Inside the system Technical specifications A Read the advertisement and translate the technical specifications into your own language. fe t Pee ty Dell Inspiron 9200 Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.4GHz 2048MB RAM, expandable to 4GB 500GB hard drive Comes with Windows, Vista Home Premium, \ B In pairs, answer these questions. If necessary, look at the Glossary. 1. Whats the main function of a computers processor? eoo°o 2. What unit of frequency is used to measure processor 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 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? fow can RAM be increased? What term is to refer to the main printed circuit board? What is a bus? Seevausun What is the benefit of having expansion slots? Look at these extracts from the text. What do the words in bold refer to? This is built into a single chip. (line 2) ai 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) ouaunag inside the computer to communicate with each other. (ine 52)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 a single chip which executes program instructions and coordinates the activities that take place within the computer system. The chip itselfis 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, ete. - 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, or IR) holds the instruction that is being executed (see Fig. 1 on page 13). The power and performance of a computer is partly detetmined by the speed of its 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 milion hertz, or cycles, per second) will enable your PC to handle the most demanding applications, The Intel Core2 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 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 chips, 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 iL Registers ojo J 1 Fig. 1: Organization ofa simple computer; the CPU is built into a single microprocessor chip 3 Language work. 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 ike to buy, 2. Cote 2 Duo isa 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4 How memory is measured A Read the text and then answer these questions. 1 How many digits does a binary system use? What isa bit? What isa collection of eight bits called? What does ASCII stand for? What is the purpose of ASCII? ween TSE asd Computers do all calculations using a code made of Computers use a standard code for the binary just two numbers - 0 and 1. This system is called binary representation of characters. This is the American code. The electronic circuits in a digital computer Standard Code for information Interchange, or ASCII detect the difference between two states: ON (the = pronounced /zeski/. In order to avoid complex current passes through) or OFF (the current doesn't pass calculations of bytes, we use bigger units such as through) and represent these states as 1 or 0.Each 1 or0 kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes. is called a binary digit, or bit : We use these units to describe the RAM memory, the Bits are grouped into eight-digit codes that typically storage capacity of disks and the size of a program or represent characters (letters, numbers and symbol). document. 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 1,10, 11 100. Note: bit is pronounced /buv; byte is pronounced /bait/ One bit Unit of memory Exact memory amount 07000017 Binary digit Toro Example ofa byte Byte Bbits Kilobyte 1024 bytes (2") Megabyte 1,024 KB, or 1,048,576 bytes 2") Gigabyte 1,024 MB, or 1,073,741,824 bytes (2") Terabyte 1,024 GB, or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes (2°) B Complete these descriptions with the correct unit of memory. 1A is about one tillion bytes — about as much text as the books ar 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 A. Complete this diagram of a PC system. Look at Units 1, 2 and 3 to help you. Programs, Mechanicaland 9. graphics package, electronic equipment web browser Physical units attached to the eee The brairrof the computer . = = © ‘Output SW ouptdecs BO) : Keyboard (10) ® Printer DvD drive Flash drive B In pairs, compare your answers. ¢ BB} 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 Minimur/maximum RAM. Monitor Ports and card memory slots Hard disk Software B [2] inpairs, describe your ideal computer system. Give reasons for your choices.