The Components of the System Unit

Objectives Overview
1 Differentiate among various styles of 5 Describe the purpose and types of expansion
system units on desktop slots and
computers, notebook computers, and adapter cards
mobile devices

2 Describe the control unit and arithmetic 6 Differentiate between a port and a connector,
logic unit components and explain
of a processor, and explain the four steps the differences among a USB port and other
in a machine cycle ports

3 Define a bit and describe how a series of

7 Describe the types of buses in a computer
bits represents data

4 Differentiate among the various types of 8 Understand how to clean a system unit on a
memory: RAM, cache, computer or
ROM, flash memory, and CMOS mobile device
The System Unit

• The system unit is a case

that contains electronic
components of the
computer used to process
data
The System Unit
 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
 The System Unit
THE MOTHEBOARD
• The motherboard is the main circuit board of the system unit
• A computer chip contains integrated circuits
 The System Unit Cont.’
THE PROCESSOR
• The processor, also
called the central
processing unit (CPU),
interprets and carries 1Core (Pentium 3) Core 2
out the basic
instructions that
operate a computer
• Contains a Control
Unit and an
Arithmetic Logic
Unit (ALU) Quad Core (i3)
Quad Core (i7)
The System Unit Cont.’
 The System Unit Cont.’
THE 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
 Processor
• For every instruction, a processor repeats a set of four basic operations, which
comprise a machine cycle
 Processor
• Most current personal
computers support
pipelining

• Processor begins
fetching a second
instruction before it
completes the machine
cycle for the first
instruction
 Processor Cont.’
• 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)
Processor Cont.’
 Processor
• Determine how you plan to use a new computer before selecting a processor
 Processor Cont.’
• A processor chip
generates heat that
could cause the chip to
burn up

• Require additional
cooling
• Heat sinks
• Liquid cooling
technology
 Processor Cont.’
• Parallel processing uses multiple processors simultaneously to execute a single
program or task
• Massively parallel processing involves hundreds or thousands of processors
 Data Representation

• Analogue 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
 Data Representation cont.’
• A computer circuit represents the 0 • Eight bits grouped together as a unit
or the 1 electronically by the are called a byte. A byte represents a
presence or absence of an electrical single character in the computer
charge
 Data Representation

• ASCII (American Standard

Code for Information
Interchange) is the most
widely used coding
scheme to represent data
 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
 Memory Cont.’
• Each location in memory has an address
• Memory size is measured in kilobytes (KB or K), megabytes (MB), gigabytes
(GB), or terabytes (TB)
• ASSIGNMENT: Find the rest of Memory sizes?
 MEMORY CONT.’
• The system unit contains two
types of memory:
• Volatile Memory: Loses its
contents when power is turned
off. Eg. RAM Flash Drive
• Non-Volatile Memory: Does
not lose contents when power
is removed. Eg. CD, HDD, Flash
Drive, ROM

COMPACT DISK
 Memory cont.’

Hard Disk RAM

 Memory Cont.’
• Three basic types of RAM chips exist:

Dynamic RAM Magnetoresistive

Static RAM (SRAM)
(DRAM) RAM (MRAM)
 Memory Cont.’
• RAM chips usually reside on a memory module and are inserted into memory
slots
 Memory Cont.’
• The amount of RAM necessary in a computer often depends on the types of
software you plan to use
 Memory Cont.’
• Memory cache speeds the processes of the computer because it stores
frequently used instructions and data
 Memory Cont.’

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
 Memory Cont.’
• Flash memory can be erased electronically and rewritten
• CMOS technology provides high speeds and consumes little power
 Memory Cont.’
• Access time is the amount of time it takes the processor to read from memory
• Measured in nanoseconds
 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
 Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
• With Plug and Play, the computer automatically can configure adapter cards and
other peripherals as you install them
 Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
• Removable flash memory includes:
• Memory cards, USB flash drives, and PC Cards/ExpressCard modules
 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

 Ports and Connectors
• On a notebook computer, the ports are on the back, front, and/or sides
 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
 Ports and Connectors
• Other types of ports include:

Firewire Bluetooth eSATA

SCSI port
port port port

IrDA port Serial port MIDI port

 Ports and Connectors
• A Bluetooth wireless port • A smart phone might communicate with a
adapter converts a USB port notebook computer using an IrDA port
into a Bluetooth port
 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
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
 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
 Bays
• A bay is an opening
inside the system unit
in which you can
install additional
equipment
• A drive bay typically
holds disk drives
 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
 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
 Putting It All Together

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

Minimum RAM: 4 GB
 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
 Summary
1. Components of the system unit
2. How memory stores data, instructions, and
information
3. Sequence of operations that occur when a computer
executes an instruction
4. Comparison of various personal computer processors
on the market today
5. How to clean the exterior and interior of a system unit
THANK YOU FOR
COMING