Overview of a computer system

All physical parts of the computer (or everything that we can touch) is
known as hardware. All of the components of a computer system can
be summarised with the simple equations below...

Software gives "intelligence" to the computer.

Basically all computers, regardless of their size, have the same general
design which consist of the following units: the central processing unit
(CPU), memory, and input/output circuitry which are situated on the
printed circuit board, also called the system board or
motherboard (figure of a motherboard).

Figure 2. This diagram describes the

relationships between the components of the
computer system.

The microprocessor is an integrated circuit that contains transistors,

diodes, resistors, and other components interconnected to form the
electronic circuit. The circuit is mounted in a metal or plastic package
and connections are welded to external pins. The circuit can be
accessed only through these pins. This design produces the following
benefits:

a reduction in size, cost, and power consumption;

an increase in operating speed;
a higher reliability.

Large computer systems can have many processors, so they are called
multiprocessor systems. The microcomputer is a system with a single
processor that fits on a single chip. This processor is called a
microprocessor.
The RAM and ROM chips provide memory to the computer. One of the
most important characteristics of memory is the amount of information
it can hold.
The input/output(I/O) devices are external devices (in relation to the
CPU) that are connected to the computer to provide means of the
communication between the user and the computer.
Disks (floppy, hard, or optical) and tapes are used to store information
for long periods of time.
Peripheral devices are connected to the computer through ports, or
sockets, that are mounted outside. Some peripherals (e.g. disk drives)
are located inside the computer case, so they are connected via
expansion slots.

a). The back of the computer showing the ports and

b). Expansion slots
sockets
Figure 3. How peripheral devices are connected to the computer

Peripheral devices
Peripheral devices are devices connected to the computer but external
in relation to the processing unit. If a peripheral device is
disconnected, the computer will still be able to work; only functions
performed by this peripheral device will not be available. For example,
if you disconnect a keyboard, you would not be able to type in
information but you will be able work with the graphical user interface
by clicking the mouse. If you remove the hard disk, you will have to
start up your computer using floppy disk and you will have to save
your data on floppy disks only but the computer will still be working.
Peripheral devices can reside inside the computer case or outside. For
example, a mouse, a keyboard, a monitor are always outside the case
and they are connected to the computer via ports which are situated
on the back of the case. Disk drives are positioned inside the case and
they are connected to the motherboard via disk controller cards which
are inserted in the expansion slots on the motherboard.

Peripheral devices are classified according to the purpose they serve:

Input devices are used for data input
Output devices are used for data output
Storage devices are used to store data for long periods of time

Every year new more sophisticated devices appear on the market and
prices on existing devices drop down dramatically.

RAM:
Types of RAM

There are different types of RAM used for different purposes. They
include: DRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO RAM, SDRAM, SRAM, EDRAM, VRAM,
WRAM and RDRAM.

DRAM

Dynamic Random Access Memory, or DRAM is the most common

type of memory chip. DRAM chips are the Integrated Circuits, or ICs,
positioned on a small Printed Circuit Board, or PCB. They come in
many capacities (usually 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 M) on the same PCB, and
install easily in special slots on the system board. (Older computers
may use socketed chips or may not be expandable at all.) It is
inexpensive. but slow so if you can afford more expensive memory go
for EDO RAM.

EDO Memory

Extended Data Output, or EDO RAM, is one of a series of recent

innovations in DRAM chip technology. On computer systems designed
to support it, EDO memory allows a CPU to access memory 10 to 15
percent faster than comparable fast-page mode chips.

Synchronous DRAM

Synchronous DRAM, or SDRAM, is a new DRAM technology that uses

a clock to synchronize signal input and output on a memory chip. The
clock is coordinated with the CPU clock so the timing of the memory
chips and the timing of the CPU are in 'synch'. Synchronous DRAM
saves time in executing commands and transmitting data, thereby
increasing the overall performance of the computer.

The summarised overview of different DRAM chips is shown in the

table below:

Type Where Used Description and Facts

DRAM
Main System DRAM is the most common type of computer memory.
Dynamic DRAMs are used mostly in main memory systems.
Memory and DRAM is volatile and slow, but inexpensive. DRAM is
Random used for memory read and writes and the data must be
Video Memory refreshed after each transfer.
Access Memory
FPM DRAM Main System FPM is also commonly used as the main system
memory. As microprocessor speeds advanced, more
Fast Page Mode Memory and memory throughput was required, resulting in the
development of the Fast Page Mode DRAM. FPM
DRAM Video Memory DRAM is similar to regular DRAM but faster.

EDO RAM Main System EDO is an improvement on the FPM design. Depending
on the type of system and the software applications,
EDO can provide approximately a 3% performance gain
Extended Data Memory and
over FPM DRAM if a secondary (L2) cache is in the
system, and approximately a 10% to 12% performance
Output RAM Video Memory gain if the L2 cache is not present.
Main System
SDRAM
Synchronous DRAM is a new memory with improved
Memory and performance, simpler design, and faster transfer rates
Synchronous than standard DRAM.
DRAM
Video Memory
SRAM SRAM is an extremely fast device that does not require
periodic refreshing. SRAM is used primarily in cache
Cache Memory
memories. SRAM is faster, bigger, and generates more
Static RAM heat than DRAM. It is also more expensive than DRAM.
EDRAM
EDRAM is positioned as a high-performance specialty
Cache Memory memory that combines DRAM and SRAM caches on
Enhanced one chip.
DRAM
VRAM, specialized RAM for video, offers higher
VRAM performance than DRAM. VRAM is dual ported, which
Video Memory allows simultaneous reads and writes of data. It
Video RAM requires a larger package than DRAM, and is more
expensive than DRAM, too.
WRAM technology evolved from its predecessor,
WRAM VRAM. Named after its ability to offer full-motion video,
Video Memory WRAM comes in a smaller package than VRAM. It has
Windows RAM added intelligence that makes it perform up to 50%
faster than VRAM.
RDRAM Future generation of DRAM with performance increases
of up to 20 fold over standard DRAM. With costs just
Video Memory
over 10% of standard DRAM, it is gaining acceptance in
RAMBUS DRAM the industry.

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Factors That Influence Personal

Computers Performance
1. The CPU.

High performance, compatibility and upgradability are features that are important. The
higher the generation, the better. For example, because of high performance new
features, Pentium 75 (fifth generation with the clock rate 75 MHz) will outperform
80486DX100 (which is the fourth generation CPU with the clock rate 100MHz).

Another important feature is word size measured in bits. 80386 and 80486 processors
are 32 bit whereas Pentiums are 64 bit processors, thus Pentiums can transfer twice as
much data at a time compared to third and fourth generation CPUs.

2. Clock rate.

Since any step of processing can happen only on the "tick" of the clock (called clock
cycle), the faster the rate the quicker the CPU works. The Intel486(TM) processor, for
example, is able to execute many of its instructions in one clock cycle, while previous
generations of Intel microprocessors require multiple clock cycles to execute a single
instruction. The Pentium processors have the ability to execute multiple instructions per
clock cycle due to the fact that the Pentium processor's two pipelines can execute two
 instructions simultaneously. If other modules of the system require more than one clock
pulse, the CPU has to wait for them to keep up. This is called a wait state.

3. RAM.

It does not make much sense to have a fast processor if you

don’t have fast RAM. But note: faster RAM is more expensive.

The amount of RAM is also important. Today, advanced operating

systems require at least 4 megabytes of memory just to boot up
a computer. Using more than one application at a time requires
at least 8 megabytes, and reasonable performance today calls
for 16 megabytes or more. The benefits of adding more RAM
include letting you open more applications at the same time, and
working with large files or documents. More memory may also
make your machine run much faster.

The quality of DRAM chips used in a memory module is the most

important component in determining the overall quality and
reliability of RAM. So which chips to consider?

Enhanced Data Output (EDO) DRAM provides faster data

throughput. Systems using EDO DRAM will be faster than similar
systems using regular DRAM. EDO DRAM provides even higher
performance benefit when used with an L2 cache.

Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM) can be thought of as RAM that carries

its own cache on each module. In an EDRAM-based system,
essentially the entire system memory bank is the cache. This can
provide dramatic performance improvements. However, at this
time, EDRAM is scarce, very expensive and has not been
adopted by many system vendors.

4. Cache presence and size.

L1 Cache.

The bigger the on-chip cache size, the better since more
instructions and data can be stored on the chip, reducing the
number of times the processor has to access slower, off-chip
memory areas to get data. For example, Intel has doubled on-
chip cache size to 32K on the Intel Pentium processor with MMX
technology.

L2 Cache.
 System memories composed of dynamic RAM (DRAM) alone have
not been able to keep up with the dramatic increases in CPU
speeds over the years. In order to optimize the memory
performance in these systems, designers are implementing
architectures using cache memory, resulting in speed increases
up to 45%. Expanding secondary cache (e.g. from 128K to 512K)
can greatly improve the performance of some applications.

In a recent industry magazine test of notebook computers, a 486

machine with L2 cache outperformed a Pentium 90 machine
without L2 cache by 30%.

5. Data bus type and size.

The data bus is the highway that carries information between the processor and the
memory subsystem. The wider the data bus, the more information it can transfer.
Because of its external 64-bit data bus, the Pentium processor can transfer data to and
from memory at rates up to 528 Mbytes/second (five times faster than the transfer rate of
the Intel486 (TM) DX2-66MHz microprocessor).

The PCI local bus greatly improves I/O performance. It can

transfer data between the processor and the peripherals at up to
132 MB/second, far faster than the ISA bus rate of 5 MB/second.

6. Hard disk capacity and seek time.

High-performance hard drives have at least 1.2 G of capacity, provide an average seek
time of 12 milliseconds, a 128 to 256 K hard disk buffer cache with both write-caching
and read-caching capabilities, and spin about 4,500 rotations per minute. (You may be
familiar with using a disk cache, such as Microsoft SmartDrive, which uses a small RAM
buffer to speed up access to a large hard disk.)

7. Videocard.

A full-featured PCI-compliant VGA card, with at least 1 to 2 MB of video RAM, will further
accelerate graphics performance.

8. CD-ROM drive speed.

At the time of writing of these notes the slowest CD-ROM drive available on the market is
quad speed. It may be enough, if you are not running applications from CD-ROM, but
only installing them. Otherwise look at octal or ten-speed technologies.

9. MMX processors.

Multimedia extensions processors (MMX) is designed specifically to support media-rich

software and communications applications.. The Pentium processor with MMX
technology will give a better, smoother and more realistic multimedia experience. These
processors have got 57 powerful new instructions specifically designed to manipulate and
process video, audio and graphical data efficiently. However, your system will require
software designed for MMX technology (old software must be recompiled to take
advantage of new MMX features).
Data inside the computer is represented in form of electrical pulses,
when high voltage is often denoted by 1 (or on) and low voltage is
denoted by 0 (or off).

Because we are using only two digits, 0 and 1, for data representation
we are actually using the binary number system, where 0 and 1 are
often referred to as binary digits. The abbreviation of "binary digit",
bit, is accepted as a basic unit when we measure amounts of
information. All keys on the keyboard are coded with the combination
of 0s and 1s. When you press any key, a corresponding sequence of 0s
and 1s is sent to the memory inside the computer (see an example of
what happens when a user presses keys on a keyboard).

When a computer gets the sequence of binary digits, how can it know
when the first character stops and the next one starts? The easiest
solution was to make all characters to consist of the same number of
digits. But how many digits?

First how many characters do we need to code? 26 upper case letters,

26 lower case letters, 10 decimal digits, punctuation and lots of special
characters. Altogether to cover all these characters and all keys on the
keyboard we need 256 codes. With one digit we can code two
characters only. With two digits we can code 22 = 4 characters. If we
proceed this way, we'll get the following table of powers of 2:

From the table we can see that to represent 256 characters we need 8
digits. What to do if the binary representation of a character is less
than 8 digits? For example, upper case letter A is coded as 65 using
decimal system which is 1000001 in binary. There are only 7 digits
here. Place leading 0 (zero) and you get 8 digits without changing the
actual value of the number (like in decimal system 5, 05 or 005 will
have the same value).

So every character occupies 8 bits of memory or 8 bits of

secondary storage. The word "HELLO." consists of 6 characters (5
letters and one full stop) and occupies 6*8=48 bits. The word
"computer" consists of 8 characters and occupies 8*8=64 bits.
Whatever amount of information you measure in bits, you will
always get a multiple of 8. That is why another unit of measure,
called byte, was introduced.

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A group of 8 bits is called a byte.

As amounts of data being processed keep growing, other units of

measure were created.

1 Kilobyte = 1024 bytes

Outside computing, a kilo means 1000. However, in computer

environment, all measures should be powers of 2 and closest to 1000
will be 1024 which is 210. Kilobyte is often abbreviated as K or Kbyte.

Today computer memory is measured in thousands of kilobytes or

Megabytes and secondary storage is measured in millions of kilobytes
or Gigabytes. A Megabyte is often represented as Mbyte or M. A
Gigabyte is abbreviated as G.

1 Megabyte = 1024 K = 10242 bytes

1 Gigabyte = 1024 M = 10242 K = 10243 bytes

1 Terabyte = 1024 G = 10242 M = 10243 K = 10244 bytes

In programming languages, a variable is a named memory location

created to keep data. But what amount of data? This depends on the
type of the variable. If a variable is of type character, it will occupy
only 1 byte of memory. A variable of type integer on a personal
computer in most programming environments will occupy 2 bytes of
memory. For example, if variable named Number is of type character
and holds the value of `4' it will occupy only one byte. But if it is of
type integer with the value 4, it will occupy 2 bytes.

CPU:

Description: The CPU is the circuitry that performs the arithmetic and
logic operations and executes instruction. The CPU dictates the
configuration and class to which a PC belongs. It contains

• a microprocessor which is a single integrated circuit that contains the circuit

for both the arithmatic logic unit and the control unit
• an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) which performs arithmatic operations such
as addition and subtraction
• registers which hold the data that is being processed.
• a control unit that directs and co-ordinates processing.

Different types of Mother Boards:

Ampro {Embedded Processor}

ASUS {MotherBoard with PCI Express slots}

Gigabyte Technology {Mother Board with PCI Express slots - SATA}

Intel {Mother Board with PCI Express slots}

MSI 'Micro-Star International'

What Is BIOS?

Acronym for basic input/output system, the built-in software that

determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from
a disk. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the
keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a
number of miscellaneous functions.

Latest Configuration:

Processor: Core Duo 2.4

RAM: 2GB

946 Mother Board : INTEL

Hard Disk: 300 GB

Monitor: 19 Inch Flatron

DVD Writer: 24X

Technical Acumen

 If a customer clicks on a _____________it will take them to another web page.

Hyper Link

 What is the maximum amount of data that can be stored on a standard CD ROM

650MB/700 MB

 How would a CD be removed from the tray if the CD ROM were not getting

power.

With a Paper Clip

 How do you minimize a window in a windows system ?

One Option would be Press Windows Key +M,

 Which port on the computer does a printer connect to ?

 USB, Parallel Port

 Where will you find the file resume.doc if the search results show you

c:\\ mydocuments/ravi/resume.doc.

My documents

 In case there has been a power loss- what will happen to the data unsaved in the

windows environment ?

Data will be lost

 Name one Microsoft desktop operating system ?

Win 95/98/2000, NT

 ____________ is the interface which allow user to interact with the computer

Operating System

Give me an example of temporary storage device. RAM