Slots and Sockets: A Mnemonic

From the ProProfs forums

clipped from www.proprofs.com This is my best shot at some mnemonics. Slot 1: Remember "123C" Slot 1 is Pentium II, Pentium III and Celeron Slot 2: Remember "23X" Slot 2 is Pentium II Xeon and Pentium III Xeon Slot A: Remember "A for AMD or Athlon" Slot A is AMD Athlon Socket 370: Remember "3 for 370" Socket 370 is Pentium III, there is only one 300 series socket Socket 603/604: Remember "6X" Socket 603 and 604 are for Intel Xeon processors only. They are the only 600 series socket. Socket A: Remember "A for AMD or Athlon" Socket A is for AMD Athlon, Duron, Athlon XP, Athlon XP-M, Athlon MP, and Sempron Here is a list of CPU Sockets: CPU socket

System Ports

You cannot fir a device into a wrong port because the device will not fit.

clipped from www.proprofs.com The first port is for the input devices or PS/2 connectors, which is a female connector. The keyboard connector is always in blue and the mouse connector is in green. The two small rectangular hollow boxes are USB (Universal Serial Bus) connectors. You can plug in high speed serial devices into this port. The small square type connector is called Ethernet port, which is used to connect network cable. The connector looks like a telephone connector. The 9 pin blue male connector is for connecting the modem. The blue 15 pin female connector is for connecting the monitor. The purple color female connector is a parallel port for connecting a printer. The yellow color female connector is a game port and is used to connect the joystick. The last three sockets are for connecting speakers, headphones and microphones.

Keyboards: PS/2 Mini DIN

clipped from www.proprofs.com As technology grew the AT-style keyboard connectors started to disappear and a new connector called ps/2 mini DIN became the standard. Most PCs that use the mini-DIN for both the keyboard and mouse clearly mark each mini-DIN socket as to its correct use.

Network Cards (NIC)

clipped from www.proprofs.com Network card is a card that is installed on a motherboard of a computer, which enables communication with other computers. Often abbreviated as NIC (Network Interface Card), an expansion board you insert into a computer so the computer can be connected to a network. Most NIC's are designed for a particular type of network, protocol, and media, although some can serve multiple networks. The PCs are usually connected by some type of cabling, usually an advanced type of phone-cable or coaxial cable. Network cards (NIC's) provide the interface between the network and computer's. A NIC can be recognized by any of these connectors: a RJ45, BNC, 15-pin female DB, or 9-pin female DB. It is very common to see NIC's with more than one type of connector. Probably the most common combination: NIC has an RJ-45 and a BNC.

Sound Cards : PCI and ISA bus connections

Typical Sound Card has a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that handles most sound related computations.

clipped from www.proprofs.com a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) for audio leaving the computer. a Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) for audio coming into the computer Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) for connecting to external music equipment (for many cards, the game port is also used to connect an external MIDI adapter). jacks for connecting speakers and microphones, as well as line in and line out. a game port for connecting a joystick or game-pad. Current sound cards usually plug into a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slot, while some older or inexpensive cards may use the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Many of the computers available today incorporate the sound card as a chipset right on the motherboard. This leaves another slot open for other peripherals.

HDDs: IDE vs SCSI drives; 40 pin connectors vs 50 pin connectors

clipped from www.proprofs.com Many computers might have an IDE, SCSI or both installed. SCSI and IDE drives look quite similar. They are both about the same size as a floppy drive. The IDE cable has a 40-pin connector and is about 1.5 inches wide. The SCSI drives use a 2-inch-wide cable and 50-pin connector.

Floppy Disk Drives (34 pin ribbon connector)

clipped from www.proprofs.com The Floppy disk stores very less amount of data when compared to other devices like hard disk, CD-ROM etc. the common floppy disk available in market today stores 1.4 Megabits of information. The floppy is made of thin round film, which is coated with carbon and ferrous oxide. Since the floppy is very delicate it is packed in jacket to protect it. It looks black in color. The floppy drive allows you to access floppy diskettes. The Floppy drive is connected to the Motherboard (computer) via a 34-pin ribbon cable, which in turn is connected to the floppy controller. A PC can support up to two floppy drives. If it has two, they will be connected to the same ribbon cable. Since floppy drives need power, one of the power connectors must be attached to power supply. The Floppy disk comes in two sizes 5.25 and 3.5 inches in diameter. The 5.25-inch drive is completely obsolete, but is still used on older computers.