Getting Started

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Chapter 17 Upgrading and Expanding your PC
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Upgrading and expanding your PC

• In this Chapter, you will learn
• How to upgrade the processor in your PC
• What affect adding RAM can have on the PCs
  performance
  
• How to add more hard disk capacity
• What other devices can be added or upgraded
• How to get technical support
• About expansion devices, ports, cards and slots

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Upgrading the processor in your PC

• When expanding a PC, you add components to
  increase functionality, but when upgrading, you
  replace a component with a new or better
  version.
• The motherboard provides only one specific slot
  for the microprocessor.
  
• Sometimes upgrading the processor is not cost
  effective and should be checked out carefully.
  You often do not gain enough performance to make
  it a good decision.

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Upgrading the processor in your PC
A microprocessor
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Adding RAM to improve performance

• Adding RAM can improve performance by providing
  faster data access and storage space for programs
  while they are running.
  
• There is less data transfer from disk if there is
  RAM space to hold it while it is being worked on.
  
  
• You can add RAM up to the limit of your
  microprocessor.

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Adding RAM to improve performance

• Specifications to be considered when buying RAM
  are
  
• Speed access time measured in nanoseconds (ns)
• Capacity The amount of data each module can
  hold measured in megabytes (MB)
  
• Package RAM chips come packaged onto memory
  modules which are either SIMMs, DIMMs or RIMMS
  
• Type today's memory modules are usually a type
  of DRAM (dynamic RAM) chips.

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Adding RAM to improve performance
Installing RAM
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Adding more hard drive capacity

• Todays software operates more efficiently with
  at least 300 MB of free space.
  
• If you want to supplement what your computer
  currently has, you can add a second hard drive.
  
• The new drive would connect to the enhanced
  integrated drive electronics (EIDE) slot on the
  motherboard.

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Adding more hard drive capacity

• You can also connect to a small computer system
  interface (SCSI) connection if there are no
  available EIDE channels.
  
• You will also need a drive bay (shelf or
  compartment) to attach the new drive to.
  
• If no other options are available, you have the
  option of connecting an external hard drive unit
  using a parallel or SCSI connection.

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Adding more hard drive capacity
EIDE connections
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Adding or upgrading other devices

• Your PC contains a variety of ports that allow
  for the connection of various external devices by
  cable connections.
  
• New devices can be added to these ports by simply
  plugging them in.
  
• The motherboard includes several expansion
  slots.
  
• Expansion cards such as modems or graphics cards
  can be plugged into these slots.

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Adding or upgrading other devices

• The PC motherboard contains several types of
  slots
  
• AGP (accelerated graphics port) accommodates
  special graphics cards for 3-D and accelerated
  graphics
  
• PCI (peripheral component interconnect) high
  speed data transfer for special sound, video or
  graphics cards.
  
• ISA (industry standard architecture) older
  technology, used for modems or other slower
  devices

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Adding or upgrading other devices
Expansion slots in the PC
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Upgrading a notebook PC

• Notebooks provide few upgrade options and
  virtually no access to the motherboard.
  
• Notebooks typically have multifunctional ports,
  slots or docking capabilities to add devices.
  
• The ports allow for such things as a mouse,
  full-sized keyboard, scanner, external monitor,
  etc.
  
• An infrared port also allows sending data to a
  printer without a cable connection.

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Hardware Expansion devices, ports, cards and
slots

• Peripheral devices are the input, output and
  storage devices connected to your computer.
  
• Internal devices, like CDR drives or modems are
  inside the PCs case and use its power supply.
  
• External devices like printers or scanners have
  their own case and power supply.
  
• Some devices have both internal and external
  options.

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Hardware Expansion devices, ports, cards and
slots
Today's PC connectors
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Hardware Expansion devices, ports, cards and
slots

• Your PC has many types of ports, some device
  specific, many used for a variety of different
  devices.
  
• If you dont have the needed external port, you
  can often add ports on an expansion card.
  
• You should always make sure you have the correct
  internal slot or external port available before
  you buy a new device.

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Hardware Expansion devices, ports, cards and
slots

• Once a device is installed, Windows plug and
  play software should automatically recognize it
  and help you install it.
  
• Some devices are hot pluggable, capable of being
  plugged in or unplugged while the system is
  running.
  
• Internal devices are never hot pluggable.

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Hardware Expansion devices, ports, cards and
slots
Expansion device chart
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Hardware Expansion devices, ports, cards and
slots
Expansion device chart (contd)
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Getting technical support
Getting help on the Internet
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What do you think?
Upgrade, reuse, recycle, or landfill?

• If you did not have a computer, would you accept
  any free computer as long as it ran some basic
  software?
  
• Do you think that your current school or business
  would accept a donation of 100 five-year old
  computers?
  
• Do you believe that computer companies should
  take more responsibility for recycling the
  products they make?

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Chapter Summary

• You should now be able to
• Upgrade the processor in your PC
• Add RAM to improve your PCs performance
• Add another hard disk
• Add or upgrade other devices as needed
• Understand what is upgradeable on your notebook
• Get technical support
• About the basic types of expansion devices,
  ports, cards, and slots