The

Components of
the System
Unit

Chapter 4 Objectives
Differentiate
Differentiateamong
amongvarious
variousstyles
styles
of
ofsystem
systemunits
units
Identify
Identifychips,
chips,adapter
adaptercards,
cards,and
andother
other
components
componentsof
ofaamotherboard
motherboard
Describe
Describethe
thecomponents
componentsof
ofaaprocessor
processorand
andhow
how
they
theycomplete
completeaamachine
machinecycle
cycle
Identify
Identifycharacteristics
characteristicsof
ofvarious
variouspersonal
personal
computer
computerprocessors
processorson
onthe
themarket
markettoday
today
Define
Defineaabit
bitand
anddescribe
describehow
howaaseries
seriesof
ofbits
bits
represents
data
represents data
Explain
Explainhow
howprograms
programstransfer
transferinin
and
andout
outof
ofmemory
memory

Differentiate
Differentiateamong
amongthe
thevarious
various
types
typesof
ofmemory
memory
Describe
Describethe
thetypes
typesof
ofexpansion
expansionslots
slotsand
and
adapter
adaptercards
cards
Explain
Explainthe
thedifference
differenceamong
amongaaserial
serialport,
port,aa
parallel
parallelport,
port,aaUSB
USBport,
port,and
andother
otherports
ports
Describe
Describehow
howbuses
busescontribute
contributeto
toaa
computers
computersprocessing
processingspeed
speed
Identify
Identifycomponents
componentsininmobile
mobilecomputers
computers
and
andmobile
mobiledevices
devices

Next

The System Unit

What is the system unit?

Case that contains electronic

components of the computer used
to process data

p. 180 Fig. 4-1

Sometimes called
the chassis

Next

The System Unit

What are common components inside the system unit?

Processor
Memory
Adapter cards

Sound card
Modem card
Video card
Network card

power supply

drive bays

processor

memory
ports

sound card

Ports
Drive bays
Power supply
network card

p. 181 Fig. 4-2

modem card

video card

Next

The System Unit

What is the motherboard?

adapter cards
processor chip

Main circuit
board in system
unit
Contains adapter
cards, processor
chips, and
memory chips
Also called

system board
Click to view Web Link,
click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
Clock Motherboards
below Chapter 4
p. 182 Fig. 4-3

memory chips

memory slots
Expansion
slots for
adapter cards

motherboard

Next

The System Unit

What is a chip?

Small piece of semi-conducting

material on which integrated
circuits are fixed
Integrated circuits contain
many microscopic pathways
capable of carrying electrical
current
Chips are packaged so they can
be attached to a circuit board

dual inline
packages (DIP)
holds memory
chips

pin grid
array (PGA)
package
holds processor
chips

Click to view animation

p. 182 Fig. 4-4

Next

Processor
What is the central processing unit (CPU)?
Interprets

and carries
out basic instructions
that operate a computer
Control unit directs and
coordinates operations in
computer
Arithmetic logic unit
Input
(ALU) performs
Devices
arithmetic, comparison,
and logical operations

Also

called the processor

Processor
Control
Control
Unit
Unit

Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Logic
Logic Unit
Unit (ALU)
(ALU)
Instructions
Data
Informatio
n

Data

Memory

Information

Output
Devices

Instructions
Data
Informatio
n

Storage
Devices
p. 183 Fig. 4-5

Next

Processor
What is a machine cycle?

Four operations of the CPU comprise a machine cycle

Step 1. Fetch
Obtain program instruction
or data item from memory

Memory

Step 2.
Decode

Step 4. Store

Translate
instruction into
commands

Write result to memory

Processor

ALU

Step 3. Execute

Control Unit

Carry out command

p. 184 Fig. 4-6

Next

Processor
What is pipelining?

CPU begins fetching second instruction before

completing machine cycle for first instruction
Results in faster processing

p. 185 Fig. 4-7

Next

Processor
What is a register?

Temporary high-speed storage area that holds

data and instructions
Stores location
from where instruction
was fetched
Stores
instruction while it is
being decoded

Stores data
while ALU
computes it
Stores results
of calculation

p. 185

Next

Processor
What is the system clock?

Controls timing of all computer operations

Generates regular electronic pulses (or tick), that set
operating pace of components of system unit

Each tick
is a
clock cycle

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
Clock Speed
below Chapter 4
p. 185

Pace of system
clock is clock speed
Most clock speeds are
in the gigahertz (GHz)
range (1 GHz = one
billion ticks of system
clock per second)

Processor speed can

also be measured in
millions of instructions
per second (MIPS)

Next

Processor
How do personal computer processors compare?
ComparisonofWidelyUsed
PersonalComputerProcessors

Click to view video

p. 186 Fig. 4-8

Name
Introduced
Itanium2
Xeon
Itanium
Pentium4
PentiumIIIXeon
PentiumIII
Celeron
Operon
AthlonMP
AthlonXP
Athlon

Date
Speed
2002
2001
2001
2000
1999
1999
1998
2003
2002
2001
1999

Clock
1.31.5GHZ
1.43.06GHZ
733800MHZ
1.43.2GHZ
500900MHZ
400MHZ1.4GHZ
266MHZ2.6GHZ
22.4GHZ
1.532.25GHZ
1.332.26GHZ
500MHZ1.4GHZ
Next

Processor
Which processor should you select?
The faster the processor, the more expensive the computer
IntelProcessor

DesiredClockSpeed

ItaniumorXeon

1.3GHzandup

Pentiumfamily

3.0GHzandup
2.4GHzto3.0GHz
Upto2.4GHz

Celeron

2.2GHzandup

Click to view video

p. 188 Fig. 4-9

Next

Processor
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. 188

Next

Processor
What is a zero-insertion force (ZIF) socket?

Allows you to install and remove chips with no force

lever

lever

Step 1.

Step 2.

Step 3.

Lift the lever on the socket.

Insert the chip.

Push the lever down.

p. 189 Fig. 4-10

Next

Processor
What are heat sink and heat pipe?

Heat sinkcomponent
with fan that cools
processor
Heat pipe smaller
device for notebook
computers

heat sink fan

heat sink

p. 190 Fig. 4-11

Next

Processor
What is a coprocessor?

Chip
Chip that
that assists
assists processor
processorin
in
performing
performing specific
specific tasks
tasks
One
coprocessor
One type
type isis aa floating-point
floating-point coprocessor,
coprocessor,
also
coprocessor also
known
known as
as aa math
math or
ornumeric
numeric coprocessor
coprocessor

p. 190

Next

Processor
What is parallel processing?

Using multiple
processors
simultaneously to
execute a
program faster
Requires special
software to divide
problem and
bring results
together

p. 190 Fig. 4-12

Control Processor

Processor 1

Processor 2

Processor 3

Processor 4

Memory

Memory

Memory

Memory

Results combined

Next

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

Millisecond
Microsecond
Nanosecond
Picosecond
p. 200 Figs. 4-25-4-26

Speed

Onethousandthofasecond
Onemillionthofasecond
Onebillionthofasecond
Onetrillionthofasecond
Next