Because learning changes everything.

Objective
1. Differentiate between the
five basic types of system
units.
2. Describe system boards,
including sockets, slots,
and bus lines.
3. Recognize different
microprocessors, including
microprocessor chips and
specialty processors.
4. Compare different types of
computer memory, including
RAM, ROM, and flash
Chapter 5 memory.
5. Explain expansion slots and
cards.
6. Describe bus lines, bus
widths, and expansion
System Unit buses.
7. Describe ports, including
standard and specialized
ports.
8. Identify power supplies for
Computing Essentials 2023 desktop, laptop, tablet, and
O’Leary mobile devices.
9. Explain how a computer
can represent numbers and
encode characters
electronically.

© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.
 Learning Objectives
1. Differentiate between the five basic types of system units.
2. Describe system boards, including sockets, slots, and bus
lines.
3. Recognize different microprocessors, including
microprocessor chips and specialty processors.
4. Compare different types of computer memory, including
RAM, ROM, and flash memory.
5. Explain expansion slots and cards.
6. Describe bus lines, bus widths, and expansion buses.
7. Describe ports, including standard and specialized ports.
8. Identify power supplies for desktop, laptop, tablet, and
mobile devices.
9. Explain how a computer can represent numbers and
encode characters electronically.
© McGraw Hill, LLC 2
 Introduction
Speed, capacity, and
flexibility determine the power
of personal computers.
Knowledge of a computer’s
power allows you to make
good buying decisions and to
determine if your current
system will run new
applications.
Competent end users need to
understand the functionality
of the basic components of
the system unit.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Wave Break Media/Shutterstock 3

 System Unit Basics
Container that houses most of the electronic
components that make up a computer system.
• System Chassis.

Personal Computer - Most widely used type of

computer.
Five most common types.
• Smartphones.
• Tablets.
• Laptops.
• Desktops.
• Wearable Computers.
© McGraw Hill, LLC 4
 Making IT Work for You ~ Gaming
Mobile gaming.
Console gaming.
PC gaming.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Kazuo Horiike/Jiji Press/Newscom 5

 Components
Although all
devices come in
many shapes and
sizes they have
similarities such as.
• System boards.
• Microprocessors.
• Memory.

© McGraw Hill, LLC

Cell phone: Source: Reprinted with permission from iFixit; Tablet: Source: Reprinted with permission from iFixit; Wearable: Source: Bill Detwiler/ TechRepublic. Used with permission of TechRepublic.com Copyright©2019. All rights reserved; Laptop: Source: Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic. Used with permission of
TechRepublic.com Copyright©2019. All rights reserved; Desktop: Godfried Edelman/iStock/ Getty Images
6
 System Board
System board, also known as the main board or
motherboard, controls communication for the entire computer
system.
All components and devices connect to the system board.
Data path and traffic monitor.
• Allows various components to communication efficiently
with one another.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Branston/Future/REX/Shutterstock 7

 Sockets and Chips
The system board contains a
variety of electronic components .
Sockets – the connection point
for chips.
Chips.
• Tiny circuit boards etched onto
squares of silicon.
• Also called silicon chip,
semiconductor, or integrated
circuit.
• Mounted on chip carriers.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Lucidio Studio Inc/Photographer’sChoice/Getty Images; Geostock/Getty Images 8

 Slots and Bus Lines
Additional system board components:
Slots.
• Provide a connection point for specialized cards or
circuit boards.
• Provide expansion capabilities for the computer.

Bus lines.
• Connecting lines that provide pathways to support
communication among electronic components.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 9

 Microprocessor
Central Processing Unit (CPU) or Processor.
• Contained on a single chip call a microprocessor.
• Brains of the computer.
Two Basic Components of the CPU.
Control unit.
• Tells the computer system how to carry out a
program’s instruction.

Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU).

• Performs arithmetic and logical operations.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 10

 Microprocessor Speed
Chip capacities are expressed in word size.
• Word is the number of bits that can be
processed at one time: 16, 32 or 64.
Clock Speed.
• Processing speed or the number of times the C PU
fetches and processes data or instructions in a second.

Unit Speed
Microsecond Millionth of a second
Nanosecond Billionth of a second
Picosecond Trillionth of a second
Femtosecond Quadrillionth of a second

© McGraw Hill, LLC 11

 Multicore Chips
Multicore Processors.
Two or more separate and independent C PUs within a
system unit.
• Quad-core supports 4 core processes.
Parallel Processing.
• Computer’s ability to divided tasks into parts that can be
distributed across each core.
• Windows 11 and macOS Big Sur support parallel
processing.
Processor Manufacturer
Ryzen 5000 AMD
M1 Apple
Alder Lake Intel
© McGraw Hill, LLC 12
 Specialty Processors
Coprocessors.
Designed to improve specific computing
operations.
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) / Graphics
coprocessors.
Designed to handle a variety of specialized tasks.
• 3D images.
• Encrypting data.
• Standard features in gaming computers.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 13

 Memory
Holding area for data, instructions, and information.
Contained on chips connected to the system board.
Three well-known types of memory chips:
RAM.
• Random Access Memory.

ROM.
• Read Only Memory.

Flash Memory.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 14

 RAM 1

Random Access Memory (RAM) chips hold programs

and data that the CPU is presently processing.
• Volatile or temporary – contents are lost when
computer is powered off.

Cache memory – temporary, high-speed holding area

between the memory and C PU.
• Additional RAM can be added using an expansion
module called a DIMM (Dual in-line memory module).

© McGraw Hill, LLC Simon Belcher/Alamy Stock Photo 15

 RAM 2

Virtual Memory.
• Dividing a program between memory and storage
enabling the system to run very large programs.

Memory is expressed in bytes.

Unit Capacity
Megabyte (MB) 1 million bytes
Gigabyte (GB) 1 billion bytes
Terabyte (TB) 1 trillion bytes
Petabyte (PB) 1 quadrillion bytes

© McGraw Hill, LLC 16

 ROM
Read-only memory (ROM).
• Information stored by the manufacturer.
• Non-volatile and cannot be changed.

CPU can read, or retrieve data and programs in

ROM but the computer cannot change ROM.
Contain special instructions.
• Start the computer.
• Access memory.
• Handle keyboard input.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 17

 Flash Memory
Flash memory combines the features of:
RAM, it can be updated.
ROM, it is non-volatile.
Contains startup information.
BIOS (basic input/output system).
• Amount of RAM.
• Type of keyboard, mouse, and secondary storage devices
connected.
Many ROM chips are being replaced by flash
memory!

© McGraw Hill, LLC 18

 Expansion Slots and Cards
Expands your system’s
capabilities.
SD cards.
Expansion cards for phones,
tablets, and laptops.
• Graphics cards for high
quality 3D graphics.
• Network interface cards
(NIC) connect devices to
networks via cables.
• Wireless network cards
connect devices to
networks without cables.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Vitalii Petrushenko/Shutterstock; Piotr Adamowicz/Shutterstock; antpkr/Shutterstock; CobraCZ/Shutterstock 19

 Bus Lines/Bus
Connect parts of the CPU to each other and various
other components on the system board.
Pathway for bits representing data and instructions.
Bus width.
• Number of bits that can travel simultaneously down a
bus.
Architecture and design are tied to the speed and
power for the computer.
Two basic categories of buses.
• System bus – connects CPU to memory.
• Expansion bus – connects CPU to other
components.
© McGraw Hill, LLC 20
 Expansion Buses
Principle types:
Universal Serial Bus (USB).
• Connects external USB devices onto the USB bus.

FireWire.
• Primarily used to connect audio and video
equipment to the system board.

PCI Express (PCIe).

• Single dedicated path for each connected device.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 21

 Ports
Socket for connecting
external devices to the
system unit.
Some ports connect
directly to the system
board, others connect to
cards inserted into slots
on the system board.
Two Types.
• Standard Ports.
• Specialized Ports.

© McGraw Hill, LLC oleschwander/Shutterstock 22

 Standard Ports
USB.
• Keyboards, mice, printers, storage devices.
• Variations of USB ports include: USB-A, USB-B, USB-
C, and Thunderbolt 3 (a high speed version of U SB-C).

HDMI – High Definition Multimedia Interface.

• High definition video and audio.

Ethernet.
• High speed networking.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 23

 Specialized Ports
DisplayPort (DP).
• Connects to large monitors.
• Popular on gaming computers.

DVI (Digital Video Interface).

• Connect digital monitors to computer.
• Can only send video signals, not audio.

FireWire.
• High-speed connections to FireWire devices such
as camcorders and storage devices.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 24

 Cables
Used to connect external devices to the system unit
via the ports.
One end of the cable is attached to the device and
the other end has a connector that is attached to a
matching connector on the port.

© McGraw Hill, LLC oleschwander/Shutterstock 25

 Power Supply
Computers require direct current (DC)
power converting alternating current
(AC) from wall outlets or batteries.
• Desktop computers have a power
supply unit in the system unit.
• Laptops use AC adapters in the
system unit.
• Tablets and mobile devices use
internal AC adapters.
• Smartphones can use wireless
charging platforms.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Akkraraj kangrang/Shutterstock; SNP_SS/Shutterstock; Microstocker13/Shutterstock 26

 Electronic Data and Instructions
Digital electronic signals.
• Recognized by computers.

Analog signals.
• Continuous signal.
• Created by voices.

Conversion must take place from analog to digital

before processing can occur.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 27

 Numeric Representation
Decimal Binary Hex
00 00000000 00
Two-state binary system 01 00000001 01
consists of only two digits 02 00000010 02
called bits. 03 00000011 03
04 00000100 04
• On = 1; negative charge.
05 00000101 05
• Off = 0; no charge. 06 00000110 06
07 00000111 07
Byte = 8 bits grouped together. 08 00001000 08
09 00001001 09
Hexadecimal system.
10 00001010 0A
• Uses 16 digits to represent 11 00001011 0B

binary numbers. 12 00001100 0C

13 00001101 0D

(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, 14 00001110 0E

C, D, E, F) 15 00001111 0F

© McGraw Hill, LLC Figure 28

 Character Encoding
ASCII.
• American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
• Used by personal computers.

EBCDIC.
• Extended Binary coded Decimal Interchange Code.
• Used by mainframe computers.

Unicode.
• New encoding due to explosion of the Internet.
• Can be written in UTF-16 or UTF-8.
• Recognized by virtually all computer systems.
© McGraw Hill, LLC 29
 Careers in IT
Computer technicians repair
and install computer
components and systems.
Employers look for:
• Certification or associate’s
degree in computer repair.
• Communication skills.
Continued education is
required.
Computer technicians can
expect to earn an annual
salary from approximately
$27,000 to $58,000.
© McGraw Hill, LLC Wave Break Media/Shutterstock 30
 A Look to the Future
Brain-Computer Interfaces.
May soon be able to image all the brain’s electrical impulses.

© McGraw Hill, LLC Victoria Shapiro/Shutterstock 31

 Open Ended Questions
1. Describe the five most common types of personal computers.
2. Describe system boards including sockets, chips, chip carriers,
slots, and bus lines.
3. Discuss microprocessor components, chips, and specialty
processors.
4. Define computer memory, including RAM, ROM, and flash
memory.
5. Define expansion slots, cards (including graphics cards),
network interface cards, wireless network cards, and S D cards.
6. Describe bus lines, bus width, system bus, and expansion bus.
7. Define ports including standard and specialized ports. Give
examples of each.
8. Describe power supply including power supply units and AC
adapters.
9. Discuss electronic data and instructions.

© McGraw Hill, LLC 32

 End of Main Content

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© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.