Chapter 4

Front 1

a case that contains electronic components of the computer used to process data

Back 1

System Unit

Front 2

(system board) the main circuit board of the system unit

Back 2

Motherboard

Front 3

a small piece of semiconducting material on which integrated circuits are etched (usually silicon)

Back 3

chip

Front 4

(central processing unit) interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer

Back 4

CPU

Front 5

a chip with two or more separate processor cores

Back 5

Multi- core processor

Front 6

the component of the processor that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer

Back 6

Control Unit

Front 7

(arithmetic logic unit) performs arithmetic, comparison, and other operations

Back 7

ALU

Front 8

a small quartz crystal circuit that generates ticks that set operating pace

Back 8

System Clock

Front 9

the pace of the system clock

Back 9

clock speed

Front 10

a number system that has just two unique digits, one and zero, called bits

Back 10

binary system

Front 11

(short for binary digit) the smallest unit of data the computer can process

Back 11

bit

Front 12

8 bits grouped together as a unit- provides enough different combinations of 1s and 0s to represent 256 individual characters

Back 12

byte

Front 13

consists of electronic components that store instructions waiting to be executed by the processor, data need by those instructions, and the results of processing the data

Back 13

memory

Front 14

when computer's power is turned off, it loses its contents, temporary, RAM

Back 14

volatile memory

Front 15

does not lose contents when power is removed from computer- permanent, ROM, flash memory, CMOS

Back 15

nonvolatile memory

Front 16

(random access memory) consists of memory chips that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices

Back 16

RAM memory

Front 17

(read only memory) refers to memory chips storing permanent data and instructions

Back 17

ROM memory

Front 18

a small circuit board

Back 18

memory module

Front 19

on motherboard, holds memory modules

Back 19

memory slot

Front 20

speeds up processing time because it stores frequently used instructions and data

Back 20

cache

Front 21

built directly in processor chip, usually has very small capacity, ranging from 8 KB to 128 KB

Back 21

L1 cache

Front 22

slightly slower than L1, much higher capacity

Back 22

L2 cache

Front 23

a type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten

Back 23

flash memory

Front 24

(complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) provides high speeds and consumes little power

Back 24

CMOS

Front 25

amount of time it takes the processor to read data, instructions, and information from memory

Back 25

Access time

Front 26

one billionth of a second

Back 26

nanosecond

Front 27

a socket on the motherboard that can hold an adapter card

Back 27

expansion slot

Front 28

(expansion card) a circuit board that enhances functions of a component of the system unit and/or provides connections to peripherals

Back 28

adapter card

Front 29

a device that connects to the system unit and is controlled by the processor in the computer

Back 29

peripheral

Front 30

(graphics card) converts computer output onto a video signal that travels through a cable to the monitor, which displays an image onscreen

Back 30

video card

Front 31

enhances the sound generating capabilities of a personal computer by allowing sound to be input through a mic and output through speakers

Back 31

sound card

Front 32

a device that plugs in a USB port on the system unit and contains multiple USP ports in which you plug cables from USB devices

Back 32

hub

Front 33

a removable flash memory device that you insert and remove from a personal computer, game console, mobile device, or card reader/writer

Back 33

memory card

Front 34

the point at which a peripheral attaches to or communicates with a system unit so that a peripheral can send data to or receive information from a computer

Back 34

port

Front 35

(universal serial busport) can connect up to 127 different peripherals together with a single connector

Back 35

USB port

Front 36

similar to USB port in that it can connect multiple types of devices that require faster data transmission speeds to a connector

Back 36

FireWire port

Front 37

special high- speed parallel port, allows you to attach SCSI peripherals

Back 37

SCSI port

Front 38

an external device that provides connections to peripherals through ports built into the device

Back 38

port replicator

Front 39

an external device that attaches to a mobile computer or device, contains a power connection and provides connections to peripherals

Back 39

docking station

Front 40

electrical channels that allow various devices both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other

Back 40

bus

Front 41

(front side bus) part of the motherboard and connects processor to main memory

Back 41

system bus

Front 42

connects processor to cache

Back 42

backside bus

Front 43

allows processor to communicate with peripherals

Back 43

expansion bus

Front 44

an opening inside the system unit in which you can install additional equipment

Back 44

bay

Front 45

rectangular opening that typically holds disk drives

Back 45

drive bay

Front 46

component of the system unit that converts the wall outlet AC power into DC power

Back 46

power supply