Internal Hardware Components of a Computer Flashcards
What is the purpose of a computer’s processor?
• Execute program instructions in order to run applications.
What is the main memory?
ROM
RAM
What is the purpose of main memory?
• A computer uses its main memory which includes RAM & ROM to store program instructions and frequently used data.
What is an advantage of using main memory?
Main memory is usually much faster than secondary storage so storing frequently used data in RAM & ROM helps the processor to execute instructions quickly.
What is a bus?
A series of parallel wires that connects internal components of a computer system, allowing signals to be passed between them.
What is the width of a bus?
The number of parallel wires in a bus is called its width.
What relationship is present in the width?
The width has a direct relationship to the number of bits that can be transferred simultaneously by the bus.
What are the three important busses?
- Address bus
- Data bus
- Control bus
What is the purpose of the address bus?
• Address bus is used to transport memory addresses, specifying where data is to be sent or retrieved from.
What happens if you change the width of the address bus?
• Increasing the width of the address bus increases the range of addresses that it can specify, hence increasing the computer’s amount of addressable memory.
What is the correlation between address bus width and addressable memory?
Increasing the range of the address bus increases the range of addresses that it can specify, hence increasing the computer’s amount of addressable memory.
What does adding a single wire to the address bus do?
Doubles the number of addressable memory locations.
What is an addressable memory location?
Portion of memory that can be accessed by its address.
What occurs if there are not enough addresses available?
Some portions memory may go unused
What is the purpose of the data bus?
• Sends data and instructions to and from the different components of the computer system.
