NOTES ON PC ASSEMBLY

Make SAFETY your first priority

• READ the PC manual directions and FOLLOW the manual
• Remember the PIN 1 RULE
• Remember the P8 and P9 connection
(Black meets black: older PC’s)
• Remember the P8 and P9 connection
• Handle each PC boards properly
• Plan Cabling: aesthetic presentation
• Familiarize the connections: allows speedy assembly
• Don’t forget the LED’s and speaker connection
• Check and recheck connection before turning the PC ON
• Use only the proper tools in the proper way

NOTES ON PC DISASSEMBLY
Make SAFETY your first priority
• Unplug the PC and associated peripherals
• Protect the PC from ESD
• Always ask yourself “Is this procedure necessary?”
• Back up the configuration
• Properly park the hard disk
• Make sure you have adequate space
• Diagram: Make a lay-out if possible
• Use precaution when removing the boards and drives
• Group the disassembled parts accordingly
• Keep small parts organized
• Observed correct engineering practice
• Use only the proper tools in the proper way

SUGGESTED SEQUENCE OF SYSTEM UNIT

DISASSEMBLY
• The external cables and cords
• The Computer Casing / Housing
• Cables and Power Supply lines
• Expansion Cards
• The different drives
• Mother board
• Memory Cards
• Processor
• System power Supply

REASSEMBLY
• System power Supply
• Mother board
• Processor
• Memory Cards
 • Expansion Cards
• Cables and Power Supply lines
• The different drives
• The Computer Casing / Housing
• The external cables and cords

COMMON TOOLS USED

• Flat blade screwdriver and screw
• Phillips screwdriver and screw
• Torx screwdriver and screw
• Needle-nose pliers / Long-nose pliers
• IC puller
• Combination wire cutter / wire stripper
• Multimeter / multitester
• ESD strap connector
• ESD static map

SOME MEMORY MODULES

• 30 pins SIMM (3.5” x 0.75”)
• 72 pins SIMM (4.25” x 1”)
• 168 pins DIMM (5.375” x 1”)
• 144 pins SODIMM (2.625” x 1’)
• 72 pins SODIMM (2.375 x 1”)

3 MOST POPULAR PROCESSOR SOCKET

• Socket 5
• Socket 7
• SSEC (Single Edge Contact Card)

KEYBOARD CONNECTORS
• AT connector on a motherboard
• PS/2 connector on motherboard
PARTS OF SYSTEM UNIT
1. Casing
1-a. PS Tray
1-b. Drive’s Tray /drive cage
1-c. Drive bays
1-d. Front bezel
1-e. Power, Turbo, Reset Switches
1-f. Speaker
2. Expansion Cards
2-a. NIC Card
2-b. Video Card
2-c. Sound Card
2-d. Internal Modem
2-e. TV out card
3. Cables / Connectors
3-a. IDE Cable
3-b. FDD Cable
3-c. P8P9 Connector
4. Ports
4-a. COM1 / COM2 port
4-b. Printer / Parallel Port
4-c. PS/2 Port
4-d. USB Port
4-e. Game Audio Port
5. Power Supply
5-a. AT power supply connector
5-b ATX power supply connector
5-c. Molex power supply output connector
5-d. Berg power supply output connector
6. Drives
6-a. Hard Disk Drive
6-b. Floppy Disk Drive
6-c. CDROM Disk Drive
7. Motherboard
7-a. Expansion Slots
7-a1. ISA / EISA
7-a2. PCI
7-a3. VESA
7-a4. AGP
7-b. Memory / Memory Bank / Slots
7-b1. SDRAM
 7-b2. DDRAM
7-b3. EDORAM
7-b3. SIMM / DIMM Slot
7-b4. Processor Socket
7-c. Controllers
7-c1. IDE Controller
7-c2. FDD Controller
7-c3. Printer Controller
7-c4. COM1 / COM2 Controller
7-c5. Keyboard / AT Controller
7-c6 PS/2 Controller
7-c6. LED / Switches Controllers
7-d. IC’s
7-d1. Processor
7-d2.Support Chipsets
7-d3.BIOS
7-e. Battery
7-e1. CMOS Battery
7-e2 Battery holder
8. OTHERS
8.1. AMR
8.2. Panel

THE CACHE MEMORY

Cache Memory – a special area of memory, managed by a cache controller, that improves
performance by storing the contents of frequently accessed memory location and their
addresses.
- also defined as, a “fast RAM memory” used to store, or cache frequently used
instruction and data.

Computer Memory System Overview

Characteristics of Memory Systems
Location
• Processor
• Internal – main memory
• External – secondary memory

Capacity
• Word size – natural unit or organization
• Number of words – number of bytes

Unit of Transfer
• Internal
* Usually governed by bus width
• External
* Usually a block which is much larger than a word
 • Addressable unit
* Smallest location which can be uniquely addressed
* Cluster on external disk

Access Methods
• Sequential – tape
* Start at the beginning and read through in order
* Access time depends on location of data and previous location
• Direct – disk
* Individual blocks have unique address
* Access is by jumping to vicinity plus sequential search
* Access time depends on location of data and previous location
• Random - RAM
* Individual addresses identify location exactly
* Access time is independent of data location and previous location
• Associative – cache
* Data is located by a comparison with contents of a portion of the store
* Access time is independent of data location and previous location

Performance
• Access time (latency)
* The time between presenting an address and getting access to valid data
• Memory Cycle time – primarily random-access memory
* Time may be required for the memory to “recover” before the next access
* Access time plus recovery time
• Transfer rate
* The rate at which data can be transferred into or out of a memory unit

Physical Types
• Semiconductor – RAM
• Magnetic – disk and tape
• Optical – CD and DVD
• Magneto-optical

Physical Characteristics
• Volatile/non-volatile
• Erasable/non-erasable
• Power requirements

Organization
• The physical arrangement of bits to form words
• The obvious arrangement is not always used
 EMPLOYING A MEMORY HIERARCHY

Registers Cache
Inboard Memory
Top Main Memory

Magnetic Disk
CD-ROM
to Outboard Memory CD-RW
DVD-RW
DVD-RAM

bottom Off-line Storage Magnetic Tapes

As one goes down the hierarchy:

(a) decreasing cost per bit
(b) increasing capacity
(c) increasing access time
(d) decreasing frequency of access of the memory by the processor.

The Memory Hierarchy

• How much?
* If the capacity is there, applications will be developed to use it.
• How fast?
* To achieve performance, the memory must be able to keep up with the
processor.
• How expensive?
* For a practical system, the cost of memory must be reasonable in
relationship to other components

There is a trade-off among the three key characteristics of memory: cost, capacity,
and access time.
• Faster access time – greater cost per bit
• Greater capacity – smaller cost per bit
• Greater capacity – slower access time

CACHE MEMORY PRINCIPLES

Cache memory
• Small amount of fast memory
• Placed between the processor and main memory
• Located either on the processor chip or on a separate module
Cache Operation Overview
• Processor requests the contents of some memory location
• The cache is checked for the requested data
* If found, the requested word is delivered to the processor
* If not found, a block of main memory is first read into the cache, then the
requested word is delivered to the processor

An example of a typical cache organization is shown below:

ELEMENTS OF CACHE DESIGN
Cache Size
• Small enough so overall cost/bit is close to that of main memory
• Large enough so overall average access time is close to that of the cache alone
* Access time = main memory access time plus cache access time
• Large caches tend to be slightly slower than small caches

Mapping Function
• Direct Mapping
• Associative Mapping
• Set Associative Mapping

PENTIUM 4 and POWER PC CACHE ORGANIZATIONS

Pentium 4 Cache Organization
• 80386 – no on chip cache
• 80486 – 8k bytes using 16 bytes/lines and 4-way set associative organization
• Pentium (all versions) two on chip L1 caches
* Data and instructions
• Pentium 4
* L1 caches
- 8k bytes
- 64 bytes/line
- 4-way set associative
* L2 cache
- Feeds both L1 caches
- 256k bytes
- 128 bytes/line
- 8-way set associative
L1 (Level 1) –this is original on-board cache known normally as “internal cache.” The cache
stores a backlog of commands so that if a wait state is encountered, the CPU can continue to
process using commands from the cache. This eliminates the need to wait for fetching of the
data from DRAM.

L2 (Level 2) –this cache is mounted directly on the motherboard, outside the CPU. This is
normally known as “external cache,” and is the same as L1, but larger. L2 can also be added or
expanded.