What is a cable in the computer world?

Computers have many different type of cables inside the PC Case.

They can be a mystery, I will attempt to show you all the different type of cables and their function

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good internet friend of mine JUNE asked if I could put some of the different adapters here so for June here are some of the most frequently used ones.

 

 

PS2-AT Keyboard

PS2 - AT

 

PS/2 to Serial

 

 

USB to PS/2

HDTV-RCA

 

 

 

 

USB to Serial

 

 

 

 

USB - 2 PS/2

 

 

 

FireWire

 

 

FireWire

FireWire

 

 

 

40 Pin connector

 

 

 

 

A standard, 40-wire IDE/ATA cable. Note the presence of three black
connectors, and the 40 individual wires in the ribbon cable. (Count them if you don't believe me ) Also note the red
wire that marks wire #1 and hence pin #1 on each connector. These cables were designed for cheap cost and before modern high speeds transfer rates

 

 

40 Pin connector

 

 

40 Pin connector

 

 

 

These 40 Pin cables that have a different color connector at the end, generally Blue, they can be UDMA 66, 100, 133 which support transfer rates of 66Mbps, 100Mbps and 133Mbps (Millaseconds per second) Used to connect two devices that support ATA 100/133. Some even come with a Teflon coating to help elimate what is called crosstalk. Both of these cables come in various lengths; 12", 18", 24", 34", 36"

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can even find one that has 4 connectors, no you cannot connect 4 devices on the same cable, unless your motherboard supports it and most don't, but gives you the latitude on where to mount the drives within the case.

 

 

 

These cables even come in round instead of flat. And also come in colors. Round cables free up airflow, and if you have a see-through side panel on your case, colors enhance the appearance of the case. Fluorescent is the going thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IDE cables for ATA33/66/100/133 should have a maximum length of 18 inches. For ATA66/100/133 they must not be any shorter than 10 inches. IDE cables are not terminated at their ends to prevent the signals rebounding or reflecting.

The longer the cable the longer the signal takes to travel, the more time there is for interference from other signals and for the IDE signals to radiate to other systems. If you were to use an IDE cable of say 36 inches then the signal will take about 1/10 of a clock pulse longer at 33MHz IDE to travel down the cable. At higher IDE clock speeds the problem gets worse

 

 

 

 

SCSI Cables
IDE Cables

 

 

SCSI is pronounced "scuzzy" or Small Computer Systems Interface.

It is said that it is a better interface for hard drives and CDROM drives than IDE and its various versions, even the new ATA66/100/133 (Ultra DMA66/100/133) even though "IDE" keeps improving and keeping itself pretty close in performance in many ways. SCSI has also managed to support a number of other devices besides hard drives and CDROM drives, unlike IDE. SCSI supports scanners, and other peripherals (those that support it ) and over the years has been THE best computer peripheral interface where speed is concerned.

Depending on the SCSI type you can have 7, 15, or even more devices connected. This can be greatly reduced by which type of SCSI you have, which types of devices you have connected and also their cable lengths.

Here is a LINK to the various SCSI cable lengths

Here is a LINK to all of the different SCSI cable connectors available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floppy cables are the same as IDE cables and come in both flat or round.

The floppy cable has 34 wires. There are normally five connectors on the floppy interface cable, although sometimes there are only three. These are grouped into three "sets"; a single connector plus two pairs of two each (for a standard, five-connector cable) or three single connectors. This how the connectors are used:

 

Floppy Cables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Controller Connector: The single connector on one end of the cable is meant to connect to the floppy disk controller, either on a controller card or the motherboard.

Drive A Connectors: The pair of connectors (or single connector in the case of a three-connector cable) at the opposite end of the cable is intended for the A: floppy drive.

Drive B Connectors: The pair of connectors (or single connector in the case of a three-connector cable) in the middle of the cable is intended for the B: floppy drive.

You will also notice that there is an odd "twist" in the floppy cable, located between the two pairs of connectors intended for the floppy drives. Well the reason for this is: Traditionally, floppy drives used a drive select (DS) jumper to configure the drive as either A: or B: in the system.

Then, special signals were used on the floppy interface to tell the two drives in the system which one the controller was trying to talk to at any given time. The wires that are cross-connected via the twist are signals 10 to 16 (seven wires). Of these, 11, 13, and 15 are grounds and carry no signal, so there are really four signals that are inverted by the twist. The four signals that are inverted are exactly the ones that control drive selection on the interface. Since the signals are inverted, the drive after the twist responds to commands backwards from the way it should; if it has its drive select jumpers set so that it is an A: device, it responds to B: commands, and vice-versa.

So what you ask:  In short, because it was a big time-saver during setup back in the days when it was quite common to find two floppy drives in a machine.  Without the twist, for two floppy drives to be used, one had to be jumpered as A: and the other as B:.  With the twist, it was possible to leave them both jumpered as B: and whichever was after the twist will appear to the system as A: because the control lines are inverted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SATA

 

Sata Serial ATA is a serial link -- a single cable with a minimum of four wires creates a point-to-point connection between devices. Transfer rates for Serial ATA begin at 150 MBps and SATA II 300MBps. One of the main design advantages of Serial ATA is that the thinner serial cables facilitate more efficient airflow inside a form factor and also allow for smaller chassis designs. They come in various colors and lengths, also have angled ends if required.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sound Cable

 

Monitor Cable
Power Supply Cables

 

 

 

SPDIF Cable 2-Pin (Sound Card to DVD). CD-ROM Cable

 

Universal Audio CD-ROM Cable,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MPC2 / MPC2 Audio Cable, CD-ROM Cable

 

DVI

 

 

Basic monitor cable is for VGA. With the advent of LCD DVI has emerged.

 

HD15F

HD15M

Standard SVGA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever opened up your PC Case and see all those cables running from a Big Box at the top of the computer? Wonder what they are. Well the box at the top of your PC Case is the Power Supply Unit (PSU). This is where the electrical cord from the socket in your house or from the power source plugs into. Then the electricity is flowed through those cables to your different devices.

For Power Supply see my page HERE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Typical Power Supply Cables

 

 

 

Specialty Cables

 

 

 

 

Printer Cable

Standard Modem/Phone Cable

 

 

 

USB

 

 

Cat-5

 

 

S-Video

 

 

 

PS/2