enjoy watching it. Compare to a movie which barely plays on because the computer does not have enough memory capacity to store and play it correctly. So why happen to the data stored in the memory? Well all the information and data store in the memory is erase or deleted after we turn-off the computer. Yup that what happen if we turn off the computer then the data stored in the memory is erase. But the data in the hard drive is not even if we turn the computer of that information or data is still stored there. That why there is permanent and temporary storage of data. To be continued………

What is a Computer Motherboard Really Part 2?

Computer 101: Parts that Affects the Over-All Computer System Performance. Part-2

Another part that directly affects the over-all performance of the computer is the amount of memory installed in relation with the software requirement of the user. For most standard computer the minimum amount installed should be 2 Gigabytes but this is only for standard user. This amount of memory my vary depending on the software requirements of the user. For any professional user that uses software intensive application then it should be more than 4 gigabytes. Another type or requirements is for the gaming industry. Games that needs vast amount of memory should have more memory preferred for it. The more memory there is available for the software the better. Remember the Operating system like MS Windows or MAC OS first and foremost is the first who uses this memory to function properly.

Each of this Operating System software requires each minimum memory requirements to function properly. All software requires being loaded into the memory to before being able to function normally. To verify the amount of memory installed into your computer, use the DXDIAGNOSTIC Tool or just check the system information of your computer via the control panel or by accessing the properties of the my computer and viewing the system information.

Another parts that contribute to the overall performance of the computer is the bus speed of the motherboard and the seek time of the hard disk. For the seek time I have already mentioned this on the older post on this blog. For the system bus it is where the data travel from one component to another during the processing of information. It all starts from the input to the processing to the output. The bus is like a road or system of road wherein the data is the put into a carrying signal that acts like a vehicle the data is the person going from one place to another. In order for them to reach its intended destination they must use the road or system bus. Wider system bus or more data it can handle in a given cycle the faster the information is process the better. Simply put it if a slow bus rate is use to transfer huge amount of data for each given time then you have a slow processing function and a slow output even if you have a fast processor, large amount of memory and fast hard drive. The same is true with all the other aspects they must be all fast in order to complement each other for the over-all performance of your computer.

Self Computer Maintenance: Part 3 Using the Defragmentation Tools

Greeting to all, to continue on this series another way of accessing the scan disk tool is by pointing your mouse on the my computer picture or icon then double click to access the item of the icon, then select the hard disk drive you want to be fixed. After selecting the hard disk point the mouse on the disk and press the mouse right button or just press the right click button. From here a menu will appear from that menu select the properties tab at the bottom of the menu and the dialog box for the my computer icon will appear. Then select the TOOLS tab which contain the Scan-disk, Defragmentation and Back-up tools. Then select Scan-disk and press start. Again if it needs to be scheduled then just followed the instruction on the screen.

Now after finishing the repair and diagnostic of the scan-disk, your hard disk is now ready for the defragmentation tools. Now you may ask, what the heck is that tool and what does it do. First of all your hard disk files tend to be fragmented from all those usage day in and day out. You sometimes notice that the response time of your computer has become increasing slow this past days, weeks and months. And your wondering what is going on with this computer, it seems fine, it boot-up well there was no error or problems encounter in its operations. But when i try to access my files they seems a bit slow and yes it boot up well but its a little bit slower compare last week or last months.

So what is going on inside there. Remember your hard needs to spin in order to work and to access data, during that operation sometime your file tend tend to be separated from its component. What????, well actually your file is compose of several parts which i not go into to detail because it will become to technical and will defeat the purpose of this blog. Just know that a file store on the hard disk has many parts okay, and this part seems to be separated from the whole because when where using our computer, some other files is also being used. And there are plenty of them. The job of the defragmentation tool is to correct this error so that you can access your files much faster or same as before. Its put the file most used in the hard disk location where is can be accessed easily and can be loaded mush faster, the other files that is not being used much is put on the farthest part, well something like that. The fragmentation of the hard disk as a whole and your files as well is also fix.

Image by jmehre via Flickr

Well anyhow before is actually begins the fixing of the problem, it first analysis your computer hard disk drive to see how large is the fragmentation. After doing this it will display a report about this in percent like telling you that your hard drive is 50% fragmented and its recommendation of proceeding with the used of the tool to correct this error. Oh i need to mentioned that when your going to this, you cannot used your computer while deffragging is going on. So this one need to be scheduled as well. Now how long will it take to do this stuff. Primarily it defends on your hard disk size and how much files is there to check. If you have a very large amount of files to check.

Image via Wikipedia

You can do this before you go home, set-it up and start the tools, of course leave it alone once it has begun to work. Just turn off the monitor of you computer and let it be. Another thing If this is your scheduled you report this to you Tech Support Staff so that they will now what your doing and can monitor your machine first thing in the morning. If  your going to do this on your home computer then scheduled it before you go to sleep. Just do as mentioned above and check it the next day to see if its done. I hope i was able to help you in this little way on how to used this tool which is available to you. You don't need buy other tool and software for maintenance purposes. This two will suffice. But again for a more serious problem you need to consult a qualified technician to help you out on your computer problem.