Mr C JohnstonICT Teacher

www.computechedu.co.uk

BTEC IT Unit 02 - Lesson 04

Inside Computers #3 – Specialist Cards, Peripherals and Backing Storage

Session Objectives

Understand the purpose of different expansion cards and additional functions they allow a computer to perform,

Recognise different form factors and interfaces which expansion cards have so they can be chosen to suit a specific motherboard,

Understand different types of storage devices and be able to use key criteria to assess their suitability.

Specialist Cards Specialist cards or expansion cards allow the computers to perform

additional tasks that they were not originally designed to do, They are a circuit board which slots into the motherboard and pokes out of

the back of the case so devices can be plugged into it, They also can be used to replace “standard onboard features” which may

not be powerful enough or the best quality, Typical expansion cards include:

Interface cards – expand the number and type of connectors Graphics cards Sound cards TV / Radio tuner cards Network cards Modems

POST cards Security cards Video processing expansion

cards

Expansion Card Sizes There are three different sizes of expansion card to

choose from depending on the room available in your case,

The size of a card is known as its “form factor”

Full length card – 107mm (height) X 312mm (long)

Half length card – 106.68mm (height) X 175.26mm (long)

Low profile card – Range from: 64.41mm X 119.91mm to 64.41mm X 167.64mm

Expansion Card Connectors

There are three main types of connector which are correctly used to attach expansion cards to the motherboard,

Before purchasing a card its vital to know the type of slot available so you purchase a card with the correct interface.

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) SlotComes is AGPx1, AGPx2, AGPx4 and AGPx8 varietiesMust ensure card matches with the type of slot on board

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) SlotComes in 32 and 64 bit versions

PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) SlotComes in PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, and PCIe x16 versionsMust ensure card matches with the type of slot on board

Installing Expansion Cards

Backing Storage Computer storage devices and media can be classed into 3 different categories:

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Primary storage is the computers memory – RAM / ROM, Secondary storage devices save data more permanently - normally a hard disk drive, Tertiary storage devices create an off line, portable copy of the data to a portable storage

medium. Media card readers and DVD writers are included in this category.

Storage Examples

Tertiary

Secondary

Primary

Performance Indicators When comparing storage devices and media there are several key

performance indicators which can be used: How much data will the device hold? What is its maximum capacity?

How fast can the data be stored on (written to) the device?

How fast can the data be retrieved (read) from the device?

BTEC Book – Unit 02 p13/14

Extra Task In your own words explain the function of

A graphics card A Sound card A network card Optical Disk Drive

The function means what its main job is. Include details of the different types available.Remember explain means to give a detailed account of something with reasons – include how it

works, and why its required.