Page 26 - CA 165 ver 1.0 Class 9
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Keyboard and
Audio Port Network Port USB Slot Mouse Slot
Parallel Port
Processor Power
Control
SMPS Slot
PCI Slot Processor
Graphics Slot
CMOS Battery
RAM Slot
Hard Drive Floppy Drive
Slot Slot
Typically, motherboard contains slots for the processor, BIOS, ROM chip, CMOS setup, mass storage
interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots and all the controllers required for standard peripheral
devices like monitor, keyboard, disc drives, etc. The chips that are attached on the motherboard are
known as the ‘Motherboard Chipset’.
SMPS (Switched-Mode Power Supply)
SMPS is an electric regulator component that receives electricity from the main power supply and then
supplies appropriate power to the other components of the computer.
It takes the required amount of electricity from mains or UPS and
converts the Alternating Current (AC) into Direct Current (DC) with
required voltage.
It also regulates the voltage to eliminate over voltage conditions
inside the computer. It supplies power (i.e., ±3V to ±5V) to different
devices inside the computer.
Ports
Ports are sockets that are used to connect external devices. Generally a desktop computer’s motherboard
consists of USB ports, serial port, parallel port, audio port, network port, modem port, monitor port, etc.
Cards
Cards are the devices that enable the user to configure or customize a computer to perform specific tasks
or to enhance its performance. For example: A TV tuner card enables the user to watch television/cable
TV on a computer. Such cards are attached to motherboard’s PCI (Peripherals Connecting Interface) slots.
MEMORY & STORAGE DEVICES
Memory, in context to a computer system refers to the location of storage of information. The CPU stores
the data in the memory/storage device that can be used or retrieved whenever required.
24 Touchpad Computer Applications-IX

