CSC103 Processing, Memory & Storage
- 1. S Module 2: Digital Devices Section C – Processing & Memory CSC 103 Intro to Computing
- 2. The CPU Subsystem How the CPU works…
- 3. The CPU Subsystem Composed of control unit and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) Control unit coordinates activities of all computer components – “brain” or “boss” ALU is responsible for a math operations and logic comparison operations Registers – memory on the CPU used by control unit & ALU for storing instructions and data
- 4. CPU Processes (FDE) 1. Fetches address & data from RAM 2. Decodes instructions from binary 3. Executes the instruction Stores result in RAM before next instruction
- 5. CPU Factors Clock Speed measured in GHz – billions of steps per second Number of cores - Single, Dual Core, Quad Core Cache Memory – Like RAM for the CPU – temporary storage that speeds up processing (Level 1, 2 & 3)
- 6. Evaluating Memory Volatile RAM – Random Access Memory Volatile temporary storage – short term memory – speeds up instructions – think of memory like counter space when cooking
- 7. Evaluating Memory non-volatile ROM – Read Only Memory –non-volatile - Handles boot instructions, etc. Hard Drives – are non-volatile storage spaces – larger, but slower
- 9. Evaluating Storage Needs 250 GB – 500 GB – 1TB The OS – 20-30 GB Applications – 50 GB Data – 10-20 GB Photos – 40-50 GB Music & Video – 100-150 GB
- 10. Larger Storage Considerations Cloud Storage - Can offset some photo, music, video storage Flash Storage – SSD Cards & Drives Multiple Internal Hard Drives (RAIDS) - Redundant Array of Independent Disks External Hard Drives better for back-up purposes
- 11. Hard Drives vs SSD Magnetic Hard Drives – Spinning platters that are magnetized to write data - Spin at 7200 RPMS, 4TB capacity - Lots of moving parts, slower Solid State Drives – Charged electronic transistors that store data - faster, less chance of crashing, - run cooler, 1 TB capacity
- 12. Audio & Video Considerations Graphics/Video Cards - hardware that is responsible of producing output to monitor. It has a connector(s) for monitor(s) and another connector to computer motherboard. GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) is part of graphics card and more essential for gaming, 3D software, video editing software (Nvidia GeForce, AMD Radeon)
- 13. Purchase Consideration Buy what you think you will need 3-5 years from now You will only gather more photos, music, video, software, games Operating Systems will require more space and more RAM with each upgrade