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CompComponents Nup3 PDF
CompComponents Nup3 PDF
Computer Components
Central Processing Unit
CPU Characteristics
Other Components of a Computer
Analogue vs. Digital
x86 CPU’s
Based on the old classics
I PC CPU’s are organized
around a very basic
instruction set called x86
that dates all the way back
to 1978
I Became the basis for the very
first IBM PC in the early 80’s Figure: Intel Core i7 Chip.
I Intel dominant for PC (x86)
CPU’s
I AMD in 2nd place for PC’s, offers excellent value and full x86
compatibility, and latest Ryzen CPU competes well with Intel
I All major PC operating systems – Windows, Mac and Linux –
run on the x86 instruction set
Figure: Corsair
R liquid cooling system
CPU Rankings
From: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/
Smart Phones
Small general purpose computers
I Smartphone: Phone that is a small computer
I Dominant leader in smartphone and tablet CPU’s is ARM
Limited, with over 90% of the market
I Examples of ARM products include Apple’s iPod, iPhone and
iPad, Android phones and tablets, BlackBerry, most Window’s
Phone and most hand calculators
I ARM has been more energy efficient than Intel’s offerings
I The ARM architecture is licensed by chip manufacturers, and
both ARM and its licensees develop the CPU
I Microsoft converted Windows to ARM, as a version of Surface,
RT, which, however, has been discontinued due to
disappointing sales
CPU Clock
Motherboard
I Motherboard: The circuit board that contains many of the
electrical components of a computer and provides the electrical
connections to these components and the peripheral units
Figure: A motherboard
RAM
Effective way to speed up computer
I RAM: Random Access Memory, the store of
working memory on the computer
I The “random” means that any storage area
can be accessed, without having to go in
sequential order
I The amount of RAM is at least as important
as the CPU in terms of the overall speed of
processing
I Minimum recommended is 8GB, especially at Figure: RAM
Chip
around only $5/GB
I RAM chips come in different types and run at
different speeds, so important to make sure to
have the correct chip when upgrading
Generic connector
I USB: Universal Serial Bus, a standard for
connecting external devices to a computer
such as a mouse or a storage device Figure: Flash
drive
I USB allows hot swapping, which means
that it can be connected and disconnected
while the computer is running
I Previous standard is USB 2.0, a peak (not
sustained) data transfer rate of 480 Mbs
I Now becoming the mainstream is USB 3.1,
with a data transfer rate of around 10 Gbs
with the smaller USB-C connector Figure: USB desk
fan
Digital Playback
Digital Playback
Music software
I The software source of music, the music player such as iTunes
or Windows Media, can also be upgraded
◦ Mac – Pure Music: http://www.channld.com/
puremusic/
◦ Mac – VOX: http://coppertino.com/vox/mac
◦ iPhone – VOX: http://coppertino.com
◦ Mac – Audirvana Plus: http://audirvana.com
◦ Windows – MusicBee: http://getmusicbee.com
◦ Windows – MediaMonkey: http://www.mediamonkey.com/
?ClickID=bflzzylfg6dddymgsv1dyk66zs1nsvsd6vqs
◦ Windows, Mac, Linux – JRiver: http://www.jriver.com/
audio.html
I The End