Inside the system N Technical specifications A Read the advertisement and translate the technical specifications into your own language. RE pear f Dell Inspiron 9200 © Intel Gore 2 Duo processor at 2.4GHz © 2048MB RAM, expandable to 41GB © 500GB hard drive © Comes with Windows Vista Home Premium SS & In pairs, answer these questions. If necessary, look at the Glossary. What is the main function of a computer's processor? 2 3) What does RAM stand for? at unit of frequency is used to measure p sssor speed? What is inside a PC system? Read the text on page 12 and then answer these questions. What are the main parts of the CPU? What does ALU stand for? What does it do? What is the function of the system clock? How much is one gigahertz? What type of memory is temporary? What type of memory is permanent and includes instructions needed by the CPU? How can RAM be increased? What term i used to refer to the main printed circuit board? What is a bus? What isthe benefit of having expansion slots? Boaovausunay Look at these extracts from the text. What do the words in bold refer to? This is built into a single chip. (line 2) ordinates ... (line 3) which executes program instructions a that is being executed. (ine 22) performance of a computer is partly determined by the speed of its processor. (line 25) the CPU looks for it on the hard disk ... (line 35) inside the computer to communicate with each other. (line 52) aueunagWhat is inside a PC system? Processing The nerve centre of a PC isthe processor, also called the CPU, or central processing unit. This bult into a single chip which executes program instructions and coordinates the activities that take place within the computer system. The chip itsels a smal piece of siicon with a complex electrical circuit called an integrated circuit The processor consists of three main parts: = The control unit examines the instructions in the user's program, interprets each instruction and causes the circuits and the rest of the components ~ monitor, disk drives etc. —t0 execute the functions specified. ‘The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs ‘mathematical calculations (+, -, et) and logical operations (AND, OR, NOT). The registers are high-speed units of memory used to store and control data. One of the registers (the program counter, or PC) keeps track Of the next instruction to be performed in the main memory. The other (the instruction register, ‘or IR) holds the instruction that is being executed (see Fig. 1 on page 13) The power and performance of a computer is partly determined by the speed of ts processor. A system lock sends out signals at fixed intervals to measure and synchronize the flow of data. Clock speed is measured in gigahertz (GHz). For example, a CPU running at 4GHe (four thousand million hertz, or cycles, per second) will enable your PC to handle the ‘most demanding applications. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor; other chip ‘manufacturers ‘are AMD and Motorola RAM and ROM The programs and data which pass through the processor must be loaded into the main memory in ‘order to be processed. Therefore, when the user runs 5. program, the CPU looks for iton the hard disk and transfers a copy into the RAM chips. RAM (random. access memory) is volatile ~ that i its information is lost when the computer is turned off. However, ROM (read only memory) is non-volatile, containing 4 instructions and routines for the basic operations of the CPU. The BIOS (basic input/output system) uses ROM to control communication with peripherals RAM capacity can be expanded by adding extra Chips, usualy contained in small circuit boards called dual in-line memory modules (DIMMS) ARAM chip Buses and cards The main circuit board inside your system is called the motherboard and contains the processor, the memory chips, expansions slots, and controllers for peripherals, connected by buses - electrical channels which allow devices inside the computer to communicate with each other. For example, the front side bus carties all data that passes from the CPU to other devices. The size of a bus, called bus width, determines how ‘much data can be transmitted. It can be compared to the number of lanes on a motorway ~ the larger the width, the more data can travel along the bus. For example, a 64-bit bus can transmit 64 bits of data, Expansion slots allow users to install expansion cards, adding features lke sound, memory and network capabilities. Adata bus‘Central processing unit (CPU) os Control unit Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) Main memory pc Resisters Ll opp 0 Fig, I: Organization ofa simple computer; the CPU is built into a single microprocessor chip 3 Language work: feta defining relative clauses Look at the HELP box and then complete the sentences below with suitable relative pronouns. Give alternative options if possible. Put brackets round the relative pronouns you can leave out. 1 That's the computer Vd like to buy. 2. Core 2 Duo is a new Intel processor Contains about 291 million transistors 3 Awebmasteris a person designs, develops and maintains a website, 4 Abusisan electronic pathway Carries signals between, computer devices. 5 Here's the DVD you lent me! 6 Last night | met someone works for GM as a software engineer.How memory is measured A Read the text and then answer these questions. 11 How many digits does a binary system use? Nhat is abit? awN What does ASCII stand for? What is the purpose of ASCII? Ettrotloies ‘Computers do all calculations using a code made of just two numbers — Oand 1. This system is called binary code. The electronic circuits in a digital computer detect the difference between two states: ON (the current passes through) or OFF the current doesn't pass through) and represent these states as 1 or 0. Each 1 or 0 is called a binary digit or bit Bits are grouped into eight-digit codes that typically represent characters (letters, numbers and symbols) Eight bits together are called a byte. Thus, each character (on a keyboard has its own arrangement of eight bits. For example, 01000001 forthe letter A, 01000010 for 8, and 01000011 for C. One bit Example ofa byte Unit of memory Binary digit bit.b Byte 8 kilobyte Megabyte MB Gigabyte e Terabyte B What ia collection of eight bits called? Computers use a standard code for the binary representation of characters. This is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, or ASC ~ pronounced fteski In order to avoid complex calculations of bytes, we use bigger units such as kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes. ‘We use these units to describe the RAM memory, the storage capacity of disks and the size of a program or document, Note: bit is pronounced /bu; byte is pronounced /bat/ 110,11 100... Abbreviation Exact memory amount toro Bits 1024 bytes (2 1,024 KB, or 1,048,576 bytes 2™) 1,024 MB, or 073,741,824 bytes (2") 1,024.6, 0 1,099511,627,76 bytes (2) B Complete these descriptions with the correct unit of memory. 1A magazines in a huge library is about one tillion bytes - about as much text as the books and is about one milion bytes ~ about as much text as a 300-page novel is about one thousand bytes - equivalent to one sheet of Aé. is about one billion bytes ~ about as much text as 1,000 books, ‘can store a single character, such as the letter h or number 7.5 apc system A. Complete this diagram of a PC system. Look at Units 1, 2 and 3 to help you. Programs, ‘Mechanical and eg. graphics package, electronic equipment web browser Physical units ‘Main memory attached to the computer The brainvof the = Output devices Keyboard (10) DVD drive Flash drive @) Printer B In pairs, compare your answers. C BBB Listen toa teacher explaining the diagram to her class and check your answers. 6 Your ideal computer system A. Make notes about the features of the computer that you would most like to have. Think about the features in the box. CPU Speed Optical disc drives Wireless connectivity Minimum/maximum RAM Monitor Portsand card memory lots Hard disk Software B EB) inpairs, describe your ideal computer system. Give reasons for your choices.