Lecture

							            Lecture
           Hardware
I/O, Computer Components, and Ports
Moore’s Law

   • Named for Intel Co-Founder Gordon Moore
   • 1965 Paper:
   • “The number of transistors that can be
     inexpensively placed on an integrated
     circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling
     approximately every two years”
   • Moore’s Law has applied to all aspects of
     technology from computers to cell phones
   • 10-25 years Moore’s Law will max out.
   • What next? Transition to 3-D chips
Information Processing Cycle
                                                 Data is processed by
                                                CPU, sent to RAM, via
  Take in data from                              BUS. Cache, GPU’s,
  keyboard, mouse,                                 Expansion Cards
scanner, microphone,
     camera etc
                          Input    Processing




                         Storage    Output      Send processed data
Store for later use on
 a storage medium:                               to monitor, printer,
  hard disk, floppy,                              speakers, network
  USB, CD, DVD, etc
Input and Output (I/O)

    • Input Devices    • Dual-Function
      – Keyboard         – Fax Machine
      – Mouse            – Modems
      – Scanner          – Network Cards
    • Output Devices
      – Printer
      – Monitor
Computer Hardware
Processing: (CPU)

    • Performs the majority of processing
    • Usually Intel or AMD Chips
      – Celeron, Athlon, Pentium, Xeon are brand
        names for these companies

                                 fan on top of processor
Processing: CPU Clock Speed

       • Also called “Frequency”
       • How fast the CPU can process data.
       • Measured in
         GHz (gigahertz)
       • 1.7 ~ 3.7+
         GHz
       • Billions of
         cycles per
         second
CPU Clock Speed History - Intel
CPU TERMS: pg 1

  Cache: Internal memory in the CPU, housing frequently accessed data
  and instructions for superfast turnaround on memory requests.

  Chipset: Components that work together, alongside the CPU, to form a
  cohesive computing unit.

  Clock speed: The speed at which a CPU executes its instructions,
  usually measured in gigahertz (billions of cycles per second); also known
  as the chip's "frequency.“

  Code name: A company's nomenclature for a new series of chips; may
  refer to a processor lineup ("Gulftown" or "Deneb"), a microarchitecture
  (Intel's "Nehalem"), or a platform (AMD's "Dragon") – Sandy Bridge is
  Intel's current line of chips.
  Core: The part of the processor that reads and executes program
  instructions
CPU TERMS: pg 2

Die: The physical surface area on which a semiconductor circuit is
fabricated. Smaller die sizes reduce chip manufacturing costs and chip
power consumption.

GPU: Graphics processing unit-the chip that processes graphics and
video. It may be located on the CPU, as part of the motherboard chipset,
or on a separate ("discrete") graphics card.

Nanometer: One billionth of a meter; the unit used to gauge the distance
between the narrow connections tying transistors on a CPU.

Socket: The electrical interface on the motherboard, where the CPU
sits; usually backward-compatible over chip iterations.
Processing: Core – reads and
executes program instructions

• Thin wafers of silicon
  hold hundreds of
  processing cores.
• Each core contains
  millions of transistors
• A transistor is a
  semiconductor device
  used to amplify and
  switch electronic signals
Multi-core systems

    • Multi-Core systems (ie Intel Core Duo)
      connect two CPUs together to the
      same die on the motherboard.
    • A dual-core processor with two cores
      at 2GHz may perform very nearly as
      fast as a single core of 4GHz
    • Intel core i7 – 4 or 6 cores
    • Hyperthreading
Processing: CPU Cache

• A temporary storage area for
  frequently/recently accessed data
• Fewer requests to RAM and
  Hard Drive, speeds up the
  processing
• Measured in megabytes
  (MB) or kilobytes (KB),
  such as 512 KB
Processing: CPU Front Side Bus

• The connecting path between
  the processor and other key
  components such as the
  memory controller hub.
• Bus speeds are
  measured in
  GHz or MHz.
• QPI – Intel “Quick Path
  Interface – Replaces FSB
      4                7            2          1           8   6               5             3
2 cores 4                  6 cores      6 cores 12   2 cores   4 cores   4 cores 6   6 cores 6
             4 cores
MB L-3                     MB L-3       MB L-3       No L-3    No L-3    MB L3       MB L-3

 GPU on      NO Turbo*     Turbo          Turbo                                      Turbo
 core                      Boost*         Boost*                                     Core*




                   Current Family of Intel Chips



            Follow link for Spring 2011 updates
Intel processors: Top of the Line




     Best Processors for the money – read more!
Processing: RAM
Random Access


  • Volatile
  • Temporary storage for all data and
    processes (programs) currently running
  • Measured in type, size, speed,
    – Size: 1.0 GB +
    – Speed: 600 MHz +
Processing:
RAM Types

  • SDRAM
   SDRAM stands for Synchronous RAM (Dynamic Random Access
   Memory). Standard in PC industry for memory
  • DDR SDRAM        (double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM) takes
   all the features of ordinary SDRAM and increases the frequency
   bandwidth to improve system performance and speed.
  • DDR3 SDRAM        (double-data-rate type 3 synchronous dynamic
   random access memory) Its primary benefit is the ability to operate
   the external data bus twice as fast as DDR SDRAM.
  • Cache Ram:      Small block of expensive, high speed memory
   located between on the CPU or between the CPU and main memory
DIMMS and SIMMS

• Single in line Memory Modules
  – Same electrical contact on both sides of the module
  – 32 bit data path
• Double in line Memory Modules
  – DIMMs have separate electrical contacts on each side
    of the module
  – 64 bit data path
• 2 SIMMS = 1 DIMM
RAM Speeds



SDRAM speed is measured in megahertz (MHz).
  RAM is measured by its speed (MHz) and by its
  size (megabytes or gigabytes).
For example you could have DDR RAM (name)
  400mhz (speed of the RAM) 256mb (RAM size).
The most common RAM sizes are, 1Gb - 12Gb.
Relationship between the CPU & RAM




                More info on RAM - Wikipedia
Processing:
Expansion slots and cards

 • An expansion card is a circuit board that
   can be inserted into an expansion slot of a
   motherboard to add additional functionality
   for video, audio, or other uses:


                             •AGP Slot (for video cards)
                          •PCI Slots (misc devices and ports)
                             •PCMCIA (for laptops)
Processing:
Video Cards or GPUs

• Generates and outputs images to a display
• Old Standard = 32 Megabytes
• New = 128 – 256 MB+
  – Needed to run DirectX 9 graphics built into Vista
• Dedicated Graphics card most powerful
• Integrated graphics solution uses portions of RAM
  for graphics
Processing:
Ports: Connecting slots & peripherals
Ports (cont)




               Modem              Power




 Firewire
                                   PS/2
                Parallel   (keyboard and mouse)
               (printer)
Ports (cont)




                     Video




    Cat-5      USB
  (network)
                     Serial
Storage Devices – Long term


 • Hard disk
   – Magnetic
   – Solid state
 • USB media
 • Optical storage media
   – CD CDR CDRW DVD
 • Floppy disks? Old
 • Zip disks? Older
 • Tapes? Oldest
HDDs and SSDs

 • HDD’s : Hard Disk Drives that use spinning
   magnetic platens and read/write heads
 • SDD’s : Solid State Drives retain data in
   non-volatile microchips and contain no
   moving parts.
 • SSD’s less susceptible to shock; quieter –
   but more expensive.
   – Longevity of “write” area problem for SSD’s
Hard Drive Photos



                    Hard Disk Head




  Hard Disk
Reading a Hard Disk

    • Disks are read just like a record player
      –   Data is stored on the disk
      –   The disk spins
      –   A head moves back and forth
      –   Data is read and sent to the motherboard
    • Data is stored magnetically as charged
      (on) or not charged (off)
Solid State Drives

 Use non-volatile chips for
 storage (Flash), rather
 than magnetic platens
 and read/write heads –
 no moving parts
Solid State Drive

 • Solid state hard drives use a series of transistors,
   pieces of silicone and semiconductors to transfer
   the electrical current.
 • Like all data storage, solid state drives use
   binary, a series of 1s and 0s, to represent data.
 • A 0 is represented by a transistor that cannot
   accept an electrical current, while a 1 is
   represented by one that allows the flow of
   electricity.
Solid State Pricing Example
RAM vs Hard Drive



                     vs.
•   Electronic         •   Magnetic
•   Very fast          •   Very slow
•   Expensive          •   Cheap
•   Small capacity     •   Large capacity
•   Temp storage       •   Long term storage
Relationship:
CPU, RAM, and the Hard Drive
Types of Software

    • Operating Systems
      – System Software
        • Operating System – Unix, Windows, Linux,
          OSx, Solairs



    • Application Software – Used to
      perform specific tasks
Applications

    •   Word Processing
    •   Spreadsheet
    •   Database
    •   Presentation
    •   Internet Browsing
    •   Multimedia
    •   Games
OS Requirements

    • Software is always written for a
      specific operating system

    • Programmers sometimes release
      multiple versions of an application for
      different OSes
Computer Longevity

    • Always buy as much CPU and RAM as
      you can afford
    • Longevity will depend on usage
    • Everyday business tasks require less
      processing power
    • Graphics, multimedia, require large
      amts of CPU and RAM
Check your own system:

 • Computer
 • Properties
Windows Operating System
Mac OSx


• Apple
• About this Mac
• More Info
Mac Properties
Upgrading your computer

    • Add RAM

    • Additional Hard Drive

    • Faster Video Card

    • Faster CPU
Let Shop!


     •www.dell.com
     •www.gateway.com
     •www.sony.com
     •www.bestbuy.com
     •www.compusa.com