Inside the system Technical specifications A Read the advertisement and translate the technical specifications into your own language. pee ee Dell Inspiron 9200 © Intel Gore 2 Duo processor at 2.4GHz © 2048MB RAM, expandable to 4GB © 500GB hard drive © Comes with Windows, Vista Home Premium SS B In pairs, answer these questions. If necessary, look at the Glossary. 1 Whats the main function of a computer's processor? 2 What unit of frequency is used to measure processor speed? 3) What does RAM stand for? What is inside a PC system? A Read the text on page 12 and then answer these questions. 1. What ate 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 includ instructions needed by the CPU? How can RAM be increased? What term is used to refer to the main printed circuit board? What is a bus? What is the benefit of having expansion slots? Swoarauawn Look at these extracts from the text. What do the words in bold refer to? This is built into a single chip. (line 2) which executes program instructions and coordinates... (line 3) that is being executed. (line 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) auRuna@What is inside a PC system? Processing The nerve centre of a PC is the processor, also called the CPU, or central processing unit, This is built into assingle chip which executes program instructions and coordinates the activities that take place within the computer system. The chip itself a small piece of silicon 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. - to execute the functions specified. The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs mathematical calculations (+, etc) 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, Cr 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 ofits processor. A system clock 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 4GH2 (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 cre 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 a program, the CPU looks for it on the hard disk and transfers a copy into the RAM chips. RAM (random access memory) is volatile ~ that is, its information is lost when the computer is turned off. However, ROM (read only memory) is non-volatile, containing 40 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 cchips, usually contained in small circuit boards called dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs). 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 carries 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 like sound, memory and network capabilities. ‘Adata busCentral processing unit (CPU) Control unit Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) Main memory ft Registers of 7 1 Fig. 1: Organization of a simple computer, the CPU is built into a single microprocessor chip 3 Language work: HELP box 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 Id like to buy. 2 Core 2 Duo is a new Intel processor contains about 291 million transistors. 3 Awebmaster isa person designs, develops and maintains a website. 4 Abusis an electronic pathway Carries signals between computer devices. 5 Heres the DVD you lent me! 6 Last night Imet someone works for GM as a software engineer.How memory is measured A Read the text and then answer these questions. 1 How many digits does a binary system use? What is a bit? What does ASCII stand for? What is the purpose of ASCII? wan PSE ace Computers do all calculations using a code made of just two numbers ~ 0 and 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 calleda 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 for the letter A, 01000010 for B, and 01000011 for C. One bit Example of a byte Unit of memory Binary digit bit b Byte 8 Kilobyte Megabyte MB Gigabyte oe Terabyte 8 B Complete these descri What is a collection of eight bits called? Computers use a standard code for the binary representation of characters, Ths isthe American Standard Code for Information Interchange, or ASCH ~ pronounced /eskil. 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 /biv/; byte is pronounced /bait/ Conse a] Abbreviation Exact memory amount 10rd 8bits 11024 bytes (2°) 1,024 KB, or 1,048,576 bytes (2®) 1,024 MB, or 1,073,741824 bytes (2*) 1,024 GB, or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes (2) ions with the correct unit of memory. 1A is about one trillion bytes ~ about as much text as the books and magazines in a huge library. 2A is about one million bytes ~ about as much text as a 300-page novel. 3A is about one thousand bytes — equivalent to one sheet of A4. aa is about one billion bytes — about as much text as 1,000 books. 5A ‘can store a single character, such as the letter h or number 7.5 apc system AA 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 brain’of the (10) OVvD drive Flash drive Keyboard (8) Printer B In pairs, compare your answers. ¢ Bad 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 Ports and card memory slots Hard disk Software B EQ inpairs, describe your ideal computer system. Give reasons for your choices.