Personal Computer Adapted by Dr. Semmes from Mrs. Jungman’s Hardware Presentation and Mrs. Belisle’s Class Notes

System Unit

The Motherboard  Main circuit board in the system unit  Contains many electronic components  “backbone” of computer

Central Processing Unit (CPU, Processor, Microprocessor) What are the components of the central processing unit? CPU Arithmetic/ Logic Unit (ALU) Control Unit

Central Processing Unit A student enters a math problem into the memory of the computer Step 1: The control unit fetches the math problem from memory Step 2: The control unit decodes the math problem and sends it to the ALU Step 3: The ALU executes the math problem Step 4: The results of the math problem are stored in memory The result in memory displays on the screen of the monitor What is a machine cycle?  Together the four operations of the CPU comprise a machine cycle

Central Processing Unit How is the speed of the CPU measured?  According to how many millions of instructions per second (MIPS) it can process

Data Representation What is the binary system? Binary Digit (bit) Electronic Charge Electronic State  A number system that has just two unique digits, 0 and 1 A single digit is called a bit (binary digit) A bit is the smallest unit of data the computer can represent By itself a bit is not very informative  The two digits represent the two off and on states

Data Representation What is a byte? 8-bit byte for the number 3 8-bit byte for the number 5 8-bit byte for the capital letter T  Eight bits are grouped together to form a byte  0s and 1s in each byte are used to represent individual characters such as letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation

Data Representation  American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)

Memory Bytes are the basic storage unit in memory Each byte is stored at a specific location in memory called an address How are bytes stored?  Each address has a unique identifying number, like the seats on an airplane seat C22seat B22seat A22  Each address can hold only a single byte  Each address can be full or empty

Memory How is memory measured?  Size of memory is measured by the number of bytes available Kilobyte - 1,024 bytes Megabyte - one million bytes

Storage (hard disk) RAM Step 3: When you quit Word, RAM may be used to store another program or data. The program is removed from the screen and the operating system’s user interface redisplays. Step 1: When your computer is running, certain operating system files are in RAM. Shown here is the operating system’s user interface. Step 2: When you start a word processing program such as Word, the program loads into RAM from a hard disk. As you create a document, it is in RAM and displays on your screen. Step 4: When you start a spreadsheet program such as Excel, the program loads into RAM from a hard disk. As you create a spreadsheet, it is in RAM and displays on your screen. Memory How are applications transferred in and out of RAM? Step 5: When you quit Excel, RAM may be used to store another program or data. Excel is removed from your screen and the operating system’s user interface redisplays.

Semiconductors, Chips Transistors Transistors

Hard Drive Primary Storage Reads and Writes to hard disk Measured in gigabytes

Power Supply Provides Power Regulates Voltage

Let’s Go Shopping Processor (CPU) How Fast? Memory How Much? Hard Drive How Big? Operating System Windows XP Warranty Dell Website Dell Outlet

Use Your Own Data Printout Info and Make Slide

16hardware dellchoice.ppt is file for your slide ($ limit) hardware.doc has questions you should answer