This post will contain a large collection of the many connections and cables that computers use. Each one will have the name, a short description of its function, the speed at which it functions and a picture of it. This will serve as a go to destination for information on computer ports and cables.
USB 1.0 (Universal Serial Bus)
This is used for many types of connections that require information to be transferred. This includes mice, keyboards, thumb drives, external hard drives, etc. The difference is in the speed, USB 1.0 cables can only work at a
maximum 15 megabits per second. Above are the two types of USB 1.0 connections.
USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus)
This is the same cable with the same functions as the one above. It can support more devices and transfer data better. The speed of an average USB 2.0 bus is
12 megabytes per second. This is 96 times faster than the first generation. USB 2.0 includes two types of micro-USB connections, the classic rectangular port and a square-like connection.
USB 3.0 (Universal Serial Bus)
This cable retains the same functions as the previous generations. Again it supports more devices and more complicated connections. These transfer at a speed of
640 megabytes per second. This is about 50 times as fast as USB 2.0. For USB 3.0 there's the traditional rectangle port, a combined micro-USB (combined due to the existing USB 2.0 micro port) and a square connection like USB 2.0 but with more pins added on top.
HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)
This connection is predominantly used for connections in media devices. For instance this is commonly found connected to a TV or monitor. These transfer information at
2.25 gigabits per second. Now there are mini-HDMI and micro-HDMI connections along with the original port.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
These buses are mostly used to connect additional components to the motherboard. That includes sound or graphics cards, storage devices, etc. Current computers more often use PCI Express buses, these include more pins and different specifications.The max transfer speed of a conventional PCI bus is
133 megabytes per second. The speed of a PCI Express bus can reach
15.75 gigabits per second.
Thunderbolt
This is a bus that allows the connection of multiple peripherals. It was developed by Apple and Intel and uses both copper and fiber optic cables to transfer data. It transfers data at blazing speeds, up to
20 gigabits per second.
Ethernet
Here is a cable most often used to connect a computer to the Internet or some form of network. These are predominantly used on desktops because other computing devices tend to have a built-in wireless connection. There are and have been a plethora of these cables, at this point, most are categpry 5 or category 6 cables. Its transfer speed can range widely, from
1 gigabit to 100 gigabits or even a terabit.
Firewire
This is a serial bus that is used to connect other peripherals and devices to a computer. These were developed and most often used by Apple products. It behaves like a USB or Thunderbolt bus, except it has slower rates. It transfers information at
800 megabits per second. These have 4 pin, 6 pin and 9 pin connectors, each having a different shape.
SATA Cables (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment)
These cables are one of the most widely used connections within computers. They can connect a storage device, graphics cards, nearly any interior component to the motherboard. These are an adaption and improvement on Parallel AT Attachments. The current standard, SATA III conveys data at a speed of
3 gigabits per second. The first version, SATA 1.0 went at
1.5 Gb/s, the second, SATA 2.0 went at
3 Gb/s and the newest SATA 3.2 transfers at
16 Gb/s. There are many widths of SATA connections, some with more and less pins. There is also the eSATA cable.
Jumpers
These are very short connectors that are meant to function as a circuit that can be removed or altered. They are often used as a way to manually override a computer function, it changes a connection within the motherboard. There isn't a designated speed for this.
ATA Cables (Advanced Technology Attachment)
This bus is an older version of SATA cables, it tends to be clunkier and not as fast. The ribbons and ports are huge to connect them, it uses many more pins. They can also be called parallel ports, which are often used as connections to printers or scanners. There have been many iterations of ATA connections: ATA-1/IDE, ATA-2/EIDE, ATA-3,ATA-4, ATA-5 and ATA-6. These versions have speeds of
8.3 megabits per second, 16.6 megabits per second, 16.6 megabits per second, 33 megabits per second, 66 megabits per second and 100 megabits per second, respectively. IDE connector is another name for an ATA connection.
Molex Connector
This cable is mostly used to transfer power to components within a computer. There are four pins and four cables to deliver the power. Molex is actually the brand name of many computer components, but Molex connector caught on for this cable. There are two different pin sizes, 1.57 millimeter and 2.36 millimeter. The former can carry
5 amps of energy, the latter carrying
8.5 amps.
PS/2 Ports
These buses or predominantly used to connect mice and keyboards to a computer. It is named PS/2 after the Personal System/2, the IBM computer on which these ports rolled out. The purple port connects to a keyboard and the green goes to a mouse. This connection is becoming increasingly outdated (being replaced by USB connections), though many IBM computers still utilise these ports. The speed of these buses is measured in kilohertz, they both transmit at
10 to 16 kilohertz.
3-pin Connector
This bus is mostly used to give power to a component within a computer. It's a very direct and simple method to power something; often it will power the fan for the computer. Since it only provides power, there isn't a given speed.
VGA Port (Video Graphics Array)
This bus is the predominant video output cable that connects to a monitor. There are 15 pins and this port can be found on many relatively new computers or monitors. It has to transfer lots of information at high speeds and with plenty of accuracy. It refreshes data at a speed of
60 hertz.
DVI Cable (Digital Visual Interface)
This is another cable used to connect a monitor to a computer. It serves the same use as the VGA cables, but it has more pins and therefore better image quality. It transfers data at some pretty good speeds,
3.96 gigabits per second. There are DVI-I, DVI-D and DVI-V connection types, the first two come in variants or dual link and single link connections.
DisplayPort Cable
Here is one of the newer choices for connecting a monitor and computer. It features very high speeds and great data transmission. It is one of the few cables that can support 4K resolution transmission. It also carries audio information in the same cable. There are mini and micro DisplayPort options, also wireless and internal connections. DisplayPort 1.2 can reaches refresh rates of
60 gigahertz.
Parallel Port
This bus is predominantly used to connect a computer to a printer. There are usually 25 pins but some may include up to 36. This is an older bus and is quickly being replaced by USB connections. A traditional parallel port has a speed of
150 kilobits per second. An enhanced parallel port can transfer data at
2 megabytes per second.
