Week #2 - Highyeena/Tech-Journal GitHub Wiki

Memory Hierarchy

  1. CPU

Processor / Register

  1. CPU Cache

Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3

  1. Physical Memory

RAM

  1. Solid State Memory

SSD

  1. Mechanical Hard Drives

CPU caches are the fastest type of memory while Hard Drives are the slowest (takes more steps to get Hard Drive memory to the CPU)

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

Speed of CPU is measured in Gigahertz (GHz) Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle

  1. Fetches information from the RAM address (starts at address 0)
  2. Decodes the information stored
  3. Executes the command given to it

Buses = electronic lines on the CPU to carry a single bit (0 or 1) across the CPU (internal CPU bus) External Data Buses connect the CPU to other computer parts and devices to send information across

ALU = Arithmetic Logic Unit, handles the calculations and comparisons

Clock Cycle

Motherboard uses a clock signal to control the transfer of data

Old computers could only send data once per cycle, now it can be sent up to 4 times per cycle

GPU (Graphic Processing Unit)

Handles images/video performance

GPUs contain hundreds of small core processors and can sometimes be used outside of graphics

GPUs allow the CPU to handle a smaller workload

Processor Cooling

  • Heat Sink = Attaches to the top of the processor and transfers heat from the CPU to itself
  • Fan = Blows Air to cool off system components
  • Thermal Paste = Used in conjunction with the heat sink to distribute heat evenly between the heat sink and CPU
  • Liquid Cooling = Liquid is circulated around the system and through the heat sink. Uses cool liquid to absorb heat and then puts the hot liquid in the back of the computer to cool off or be released

Chipsets

Principal chips (located on the motherboard) that work with the CPU

Control max motherboard memory and the specs of the motherboard (type of RAM chips, # of CPUs, # and type of USB ports, version of PCIe) Usually soldered and hidden near the CPU by a heat sink