Understanding The Speed Of New Pci Express Data Bus
PCIe is intended to be used as a local interconnect only. As it is based on the existing PCI system, cards, and systems can be adapted to PCI Express without any change in software. The higher speeds on PCIe allow it to replace almost all existing buses. More ...
Hard Drives - ATA versus SATA
with data rates hitting the 133MB / sec mark the parallel ATA standard is maxing out, thus industry leaders got together and came up with a new standard known as Serial ATA (SATA). More ...
How to Build Your Own PC - The Smart Way
So you think you can build your own PC? A little knowledge is a dangerous and expensive thing if it all goes wrong. This article dissects a PC build component by component illuminating the points about which you need to make wise choices. More ...
Five Types of HDMI Cables
There are different types of HDMI cables, some are technologically more enhanced and some are designed for specific PCs and TVs, so it's important that you get to know about the various types. More ...
Hardware Resources Explained
Hardware devices, such as modems, network circuits, sound circuits, and so on, require system resources such as Interrupt Request (IRQ) lines, Input/Output Port (I/O) addresses, Direct Memory Access Channels (DMA), and a range of Memory Addresses for storing code and data. Each device needs its own set of resources. If two devices attempt to use the same resource, your system may lock up or crash. More ...
IEEE 1284 Parallel Port
The parallel port was primarily used to connect a printer to a PC. Today, the parallel port is obsolete, being replaced by the USB port. Although now obsolete, millions of parallel port printers were manufactured and no doubt many of them are still in use today. I'll briefly describe the it in this article because you may run into a question about it in the CompTIA A+ Certification Exam. More ...
PC Motherboard Expansion Cards
The expansion slots available on motherboards allow for a variety of upgrades in a computer system, but matching the appropriate card to an available slot needs to be addressed before making any purchasing decisions. The most common types of expansion cards for modern computer systems can be broken down into three formats: PCI, AGP, and PCI Express. More ...
The Universal Serial Bus
In 1996 the Universal Serial Bus (USB) was developed to replace the serial and parallel ports. Today, the USB port is used to connect scanners, digital cameras, and external storage devices like CD-RW drives. More ...
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is a wireless technology designed for short range data communications Two or more Bluetooth devices establish a connection and form a small network known as a Piconet. More ...
Intel Chipsets
The original 4.77 Mhz 8088-based IBM PC released in 1981 was built with over 100 discrete logic chips. To lower the cost of manufacturing, the logic was integrated into a couple of chips that were used together as a set. They became referred to as a chipset. More ...
How to Choose a Computer Case
Computer cases come in many sizes, configurations, and with many features. Which case you need depends upon what you will use your computer for. You might choose a standard mid tower case for a home computer that will be used for word processing and spread sheets. For a game machine or server you might choose a full tower case because of its expansion capability. More ...
Anatomy of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Color LCD displays have a sandwich-like structure. One layer of the sandwich has liquid crystal between two glass plates. One glass plate has a matrix of thin film transistors on it. Liquid crystals move depending upon the charge applied to a tiny capacitor by its related transistor. More ...
Laptop Computer Bottom Access Covers
Laptops are made easy to upgrade and repair by the location of access covers on the bottom of the computer. Covers are placed there for access to frequently upgraded components like the hard drive and the memory. More ...
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Chipsets
Although most people think the microprocessor is the most important part on a computer's motherboard, the 'chipset' is equally important. With the introduction of the Athlon processor, AMD gained the technilogical lead. AMD processors and chipsets have always held the advantage in value. More ...
