Thursday, January 24, 2008

CPU Packages

1.)S.E.C.C. Package Type

S.E.C.C. is short for Single Edge Contact Cartridge. To connect to the motherboard, the processor is inserted into a slot. Instead of having pins, it uses goldfinger contacts, which the processor uses to carry its signals back and forth. The S.E.C.C. is covered with a metal shell that covers the top of the entire cartridge assembly. The back of the cartridge is a thermal plate that acts as a heatsink. Inside the S.E.C.C., most processors have a printed circuit board called the substrate that links together the processor, the L2 cache and the bus termination circuits. The S.E.C.C. package was used in the Intel Pentium II processors, which have 242 contacts and the Pentium® II Xeon™ and Pentium III Xeon processors, which have 330 contacts.




2.)S.E.C.C.2 Package Type

The S.E.C.C.2 package is similar to the S.E.C.C. package except the S.E.C.C.2 uses less casing and does not include the thermal plate. The S.E.C.C.2 package was used in some later versions of the Pentium II processor and Pentium III processor (242 contacts).



3.S.E.P. Package Type

S.E.P. is short for Single Edge Processor. The S.E.P. package is similar to a S.E.C.C. or S.E.C.C.2 package but it has no covering. In addition, the substrate (circuit board) is visible from the bottom side. The S.E.P. package was used by early Intel Celeron processors, which have 242 contacts.



4.)PPGA Package Type

PPGA is short for Plastic Pin Grid Array, and these processors have pins that are inserted into a socket. To improve thermal conductivity, the PPGA uses a nickel plated copper heat slug on top of the processor. The pins on the bottom of the chip are staggered. In addition, the pins are arranged in a way that the processor can only be inserted one way into the socket. The PPGA package is used by early Intel Celeron processors, which have 370 pins.



5.)PGA Package Type

PGA is short for Pin Grid Array, and these processors have pins that are inserted into a socket. To improve thermal conductivity, the PGA uses a nickel plated copper heat slug on top of the processor. The pins on the bottom of the chip are staggered. In addition, the pins are arranged in a way that the processor can only be inserted one way into the socket. The PGA package is used by the Intel Xeon™ processor, which has 603 pins

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Form Factors

AT & Baby AT
Prior to 1997, IBM computers used large motherboards. After that, however, the size of the motherboard was reduced and boards using the AT (Advanced Technology) form factor was released. The AT form factor is found in older computers (386 class or earlier). Some of the problems with this form factor mainly arose from the physical size of the board, which is 12" wide, often causing the board to overlap with space required for the drive bays.

Following the AT form factor, the Baby AT form factor was introduced. With the Baby AT form factor the width of the motherboard was decreased from 12" to 8.5", limiting problems associated with overlapping on the drive bays' turf. Baby AT became popular and was designed for peripheral devices — such as the keyboard, mouse, and video — to be contained on circuit boards that were connected by way of expansion slots on the motherboard.

Baby AT was not without problems however. Computer memory itself advanced, and the Baby AT form factor had memory sockets at the front of the motherboard. As processors became larger, the Baby AT form factor did not allow for space to use a combination of processor, heatsink, and fan. The ATX form factor was then designed to overcome these issues.
Key Terms To Understanding Motherboard Form Factors
motherboard
The main circuit board of a microcomputer.

form factor
The physical size and shape of a device. It is often used to describe the size of circuit boards.

AT
Short for advanced technology, the AT is an IBM PC model introduced in 1984.

ATX
The modern-day shape and layout of PC motherboards.

BTX
The BTX specification provides new tools and design space for developers to lay out desktop systems, whether designing small, compact systems or very large, expandable systems.

Baby AT
The form factor used by most PC motherboards prior to 1998.


ATX
With the need for a more integrated form factor which defined standard locations for the keyboard, mouse, I/O, and video connectors, in the mid 1990's the ATX form factor was introduced. The ATX form factor brought about many chances in the computer. Since the expansion slots were put onto separate riser cards that plugged into the motherboard, the overall size of the computer and its case was reduced. The ATX form factor specified changes to the motherboard, along with the case and power supply. Some of the design specification improvements of the ATX form factor included a single 20-pin connector for the power supply, a power supply to blow air into the case instead of out for better air flow, less overlap between the motherboard and drive bays, and integrated I/O Port connectors soldered directly onto the motherboard. The ATX form factor was an overall better design for upgrading.

micro-ATX
MicroATX followed the ATX form factor and offered the same benefits but improved the overall system design costs through a reduction in the physical size of the motherboard. This was done by reducing the number of I/O slots supported on the board. The microATX form factor also provided more I/O space at the rear and reduced emissions from using integrated I/O connectors.

LPX
White ATX is the most well-known and used form factor, there is also a non-standard proprietary form factor which falls under the name of LPX, and Mini-LPX. The LPX form factor is found in low-profile cases (desktop model as opposed to a tower or mini-tower) with a riser card arrangement for expansion cards where expansion boards run parallel to the motherboard. While this allows for smaller cases it also limits the number of expansion slots available. Most LPX motherboards have sound and video integrated onto the motherboard. While this can make for a low-cost and space saving product they are generally difficult to repair due to a lack of space and overall non-standardization. The LPX form factor is not suited to upgrading and offer poor cooling.

NLX
Boards based on the NLX form factor hit the market in the late 1990's. This "updated LPX" form factor offered support for larger memory modules, tower cases, AGP video support and reduced cable length. In addition, motherboards are easier to remove. The NLX form factor, unlike LPX is an actual standard which means there is more component options for upgrading and repair.

Many systems that were formerly designed to fit the LPX form factor are moving over to NLX. The NLX form factor is well-suited to mass-market retail PCs.

BTX
The BTX, or Balanced Technology Extended form factor, unlike its predecessors is not an evolution of a previous form factor but a total break away from the popular and dominating ATX form factor. BTX was developed to take advantage of technologies such as Serial ATA, USB 2.0, and PCI Express. Changes to the layout with the BTX form factor include better component placement for back panel I/O controllers and it is smaller than microATX systems. The BTX form factor provides the industry push to tower size systems with an increased number of system slots.

One of the most talked about features of the BTX form factor is that it uses in-line airflow. In the BTX form factor the memory slots and expansion slots have switched places, allowing the main components (processor, chipset, and graphics controller) to use the same airflow which reduces the number of fans needed in the system; thereby reducing noise. To assist in noise reduction BTX system level acoustics have been improved by a reduced air turbulence within the in-line airflow system.

Initially there will be three motherboards offered in BTX form factor. The first, picoBTX will offer four mounting holes and one expansion slot, while microBTX will hold seven mounting holes and four expansion slots, and lastly, regularBTX will offer 10 mounting holes and seven expansion slots. The new BTX form factor design is incompatible with ATX, with the exception of being able to use an ATX power supply with BTX boards.

Today the industry accepts the ATX form factor as the standard, however legacy AT systems are still widely in use. Since the BTX form factor design is incompatible with ATX, only time will tell if it will overtake ATX as the industry standard.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Ultimate Game

98 Installation Procedures

After you partition and format your hard disk, you can install Windows 98: 1. Insert the Windows 98 Startup disk in the floppy disk drive, and then restart your computer.
2. When the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, choose the Start computer with CD-ROM support option, and then press ENTER.
3. If CD-ROM support is provided by the generic drivers on the Startup disk, you receive one of the following messages, where X is the drive letter that is assigned to your CD-ROM drive:
Drive X: = Driver MSCD001

Drive X: = Driver OEMCD001
NOTE: If your CD-ROM drive is not available after you boot from the Windows 98 Startup disk, install the CD-ROM drivers that are included with your CD-ROM drive. For information about how to obtain and install the most current driver for your CD-ROM drive, view the documentation that is included with your device, or contact your hardware manufacturer.


4. Insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER
X:\setup
where X is the drive letter that is assigned to your CD-ROM drive.


5. When you receive the following message, press ENTER, and then follow the instructions on the screen to complete the Setup procedure:
Please wait while the Setup initializes. Setup is now going to perform a routine check on your system. To continue press Enter.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Vista Installation Procedure

1. Boot your computer system using the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD. You may have to set your BIOS to boot from DVD first, as the 1st boot device if it hasn’t been setup before.

2. Then click on the “Install Now” button.
3. You will be prompted to enter a Product Key. Do not enter one - leave it blank.

4. You will be prompted to select the Vista product version you wish to install. Do so now.

6. The installation should proceed normally for Vista. Installation time is quicker then previous versions of Windows.

7. Upon completion of the installation process, you must restart the installation once again from within Vista. And you must select to do a in-place upgrade. This time you will enter your Product Key when asked

Windows 2000 installation procedure

1a. If computer is incapable of booting from CDROM, then first prepare four install floppies, using CDROM. Boot from floppy, and it will prompt to load all four into RAM. (This procedure takes about 10 minutes.) Insert Windows 2000 Full Install CDROM.

1b. Otherwise, insert Windows 2000 Full Install CDROM and reboot.

2. Hit ENTER to install Windows 2000.

3. Hit C to continue.

4. Hit the F8 key to agree to license agreement.

5. Hit D to delete any existing disk partitions.

6. Hit C to create new partition.

7. Hit ENTER to accept the default (one big partition.) Note there may be some space left over. That’s OK.

8. ENTER to install windows on this partition.

9. ENTER to format the partition as NTFS.

10. Wait while the drive is formatted, files copied from the CD. The machine will reboot itself.



11. ENTER to accept locale and keyboard settings.

12. Type computer name and school name in the appropriate slots, hit ENTER.

13. Type the computer name. Type the Administrator password TWICE. Password will show as all asterisks. ENTER.




14. Modify the date, time and time zone as needed. ENTER.

15. Click to select “Custom settings”. ENTER.

16. Click to remove the check next to “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks”. ENTER.




17. Leave “This computer is not on a network or is on a network without a domain” selected (or if a PDC is available, selected the domain option). Type EPAHS in the Workgroup (or Domain) field. ENTER.

18. Remove CD from drive. ENTER.
Computer will reboot. ENTER.

19. Select “User must enter a user name and password to use this computer.” ENTER. ENTER again.

20. Log into computer as Administrator, using the password you entered in step 13. ENTER.

21. Disable the WELCOME Screen.

22. Double-click the “Connect to the Internet” icon on the desktop. Select “I want to set up my Internet connection manually, or I want to connect through a local area network (LAN).” OK.

23. Select “I connect through a local area network (LAN).” ENTER. ENTER again.

24. Select NO to setting up email. OK. OK again.



25. Right-click on “My Network Places”. Click Properties.
Right-click on “Local area network”. Click Properties.
Click on “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” so that it turns blue. Click Properties.
Select “Use the following IP address”.
Type in the IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS addresses you wrote down before. Click OK.


26. Change the Resolution (by right clicking on the desktop and selecting Properties:
24 bit True Color
800 x 600
Advanced -> Adapter -> Refresh Rate -> 75 Hz
YES ... OK ... OK ... OK ... (Joe Pesci mode)
Now adjust monitor physical wheels as needed.

27. Set the ScreenSaver to show the computer name:
Right-click on desktop, select Properties
-> Screensaver Tab
-> Text = “PC01 Welcome To EPAHS PC01”
-> Speed = Medium
-> Location = Random
-> Font = Terminal
-> Size = 72
-> Wait = 10 minutes
-> Color = your choice
Energy Saver: Turn off monitor after 30 minutes