CHAPTER 4

• SYSTEM UNIT COMPONENTS

1
Objectives Overview

Differentiate among various Describe the control unit

Identify chips, adapter
styles of system units on and arithmetic logic unit
cards, and other
desktop computers, components of a processor,
components of a
notebook computers, and and explain the four steps
motherboard
mobile devices in a machine cycle

Identify characteristics of
various personal computer Define a bit and describe Explain how program
processors on the market how a series of bits instructions transfer in and
today, and describe the represents data out of memory
ways processors are cooled

2
Objectives Overview

Differentiate between a port and

Describe the purpose and types
a connector, and explain the
of expansion slots and adapter
Differentiate among the various differences among a USB port,
cards, and differentiate among
types of memory FireWire port, Bluetooth port,
slots for various removable flash
SCSI port, eSATA port, IrDA port,
memory devices
serial port, and MIDI port

Explain the purpose of a power Understand how to clean a

Describe the types of buses in a
supply and describe how it keeps system unit on a computer or
computer
cool mobile device

See Page 209 3

for Detailed Objectives
The System Unit

• The system unit is

a case that
contains
electronic
components of
the computer
used to process
data

4
The System Unit

• The inside of the system unit on a desktop

personal computer includes:
Drive bay(s)

Power supply

Sound card

Video card

Processor

Memory
5
The System Unit

• The motherboard is the main circuit board of the

system unit
– A computer chip contains integrated circuits

6
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)

Multi-core Dual-core Quad-core

processor processor processor

Page 213 7
Processor

Page 213 8
Figure 4-4
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

Page 214 9
Processor

• For every instruction, a processor repeats a set of

four basic operations, which comprise a machine
cycle

Page 215 10
Figure 4-5
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 11

Figure 4-6
Processor

The processor contains registers, that

temporarily hold data and instructions

The system clock controls the timing

of all computer operations
• The pace of the system clock is called the clock
speed, and is measured in gigahertz (GHz)
Page 216 12
Processor

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

Pages 216 – 217 13

Figure 4-7
Processor

• Determine how you plan to use a new computer

before selecting a processor

Page 218 14
Figure 4-8
Processor

• A processor chip
generates heat that
could cause the chip to
burn up
• Require additional
cooling
– Heat sinks
– Liquid cooling
technology

Pages 219 - 220 15

Figures 4-9 – 4-10
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 16
Figure 4-11
Data Representation

Analog signals are continuous and vary in

strength and quality

Digital signals are in one of two states: on

or off
• Most computers are digital
• The binary system uses two unique digits (0 and 1)
• Bits and bytes
Page 221 17
Data Representation
A computer circuit represents the Eight bits grouped together as a
0 or the 1 electronically by the unit are called a byte. A byte
presence or absence of an represents a single character in
electrical charge the computer

Page 221 18
Figures 4-12 – 4-13
Data Representation

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

Page 221 19
Figure 4-14
Data Representation

Page 222 20
Figure 4-15
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:
Data being
The operating
Application processed and the
system and other
programs resulting
system software
information

Page 223 21
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 22
Figure 4-17
Memory

• The system unit contains two types of memory:

Volatile memory Nonvolatile memory

Loses its contents when Does not lose contents

power is turned off when power is removed

Examples include ROM,

Example includes RAM flash memory, and
CMOS

Pages 223 - 224 23

Memory

Page 224 24
Figure 4-18
Memory

• Three basic types of RAM chips exist:

Dynamic RAM Magnetoresistive
Static RAM (SRAM)
(DRAM) RAM (MRAM)

Page 225 25
Figure 4-19
Memory

• RAM chips usually reside on a memory module

and are inserted into memory slots

Page 225 26
Figure 4-20
Memory

• The amount of RAM necessary in a computer

often depends on the types of software you plan
to use

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Figure 4-21
Memory

• Memory cache speeds the processes of the computer

because it stores frequently used instructions and data

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Figure 4-22
Memory

Read-only memory (ROM) refers to memory chips

storing permanent data and instructions
• Firmware

A PROM (programmable read-only memory) chip is

a blank ROM chip that can be written to
permanently
• EEPROM can be erased

Page 228 29
Memory

• Flash memory can be erased electronically and

rewritten
– CMOS technology provides high speeds and consumes
little power

Pages 228 – 229 30

Figure 4-23
Memory

• Access time is the amount of time it takes the

processor to read from memory
– Measured in nanoseconds

Page 229 31
Figures 4-24 – 4-25
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

Page 230 32
Figure 4-26
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 33

Figure 4-27
Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

• Removable flash memory includes:

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

Page 231 34
Figure 4-28
Ports and Connectors

A port is the point at which a peripheral attaches to or

communicates with a system unit (sometimes referred
to as a jack)

A connector joins a cable to a port

Page 232 35
Ports and Connectors

Page 232 36
Figure 4-29
Ports and Connectors

• On a notebook computer, the ports are on the

back, front, and/or sides

Pages 232 - 233 37

Figure 4-30
Ports and Connectors

Page 233 38
Figure 4-31
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

Page 234 39
Figure 4-32
Ports and Connectors

• Other types of ports include:

Firewire Bluetooth
SCSI port
port port

eSATA port IrDA port Serial port

MIDI port

Pages 234 - 236 40

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 41
Figures 4-33 – 4-34
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

Page 236 42
Figure 4-35
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 43
Figure 4-36
Buses

• Expansion slots connect to expansion buses

• Common types of expansion buses include:

PCI Express Accelerated

PCI bus
bus Graphics Port

USB and
PC Card bus
FireWire bus

Page 238 44
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 45
Figure 4-37
Power Supply

The power supply converts the wall

outlet AC power into DC power

Some external peripherals have an AC

adapter, which is an external power
supply
Page 239 46
Putting It All Together

Home Small Office/ Mobile

Intel Core i5 or Home Office Intel Core i7 Extreme or
Intel Core 2 i3 or Intel Core i7 or Intel Core i7 or
AMD Athlon II or Intel Core i7 Extreme or AMD Phenom II or
AMD Sempron AMD Phenom II or AMD Turion II
AMD Athlon II
Minimum RAM: 2 GB Minimum RAM: 2 GB
Minimum RAM: 4 GB

Page 239 47
Figure 4-38
Putting It All Together

Power Enterprise
Intel Xeon or Intel Core i7 or
Intel Itanium or Intel Core i7 Extreme
AMD Opteron or AMD Phenom II or
Minimum RAM: 8 GB AMD Athlon II

Minimum RAM: 4 GB

Page 239 48
Figure 4-38
Keeping Your Computer
or Mobile Device Clean

Clean your computer or mobile device once or twice a year

Turn off and unplug your computer or mobile device before

cleaning it

Use compressed air to blow away dust

Use an antistatic wipe to clean the exterior of the case and a

cleaning solution and soft cloth to clean the screen
Page 240 49
Video: The Leopard with a Time Machine

CLICK TO START

50
Summary

Sequence of operations
How memory stores
Components of the that occur when a
data, instructions, and
system unit computer executes an
information
instruction

Comparison of various
How to clean the
personal computer
exterior and interior of
processors on the
a system unit
market today

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