chapter one understanding computer hardware part i: processors
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter One
Understanding Computer Hardware
Part I: Processors
© 2006-2011 Wiley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Strata Objectives Covered
1.1 Identify basic IT vocabulary– Processor speed/cores
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© 2006-2011 Wiley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
What is a Processor?
• Processors are integrated circuits containing transistors
• Transistors are electrical gates that let power through or don’t depending on their state
• Transistors are the basis of binary processing (processing based on 1 or 0)
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What is a Processor?
• A processor accepts data to process, and numeric codes representing math operations (instructions) to perform on them.
• Different processors have different instruction sets
• Different processors can accept a different number of bits at once (word size)
• A bit is a single binary digit
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© 2006-2011 Wiley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Processor Brands
• Intel– Intel Core (i3, i5, i7)– Codenames for different sub-types such
as Gulftown and Sandy Bridge
• AMD– Phenom II– Athlon II– Turion II
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Processor Sockets
• Pin Grid Array (PGA)• Ball Grid Array (BGA)• Land Grid Array (LGA)
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Processor Speed
• Measured in Hertz (Hz)• Megahertz (MHz) = millions of Hz• Gigahertz (GHz) = billions of Hz• The fastest processors today run at
more than 3 GHz
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© 2006-2011 Wiley, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Instructions Per Second
• IPS, the number of instructions a processor can complete per second
• Measured in millions• MIPS = millions of instructions per
second• For example, the Intel Core i7
Extreme Edition runs at 3.3GHz and processes 147,600 MIPS
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Processor Cache
• L1, on die– Smallest– Closest to
CPU
• L2, on chip• L3, on chip
– Largest– Farthest from CPU– On multi-core CPU, shared among all
cores
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Multicore Processors
• Multiple CPUs in a single chip• All on the same die• Dual-core and quad core are
common
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Cooling Fans and Heat Sinks
• Active– Moving parts (usually
a fan)– Very effective– Uses power
• Passive – No moving parts– Not as effective– Does not use power
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