Chapter 4 - The Components of the System Unit Vocabulary
liquid cooling technology
A continuous flow of fluid(s), such as water and glycol, that transfers the heated fluid away form the processor, cools the liquid, then returns the cooled fluid to the processor.
hot plugging
Feature that allows you to insert or remove a removable flash memory device and other devices while the computer is running.
heat sink
Small ceramic or metal component with fins on its surface that absorbs and ventilates heat produced by electrical components.
heat pipe
Small cooling device used to cool processors in notebook computers.
chip
Small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicon, on which integrated circuits are etched.
registers
Small, high-speed storage locations in a process that temporarily hold data and instructions.
RAM (random access memory)
memory chips that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices; is also called main memory
nanosecond
one billionth of a second
arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
performs arithmetic, comparison, and other operations
control unit
the component of the processor that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer
power supply
the component of the system unit that converts the wall outlet AC power into DC power
motherboard
the main circuit board of the system unit
clock speed
the pace of the system clock that is measured by the number of ticks per second
port
the point at which a peripheral attaches to or communicates with a system unit so that the peripheral can send data to or receive information from the computer
machine cycle
the processes of fetching, decoding, executing, and storing
bit (binary digit)
the smallest unit of data the computer can process
integrated circuit
Electronic component that contains many microscopic pathways capable of carrying electrical current.
AC Adapter
External power supply, used by some external peripherals, that converts AC power into DC power that the peripheral requires.
cache
Area of memory that stores the contents of frequently used data or instructions.
soundcard
Adapter card that enhances the sound generating capabilities of a personal computer by allowing sound to be input through a microphone and output through external speakers or headset.
system bus
Bus that is part of the motherboard and connects the processor to main memory.
chassis
Case of the system unit made of metal or plastic that protects the internal electronic components from damage.
pipelining
Concept in which the processor begins fetching a second instruction before it completes the machine cycle for the first instruction.
analog
Continuous (wave form) signals.
internal bay
Drive bay that is concealed entirely within the system unit.
central processing unit (CPU)
Electronic component on a computer's motherboard that interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate the computer.
digital
Representation of data using only two dissscrete states: on (1) and off (0).
binary system
Number system used by computers that has just two unique digits, 0 and 1, called bits.
gigahertz (GHz)
One billion ticks of the system clock per second.
parallel processing
Processing method that uses multiple processors simultaneously to execute a single program or task in order to speed processing times.
executing
Processor operation that carries out commands; part of the machine cycle.
fetching
Processor operation that obtains a program instruction or data item from memory.
decoding
Processor operation that translates a program instruction into signals the computer can execute.
storing
Processor operation that writes a result to memory.
firmware
ROM chips that contain permanently written data, instructions, or information, recorded on the chips when they were manufactured.
form factor
Term used to refer to size and shape of a desktop personal computer system unit.
nonvolatile memory
Type of memory that does not lose its contents when a computer's power is turned off.
volatile memory
Type of memory that loses its contents when a computer's power is turned off.
address
Unique number that identifies the location of a byte in memory.
system unit
a case that contains electronic components of the computer used to process data
adapter card
a circuit board that enhances functions of a component of the system unit and/or provides connections to peripherals
peripheral
a device that connects to the system unit and is controlled by the processor in the computer
USB hub
a device that plugs in a USB port on the system unit and contains multiple USB ports in which you plug cables from USB devices
drive bay
a rectangular opening that typically holds disk drives
memory card
a removable flash memory device that you insert and remove from a slot in a personal computer, game console, mobile device, or card reader/writer
multi-core processor
a single chip with two or more separate processor cores
memory module
a small circuit board that RAM chips usually reside on
expansion slot
a socket on the motherboard that can hold an adapter card
flash memory
a type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten
bus
allows the various devices both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other
video card
converts computer output into a video signal that travels through a cable to the monitor, which displays an image on the screen
memory
electronic components in a computer that store instructions waiting to be executed by the processor, the data needed by those instructions, and the results of processing the data
memory cache
helps speed the processes of the computer because it stores frequently used instructions and data
memory slots
holds memory modules
processor
interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer
gigabyte (GB)
is equal to approximately one billion bytes
megabyte (MB)
is equal to approximately one million bytes
kilobyte (KB)
is equal to approximately one thousand bytes
connector
joins a cable to a port
Read-only memory (ROM)
memory chips storing permanent data and instructions firmware, contain permanently written data, instructions, or information
FireWire port
port that can connect multiple types of devices that require faster data transmission speeds
USB port
port that can connect up to 127 different peripherals with a single connector type
system clock
small quartz crystal circuit that controls the timing of all computer operations
Plug and Play
technology that gives a computer the capability to configure adapter cards and other peripherals automatically as a user installs them
complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)
technology used by some RAM chips, flash memory chips, and other types of memory chips that provides high speeds and consumes little power by using battery power to retain information even when the power to a computer is off
bluetooth
technology uses radio waves to transmit data between two devices
access time
the amount of time it takes the processor to read data, instructions, and information from memory
jack
used to identify audio and video ports
byte
when 8 bits are grouped together as a unit