Chapter 4 Flashcards
Hardware
Physical components of a computer
Central processing unit (CPU)
Primary microprocessor that behaves as the brain of the computer, controls all functions performed by other components, and processes all the commands it receives. Housed inside the system unit on the motherboard, consists of two parts: arithmetic logic and the control unit
Processor
Short for CPU, brain of computer
Motherboard
The main circuit board of a computer, which houses the CPU, drives controllers and interfaces, expansion slots, data buses, ports and connectors, the BIOS and memory. It provides a way for devices to attach to the computer
Arithmetic logic (ALU)
The part of a processor that performs arithmetic ( addition and subtraction) and logic calculations
Control Unit
The part of the processor that manages the movement of data through the CPU
Instruction cycle
The steps a CPU uses to process data: fetch, decode, execute, store, aka machine cycle
Machine or instruction cycle
Fetch: an instruction is retrieved from the main memory
Decode: the control unit translates the instruction into a computer command
Execute: The ALU processes the command
Store: the results are written back to memory (stored)
Clock speed
The speed at which a processor executes the instruction cycle
Gigahertz (GHZ)
A measure of the speed at which a processor executes the information cycle. 1 GHz is equal to 1 billion cycles per second
Floating point operations per second (FLOPS)
A measurement of computer performance typically used to describe super computers
Multi core processor
A processor that consists of two or more processors integrated on a single chip
Graphics processing unit
A processor found on a video card
Bitcoin
An anonymous digital encrypted currency
Parallel processing
The process of using multiple processors, or multi core processors to divide up processing tasks
Hyper threading
A virtual form of parallel processing, used in processors built by Intel, which enables a single CPU to appear as two logical processors
Pipelining
A method used by a single processor to process multiple instructions simultaneously. As soon as the first instruction has moved from the fetch stage to the decode stage, the processor fetches the next instruction
Heat sink
A part of the cooling system of a computer mounted above the CPU and composed of metal or ceramic to draw heat away from the processor
System unit
The case that encloses and protects the power supply, motherboard, CPU, and memory of a computer
Peripheral devices
Components that serve the input, output, and storage functions of a computer system
Drive controller
A component located on the motherboard that provides a drive interface, which connects disk drives to the processor
SATA (serial advanced technology attachment)
The standard internal drive interface
EIDE (enhanced integrated drive electronics)
A legacy drive interface found on the motherboards of older personal computers
Expansion cards
A card that plugs directly into an expansion slot on a motherboard and enables you to connect additional peripheral devices to a computer. Also called an adapter card.
Expansion slot
A interface on a motherboard that expansion cards plug into
PCIe (PCI Express)
A faster version of PCI used to connect peripheral devices to a computer
PCI (Peripheral component interconnect)
A legacy type of expansion slot on a motherboard used to connect peripheral devices to a computer
Data buses
A wire on a motherboard over which information flows between the components of a computer
Ports
A connection point that is used to attach a peripheral device to a motherboard
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
A standard port type that is used to connect many types of devices including, printers, keyboards, mice, digital cameras etc. up to 127 devices an share a single usb port
Hot swappable
A device that can be plugged in and unplugged without turning off the computer
FireWire
A hot swappable port that can connect up to 63 ports, it also allows for peer to peer communication between devices, such as two video cameras, without the use of a computer. Also known as IEEE 1394
Thunderbolt
A port that carries both PCIe and DisplayPort video signals on the same cable so it can be used to connect many different types of peripherals to a computer
Bluetooth
A technology that connects peripherals wirelessly at short ranges
Memory
Temporary storage that a computer uses to hold instructions and data
Volatile memory
Requires power, memory is lost when power is turned off
Nonvolatile memory
Does not need power to maintain its data
BIOS ( basic input/output system)
A program stored in a chip on a motherboard that is used to start up a computer