The System Unit

What is the system unit? system unit

Case that contains

electronic components
of the computer used
to process data
Sometimes called
the chassis
system unit

system unit

system unit

p. 4.04 Fig. 4-1 Next

 The System Unit
What are common components inside the system unit?

Processor power supply drive bays

Memory
Adapter cards processor

Sound card
Modem card ports
memory

Video card
Network card
Ports sound card
Drive bays
Power supply
video card
modem card
network card

p. 4.03 Fig. 4-2 Next

 The System Unit
adapter cards
What is the motherboard? processor chip

Main circuit
board in system
unit
Contains adapter memory chips

cards, processor
chips, and
memory chips
Also called
memory slots
system board Expansion
slots for
adapter cards motherboard

p. 4.04 Fig. 4-3 Next

 The System Unit dual inline
packages (DIP)
What is a chip? holds memory
chips
Small piece of semi-conducting
material on which integrated
circuits are etched
Integrated circuits contain
many microscopic pathways
capable of carrying electrical
current
pin grid
Chips are packaged so they can array (PGA)
package
be attached to a circuit board holds processor
chips

p. 4.04 Fig. 4-4 Next

 Central Processing Unit
What is the central processing unit (CPU)?
Interprets and carries Processor
out basic instructions Control
Control Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Unit Logic
Logic Unit
Unit (ALU)
that operate a computer Unit (ALU)

Control unit directs and

Instruction
coordinates operations in Data
computer Informatio
n
Arithmetic logic unit
Input Output
(ALU) performs Data Memory Information
Devices Devices
arithmetic, comparison,
and logical operations
Instruction
Also called the processor Data
Informatio
n

Storage
Devices
p. 4.05 Fig. 4-5 Next
 Central Processing Unit
What is a machine
cycle?
Four operations of the CPU comprise a machine cycle

p. 4.06 Fig. 4-6 Next

 Central Processing Unit
What is pipelining?
CPU begins fetching second instruction before
completing machine cycle for first instruction
Results in faster processing

p. 4.07 Fig. 4-7 Next

 Central Processing Unit
What is a register?
Temporary high-speed storage area that holds
data and instructions

Stores location
from where instruction
was fetched
Stores Stores data
instruction while it is while ALU
being decoded computes it
Stores results
of calculation

p. 4.07 Next
 Central Processing Unit
What is the system clock?
Controls timing of all computer operations
Generates regular electronic pulses, or ticks, that set
operating pace of components of system unit

Pace of system
clock is clock speed
Processor speed can
Each tick Most clock speeds are
also be measured in
is a in the gigahertz (GHz)
millions of instructions
clock cycle range (1 GHz = one
per second (MIPS)
billion ticks of system
clock per second)

Click to view Web Link,

then click Clock Speed
below Chapter 4

p. 4.07 Next
 Central Processing Unit
How do personal computer processors
compare? ComparisonofWidelyUsed
PersonalComputerProcessors
Name Date Clock
Introduced Speed

Itanium2 2002 1GHZandup
Xeon 2001 1.42.4GHZ
Itanium 2001 733800MHZ

Pentium4 2000 1.42.53GHZ
PentiumIIIXeon
1999 500900MHZ
PentiumIII
1999 400MHZ1.2GHZ
Celeron 1998 266MHZ1.8GHZ
Operon 2003 Tocome
AthlonMP
2002 1.531.6GHZ
AthlonXP
2001 1.331.73GHZ
Athlon
1999 500MHZ1.4GHZ

p. 4.08 Next
 Central Processing Unit
Which processor should you select?

The faster the processor, the more expensive the computer

p. 4.10 Next
 Central Processing Unit
What are the types of processor upgrades?

Chip-for chip upgrade

replace the chip

Piggyback upgrade
stack new chip on top of old one

Daughterboard upgrade
chip is on adapter card that plugs into motherboard

p. 4.10 Next
 Central Processing Unit
What are heat sinks and heat
pipes?
Heat sinkcomponent
heat sink fan
with fins that cools
processor
Heat pipesmaller
device for notebook
computers

heat sink

p. 4.12 Fig. 4-11 Next

 Central Processing Unit
What is parallel
processing?
Using multiple Control Processor
processors
simultaneously to
execute a
program faster Processor 1 Processor 2 Processor 3 Processor 4
Requires special Memory Memory Memory Memory

software to divide
problem and
bring results
together Results combined

p. 4.12 Fig. 4-12 Next

 Data Representation
How do computers represent data?
Most computers are digital
Recognize only two
discrete states: on or off
Use a binary system to
recognize two states
Use Number system with
two unique digits: 0 and
1, called bits (short for
binary digits)

p. 4.13 Fig. 4-13 Next

 Data Representation
What is a byte?
Eight bits grouped together as a unit
Provides enough different combinations of 0s and 1s
to represent 256 individual characters
Numbers
Uppercase
and lowercase
letters
Punctuation
marks

p. 4.13 Fig. 4-14 Next

 Data Representation
What are three popular coding systems to represent data?

ASCIIAmerican Standard Code for Information Interchange

EBCDICExtended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
Unicodecoding scheme capable of representing all
worlds languages

ASCII Symbol EBCDIC

00110000 0 11110000
00110001 1 11110001
00110010 2 11110010
00110011 3 11110011

p. 4.14 Next
 Data Representation
How is a letter converted to binary form and back?

Step 1.
The user presses Step 2.
the capital letter An electronic signal for the
D (shift+D key) capital letter D is sent to the
on the keyboard. system unit.

Step 4.
After processing, the binary
code for the capital letter D is
converted to an image, and
displayed on the output device.
Step 3.
The signal for the capital letter D
is converted to its ASCII binary
code (01000100) and is stored in
memory for processing.

p. 4.15 Fig. 4-16 Next

 Memory
Seat #2B4 Seat #2B3
What is memory?

Consists of one or
more chips on
motherboard or
other circuit board
Each byte stored
in unique location
called an address,
similar to addresses
on a passenger train

p. 4.15 Fig. 4-17 Next

Memory
Memory stores three basic categories of items.
1) Operating system and other system software
2) Application programs
3) Data and the resulting information
 Memory
How is memory measured?
By number of bytes available for storage

Term Abbreviation ApproximateSize

Kilobyte KBorK 1thousandbytes
Megabyte MB 1millionbytes
Gigabyte GB 1billionbytes
Terabyte TB 1trillionbytes

p. 4.16 Fig. 4-18 Next

 Memory
What is random access memory (RAM)?

Memory chips that can be

read from and written
to by processor
Most RAM is
Also called
volatile, it is lost
main memory
when computers
or primary
power is
storage
turned off

The more RAM a

computer has, the
Click to view Web Link, faster it responds
then click RAM
below Chapter 4

p. 4.17 Next
 Memory
How do program instructions transfer in and out of RAM?
RAM Step 1. When you start the computer, certain
operating system files load into RAM from the
Operating system Operating system hard disk. The operating system displays the user
instructions interface interface on the screen.

Step 2. When you start a Web browser, the

programs instructions load into RAM from the
Web browser Web browser hard disk. The Web browser window is displayed
instructions window on the screen.

Step 3. When you start a word processing

program, the programs instructions load into
Word processing RAM from the hard disk. The word processing
Word processing program, along with the Web Browser and certain
program
program window operating system instructions are in RAM. The
instructions
word processing program window is displayed on
the screen.
RAM
Step 4. When you quit a program, such as
the Web browser, its program instructions are
removed from RAM. The Web browser no longer
is displayed on the screen.

Web browser program Web browser

instructions are window no longer is
removed from RAM displayed on
p. 4.17 Fig. 4-19 Next
desktop
 Memory
What are three basic types of RAM chips?
Used for
Most special
common applications
type such as
cache
Static
Faster DynamicRAM
Faster and
variations RAM (SRAM) more reliable
of DRAM are (DRAM) than DRAM
SDRAM and
chips
RDRAM

DynamicRAM(DRAM)
StaticRAM(SRAM)
MagnetoresistiveRAM(MRAM):lesspower;morestoragecapability;fasteraccess
time;stable;moreexpensive

p. 4.18 Next
 Memory dual inline memory module

Where does memory

reside?
Resides on small circuit
board called memory
module
Memory slots on
motherboard hold memory
memory chip memory slot
modules

p. 4.18 Fig. 4-20 Next

 Memory
How much RAM does an application require?
Software package
typically indicates System Requirements
Windows XP Home Edition/Professional

RAM requirements Intel Pentium processor at 233MHZ or higher

AMD K6 (Athlon Duron Family processor at 233MHZ or higher
For optimal 64 MB of RAM

performance, you
need more than
minimum specifications

p. 4.19 Fig. 4-21 Next

 Memory
How much RAM do you need?
Depends on type of applications you intend to run
on your computer
RAM 128to256MB 256to1GB 1GBandup
Use Homeandbusiness Usersrequiringmoreadvanced Poweruserscreating
usersmanaging multimediacapabilities professionalWebsites
personalfinance Runningnumberintensive Runningsophisticated
Usingstandard accounting,financial,or CAD,3Ddesign,or
applicationsoftware spreadsheetprograms othergraphicsintensive
suchaswordprocessing Usingvoicerecognition software
Usingeducational Workingwithvideos,music,and
orentertainment digitalimaging
CDROMs CreatingWebsites
Communicatingwith Participatinginvideoconferences
othersontheWeb PlayingInternetgames

p. 4.19 Fig. 4-22 Next

 Memory
What is cache?
Helps speed computer processes by storing frequently used
instructions and data
Also called memory cache
L1 cache built into processor
L2 cache slower but has larger capacity
L2 advanced transfer cache is faster,
built directly on processor chip
L3 cache is separate from processor
chip on motherboard (L3 is only
on computers that use L2 advanced
transfer cache)

p. 4.20 Fig. 4-23 Next

 Memory
What is read-only memory (ROM)?

Memory chips that store Nonvolatile memory, it is not

permanent data lost when computers
and instructions power is turned off
EEPROM
Three types: (electrically
erasable programmable
read-only memory)
Firmware Type of PROM
Manufactured with containing microcode
permanently written PROM
programmer
data, instructions, (programmable can erase
or information read-only
memory)
Blank ROM
chip onto which
a programmer
can write permanently

p. 4.20 Next
 Memory
What is flash memory?
Nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and
reprogrammed
Used with PDAs, digital cameras, digital cellular phones, music players,
digital voice recorders, and pagers
Step 3.
Step 1. Plug the headphones into the MP3
Purchase and download MP3 music tracks To headphones player, push a button on the MP3
from a Web site. With one end of a special Flash memory chip player, and listen to the music through
cable connected to the system unit, connect the headphones.
the other end into the MP3 player.

From computer

Flash memory card

Step 2.
Instruct the computer to copy the MP3 music track
MP3 Player
to the flash memory chip in the MP3 player.

p. 4.21 Fig. 4-24 Next

 Memory
What is CMOS?

Complementary Used in some

metal-oxide RAM chips, flash
semiconductor memory chips, and
memory other types of
memory chips

Uses battery Stores date,

power to retain time, and
information when computers
other power is startup
turned off information

p. 4.22 Next
 Memory
What is access time?
Amount of time it takes processor
to read data from memory
Measured in nanoseconds (ns),
one billionth of a second
It takes 1/10 of a second to blink
your eye; a computer can perform
up to 10 million operations in same amount of
time
Term Speed
Millisecond Onethousandthofasecond
Microsecond Onemillionthofasecond
Nanosecond Onebillionthofasecond
Picosecond Onetrillionthofasecond

p. 4.22 Fig. 4-26 Next

 Expansion Slots and
Expansion Cards
What is an adapter card?
Types of Adapter Cards

Enhances system unit or

provides connections to
external devices called
peripherals
Also called an expansion card

Click to view Web Link,

then click Adapter Cards
below Chapter 4

p. 4.23 Fig. 4-27 Next

 Expansion Slots and
Expansion Cards
What is an expansion slot?
An opening, or socket,
on the motherboard
that can hold an
adapter card
With Plug and Play,
the computer
automatically
configures cards
and other devices
as you install them

p. 4.23 Fig. 4-28 Next

 Expansion Slots and
Expansion Cards
What are PC cards and flash memory cards?
A PC card adds memory, sound,
modem, and other capabilities to
notebook computers
A flash memory card allows
users to transfer data from
mobile devices to desktop
computers
Hot plugging allows you to insert
and remove cards while computer
is running

p. 4.24 Fig. 4-294-30 Next

 Ports
What are ports and connectors?
Port connects external devices to system unit
Connector joins cable to peripheral

p. 4.25 Fig. 4-314.32 Next

 Ports
What are different types of connectors?

p. 4.26 Fig. 4-33 Next

 Ports
What is a serial port?
Transmits one bit of data at a
time
Connects slow-speed devices,
such as mouse, keyboard,
modem

p. 4.27 Fig. 4-34 Next

 Ports
What is a parallel port?
Connects devices that can
transfer more than one bit at
a time, such as a printer

p. 4.27 Fig. 4-35 Next

 Ports
What are USB ports?

USB (universal serial bus) port can connect

up to 127 different peripherals together
with a single connector type

PCs typically have Third USB

two to four USB ports Single USB port can device connects
be used to attach to second USB
on front or back of device, and so on
the system unit multiple peripherals
in a daisy chain
Second USB
device connects
to first USB
First USB device
device connects
to USB port
p. 4.28 on computer Next
 Ports
What are special-purpose ports?
Allow users to attach specialized peripherals (digital video
cameras, color printers, scanners, and disk drives) or
transmit data to wireless devices
FireWire port
MIDI (Musical
Instrument Digital
Interface) port
SCSI (small
computer system
interface) port
IrDA (Infrared Data
Association) port
BluetoothTM port
p. 4.28 Fig. 4-37 Next
 Buses
What is a bus?
Channel that allows devices
inside computer to
communicate with each other
System bus connects processor
and RAM
Bus width determines number
of bits transmitted at one time
Word size is the number of
bits processor can interpret
and execute at a given time

p. 4.30 Fig. 4-38 Next

 Buses
What is an expansion bus?
Allows processor to communicate with peripherals

p. 4.31 Fig. 4-39 Next

 Bays
What is a bay?
Open area inside
system unit used to
install additional
equipment
Drive bays typically
hold disk drives

p. 4.32 Fig. 4-40 Next

 Mobile Computers
What is a mobile computer?
Notebook, weighing between 2.5 and 8 pounds, or
mobile device such as a PDA flash memory card

PDA
PC Cards in PC
Card slots
CD or DVD drive

disk in floppy
disk drive or battery
Zip disk drive

p. 4.33 Fig. 4-41 Next

notebook computer
 Mobile Computers
What is in the system unit of a mobile
computer?
Motherboard,
processor, and
memoryalso
devices such as the
keyboard, speakers,
and display

p. 4.34 Fig. 4-42 Next

 Mobile Computers
What ports are on a notebook computer?

p. 4.34 Fig. 4-43 Next

 Mobile Computers
What ports are on a tablet PC?

p. 4.35 Fig. 4-44 Next

 Putting It All Together
What are suggested processor, clock speed, and
RAM requirements based on the needs of various
types of users?

p. 4.35 Fig. 4-45 Next

 Summary of the Components of the System
Unit

Components
Componentsof
ofthe
thesystem
systemunit
unit
Sequence
Sequenceof
ofoperations
operationsthat
thatoccur
occurwhen
whenaa
computer
computerexecutes
executesan
aninstruction
instruction

How
Howmemory
memorystores
storesdata,
data,instructions,
instructions,
and
andinformation
information
Comparison
Comparisonofofvarious
variouspersonal
personalcomputer
computer
processors
processorson
onthe
themarket
markettoday
today

Chapter 4 Complete