Chapter 4 - The Components of the System Unit

The System Unit

° Box-like case that houses the electronic components of the computer used to process data

° All computers have a system unit

° Sometimes called the chassis

What is the motherboard?

What electronic components are found on the motherboard?

What chip packages are available?

Central Processing Unit

What is the central processing unit (CPU)?

What are the components of the central processing unit (CPU )?

What is the control unit?

What is a machine cycle?

How is the speed of the CPU measured?

What are two designs used for the CPU?

What is the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU)?

What is pipelining?

What is a register?

What is the system clock?

What is a personal computer processor?

Who are the personal computer processor manufacturers?

How do personal computer processors compare?

How are processors upgraded?

How do you install a processor?

How do heat sinks and heat pipes protect the processor?

What is a coprocessor?

What is parallel processing?

Data Representation

How do computers represent data?

What is the binary system?

What is a byte?

What are two popular coding systems to represent data?

How is a character sent from the keyboard to the computer?

Memory

What is memory?

° Bytes are the basic storage unit in memory

° Each byte is stored at a specific location in memory called an address

How is memory measured?

What are the two types of memory in the system unit?

What is random access memory (RAM)?

How are applications transferred in and out of RAM?

What are the two basic types of RAM chips?

What is a memory module?

How much RAM is needed?

What is memory cache?

What are the three types of cache?

What is read-only memory (ROM)?

What are types of ROM?

What is flash memory?

What is CMOS?

What is memory access time?

Expansion Slots and Expansion Cards

What is an expansion slot?

What are the uses of expansion cards?

What are four common types of expansion cards?

What is Plug and Play?

What is a PC card?

What are the three types of PC Cards?

What is a flash memory card?

Ports

What is a port?

What is a connector?

What are the different types of connectors?

What is a serial port?

What is a parallel port?

What is a universal serial bus port (USB)?

How are multiple USB devices connected?

What are other special-purpose ports?

Buses

What is a bus?

What are the two basic types of buses?

What are the types of expansion buses?

Bays

What is a bay?

What is a power supply?

Mobile Computers

What is a mobile computer?

What is inside a mobile computer?

What ports are on a notebook computer?

How is data transferred from a handheld computer?

Putting It All Together

What are suggested processor, clock speed, and RAM requirements based on the needs of various types of users?

Summary of the Components of the System Unit

° The system unit

° Central processing unit

° Data representation

° Memory

° Expansion slots and expansion cards

° Ports, buses, bays

° Power supply

° Mobile computers

Chapter 4 Complete