Discovering

Computers 2010
Living in a Digital World
Objectives Overview

See Page 209 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 2

for Detailed Objectives Chapter 4
Objectives Overview

See Page 209 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 3

for Detailed Objectives Chapter 4
The System Unit

• The system unit is a case that contains electronic

components of the computer used to process data

Page 210 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 4

Figure 4-1 Chapter 4
The System Unit

• The inside of the system unit on a desktop

personal computer includes:

Page 211 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 5

Figure 4-2 Chapter 4
The System Unit

• The motherboard is the main circuit board of the

system unit
– A computer chip contains integrated circuits

Page 212 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 6

Figure 4-3 Chapter 4
Processor

• The processor, also called the central processing

unit (CPU), interprets and carries out the basic
instructions that operate a computer
– Contain a control unit and an arithmetic logic unit
(ALU)

Page 213 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 7

Chapter 4
Processor

Page 213 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 8

Figure 4-4 Chapter 4
Processor

• The control unit is the component of the

processor that directs and coordinates most of
the operations in the computer
• The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs
arithmetic, comparison, and other operations

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Page 214 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 9
Chapter 4
Processor

• For every instruction, a processor repeats a set of

four basic operations, which comprise a machine
cycle

Page 215 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 10

Figure 4-5 Chapter 4
Processor

• Most current personal

computers support
pipelining
– Processor begins
fetching a second
instruction before it
completes the machine
cycle for the first
instruction

Pages 215 – 216 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 11

Figure 4-6 Chapter 4
Processor

Page 216 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 12

Chapter 4
Processor

• The leading
manufacturers of
personal computer
processor chips are Intel
and AMD

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Pages 216 – 217 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 13
Figure 4-7 Chapter 4
Processor

• Determine how you plan to use a new computer

before selecting a processor

Page 218 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 14

Figure 4-8 Chapter 4
Processor

• A processor chip
generates heat that
could cause the chip to
burn up
• Require additional
cooling
– Heat sinks
– Liquid cooling
technology
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Pages 219 - 220 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 15
Figures 4-9 – 4-10 Chapter 4
Processor

• Parallel processing uses multiple processors

simultaneously to execute a single program or task
– Massively parallel processing involves hundreds or thousands of
processors

Page 220 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 16

Figure 4-11 Chapter 4
Data Representation

Page 221 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 17

Chapter 4
Data Representation
A computer circuit represents Eight bits grouped together as a
the 0 or the 1 electronically by unit are called a byte. A byte
the presence or absence of an represents a single character in
electrical charge the computer

Page 221 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 18

Figures 4-12 – 4-13 Chapter 4
Data Representation

• ASCII (American
Standard Code for
Information
Interchange) is the most
widely used coding
scheme to represent
data

Page 221 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 19

Figure 4-14 Chapter 4
Data Representation

Page 222 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 20

Figure 4-15 Chapter 4
Memory

• Memory consists of electronic components that

store instructions waiting to be executed by the
processor, data needed by those instructions, and
the results of processing the data
• Stores three basic categories of items:

Page 223 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 21

Chapter 4
Memory

• Each location in memory has an address

• Memory size is measured in kilobytes (KB or K),
megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes
(TB)

Page 223 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 22

Figure 4-17 Chapter 4
Memory

• The system unit contains two types of memory:

Pages 223 - 224 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 23

Chapter 4
Memory

Page 224 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 24

Figure 4-18 Chapter 4
Memory

• Three basic types of RAM chips exist:

Page 225 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 25

Figure 4-19 Chapter 4
Memory

• RAM chips usually reside on a memory module

and are inserted into memory slots

Page 225 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 26

Figure 4-20 Chapter 4
Memory

• The amount of RAM necessary in a computer

often depends on the types of software you plan
to use

Page 226 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 27

Figure 4-21 Chapter 4
Memory

• Memory cache speeds the processes of the computer

because it stores frequently used instructions and data

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Page 227 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 28
Figure 4-22 Chapter 4
Memory

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Page 228 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 29
Chapter 4
Memory

• Flash memory can be erased electronically and

rewritten
– CMOS technology provides high speeds and consumes
little power

Pages 228 – 229 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 30

Figure 4-23 Chapter 4
Memory

• Access time is the amount of time it takes the

processor to read from memory
– Measured in nanoseconds

Page 229 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 31

Figures 4-24 – 4-25 Chapter 4
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
• An expansion slot is a
socket on the motherboard
that can hold an adapter
card
• An adapter card enhances
functions of a component of
the system unit and/or
provides connections to
peripherals
– Sound card and video card
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Page 230 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 32
Figure 4-26 Chapter 4
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

• With Plug and Play, the computer automatically

can configure adapter cards and other peripherals
as you install them

Pages 230 – 231 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 33

Figure 4-27 Chapter 4
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

• Removable flash memory includes:

– Memory cards, USB flash drives, and PC
Cards/ExpressCard modules

Page 231 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 34

Figure 4-28 Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors

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Page 232 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 35
Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors

Page 232 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 36

Figure 4-29 Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors

• On a notebook computer, the ports are on the

back, front, and/or sides

Pages 232 - 233 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 37

Figure 4-30 Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors

Page 233 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 38

Figure 4-31 Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors

• A USB port can connect up to 127 different

peripherals together with a single connector
– You can attach multiple peripherals using a single USB
port with a USB hub

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Page 234 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 39
Figure 4-32 Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors

• Other types of ports include:

Pages 234 - 236 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 40

Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors
A Bluetooth wireless port A smart phone might
adapter converts a USB port into communicate with a notebook
a Bluetooth port computer using an IrDA port

Page 235 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 41

Figures 4-33 – 4-34 Chapter 4
Ports and Connectors
• A port replicator is an
external device that
provides connections to
peripherals through ports
built into the device
• A docking station is an
external device that
attaches to a mobile
computer or device

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Page 236 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 42
Figure 4-35 Chapter 4
Buses
• A bus allows the various
devices both inside and
attached to the system
unit to communicate with
each other
– Data bus
– Address bus
• Word size is the number
of bits the processor can
interpret and execute at a
given time

Page 237 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 43

Figure 4-36 Chapter 4
Buses

• Expansion slots connect to expansion buses

• Common types of expansion buses include:

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Page 238 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 44
Chapter 4
Bays

• A bay is an opening
inside the system unit in
which you can install
additional equipment
– A drive bay typically
holds disk drives

Page 238 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 45

Figure 4-37 Chapter 4
Power Supply

Page 239 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 46

Chapter 4
Putting It All Together

Page 239 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 47

Figure 4-38 Chapter 4
Putting It All Together

Page 239 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 48

Figure 4-38 Chapter 4
Keeping Your Computer
or Mobile Device Clean

Page 240 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 49

Chapter 4
Video: The Leopard with a Time Machine

CLICK TO START

Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 50

Chapter 4
Summary

Page 241 Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World 51

Chapter 4
Discovering
Computers 2010
Living in a Digital World

Chapter 4 Complete