Journal02 - maxinepopov/sys-140 GitHub Wiki

Journal 02

Processor Overview

The processor determines the power a computer holds. It is also referred as a motherboard chip. Another term the processor holds is the CPU or central processing unit. Processor can perform calculations and input/output operations. Modern processor manufactures are, Intel, Motorola, VIA, Samsung, NVIDIA, Apple, QUALCOMM, and AMD.

Processor Basics

Processor speeds are measured in gigahertz, a measurement of cycles per second. One hertz is one cycle per second. Modern CPUs have sizes of 64 bits or 128 bits. To move around 1s and 0s in the processor, there are electronic buses being used. Electronic lines in CPU are referred as internal data bus. For CPUs to interact with outside world devices, like a printer, an external data bus must be used. This is what connects adapters, keyboards, mouses, hard drives, and other devices. Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) does most of the important calculations and comparison logic. The ALU connects to the registers, control unit, and internal bus. Processors have multiple pipelines. Relating to the restaurant example, the employees working faster can be compared to the increasing CPU clock speed. You can also break the CPU tasks smaller. Having more people doing the same process in the restaurant can be compared to having multiple pipelines. Downsides to pipelining can be that it makes things more complex than before. Due to several different pipelines, some computers may not be able to handle all those instructions. The designing of the pipeline processor seems to be difficult. (Q1)

Cache is very fast memory that increases speed of processor operations. The efficiency that the CPU has gets increased when the data moves through into the CPU. The cache is the first fastest method of transferring data into the processor. The second fastest is RAM, and the slowest is the hard drive.

A clock is signaled by the motherboard that controls the 0s and 1s to and from the processors. Clock signal can be compared to sine wave, (compare to the sine wave used in textbook). The clock cycle begins from one point to the next point that is also located on same point on sine wave later. Older computers had data sent to the CPU in one clock cycle, only one time. Now, data is sent four times during one clock cycle.

GPU is the Graphics Processing Unit. Intel and AMD contain GPUs. It gives you better video performance. GPUs do not only have the purpose of better video performance, there’s also general-purpose GPUs. Computers are able to have more than one GPU.

Processor cooling is very necessary and important. Intel and AMD contain technology that reduce the energy consumption by turning off the parts that are being unused. This is to prevent overheat. Heat sink is the block of metal that attaches to top of processor. The heat from the processor is transferred to heat sink and then blown away through the air flow. The fan is either attached to the processor, besides it, or in the case. Thermal paste is applied to the top of processor. It provides uniform heat dispersion. Liquid cooling is when heat from the processor gets transferred to cooler liquid. Then, the liquid is transported to back of system, gets converted into heat, and then is released outside of computer. Passive cooling does not need fans. When a heat sink doesn’t have a fan attached, it can be considered a passive heat sink.

Principal chips on the motherboard are considered the chipset. Chipsets control maximum amount of motherboard memory. It also controls the type of RAM chips and the motherboard’s capacity regarding the number of CPUs and if it supports latest PCIe. The chipset looks like the processor, it’s a square integrated circuit. Chipsets can determine what the motherboard can allow or support.

I would benefit from increasing the amount of cache/RAM. I would rather pay for something expensive than get irritated at my computer being slow, even if it has more disk storage. I like to play games sometimes, and I tend to run multiple programs at once, so the increase of cache/RAM would be the best option for me. (Q2)