Chapter 4 Vocab

Front 1

system unit

Back 1

Case that contains the electronic components of a computer that are used to process data.

Front 2

motherboard

Back 2

Main circuit board of the system unit, which has some electronic components attached to it and others built into it. See also system board.

Front 3

chip

Back 3

Small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicon, on which integrated circuits are etched.

Front 4

central processing unit (CPU)

Back 4

Electronic component on a computer's motherboard that interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate the computer. See also processor.

Front 5

multi-core processor

Back 5

Single chip with two or more separate processor cores.

Front 6

control unit

Back 6

Component of a processor that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer.

Front 7

arithmetic logic unit

Back 7

Component of a processor that performs arithmetic, comparison, and other operations.

Front 8

system clock

Back 8

Small quartz crystal circuit that is used by the processor to control the timing of all computer operations.

Front 9

clock speed

Back 9

Pace of the system clock, measured by the number of ticks per second.

Front 10

expansion slot

Back 10

Socket on a motherboard that can hold an adapter card.

Front 11

adapter card

Back 11

Circuit board that enhances functions of a component of a system unit and/or provides connections to peripherals.

Front 12

flash memory

Back 12

Type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten.

Front 13

peripheral

Back 13

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

Front 14

video card

Back 14

Adapter card that converts computer output to a video signal that travels through a cable to a monitor, which displays an image on the screen. See also graphics card

Front 15

sound card

Back 15

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.

Front 16

FireWire hub

Back 16

Device that plugs in a FireWire port on the system unit and contains multiple FireWire ports in which you plug cables from FireWire devices.

Front 17

graphics card

Back 17

Adapter card that converts computer output into a video signal that travels through a cable to the monitor, which displays an image on the screen.

Front 18

memory card

Back 18

Removable flash memory device, usually no bigger than 1.5" in height or width, that you insert and remove from a slot in a personal computer, game console, mobile device, or card reader/writer.

Front 19

port

Back 19

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

Front 20

USB port

Back 20

Port that can connect up to 127 different peripherals with a single connector type.

Front 21

FireWire port

Back 21

Port that can connect multiple types of devices that require faster data transmission speeds.

Front 22

SCSI port

Back 22

Special high-speed parallel port to which peripherals, such as disk drives and printers, can be attached.

Front 23

port replicator

Back 23

External device that attaches to a mobile computer to provide connections to peripherals through ports built into the replicator.

Front 24

docking station

Back 24

External device that attaches to a mobile computer or device and provides power connections to peripherals, along with memory cards, optical disc drives, and other devices.

Front 25

bus

Back 25

Electrical channel that transfers electronic bits internally within the circuitry of a computer, allowing the devices both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other.

Front 26

system bus

Back 26

Bus that is part of the motherboard and connects the processor to main memory. Also called the front side bus (FSB).

Front 27

front side bus (FSB)

Back 27

Bus that is part of the motherboard and connects the processor to main memory. Also called the system bus.

Front 28

backside bus (BSB)

Back 28

Bus that connects the processor to cache.

Front 29

expansion bus

Back 29

Bus that allows the processor to communicate with peripherals.

Front 30

bay

Back 30

Opening inside the system unit in which additional equipment can be installed.

Front 31

drive bay

Back 31

Rectangular opening in the system unit that typically holds disk drives

Front 32

power supply

Back 32

Component of the system unit that converts wall outlet AC power to the DC power that is used by a computer.

Front 33

binary system

Back 33

Number system used by computers that has just two unique digits, 0 and 1, called bits.

Front 34

bit

Back 34

The smallest unit of data a computer can process. Bit is short for binary digit

Front 35

byte

Back 35

Eight bits that are grouped together as a unit. A byte provides enough different combinations of 0s and 1s to represent 256 individual characters.

Front 36

memory

Back 36

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.

Front 37

volatile memory

Back 37

Type of memory that loses its contents when a computer's power is turned off.

Front 38

nonvolatile memory

Back 38

Type of memory that does not lose its contents when a computer's power is turned off.

Front 39

RAM

Back 39

Type of memory that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices. Programs and data are loaded into random access memory from storage devices such as a hard disk and remain in random access memory as long as the computer has continuous power.

Front 40

read-only memory (ROM)

Back 40

Type of nonvolatile memory that is used to store permanent data and instructions.

Front 41

memory module

Back 41

Small circuit board that houses RAM chips and is held in a memory slot on the motherboard.

Front 42

memory slots

Back 42

Slots on the motherboard that hold memory modules.

Front 43

cache

Back 43

Area of memory that stores the contents of frequently used data or instructions.

Front 44

memory cache

Back 44

Cache that helps speed the processes of a computer by storing frequently used instructions and data.

Front 45

L1 cache

Back 45

A type of memory cache that is built directly into the processor chip, with a capacity of 8 KB to 16 KB

Front 46

L2 cache

Back 46

A type of memory cache that is slightly slower than L1 cache, but has a much larger capacity, ranging from 64 KB to 16 MB.

Front 47

flash memory

Back 47

Type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten.

Front 48

complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)

Back 48

Technology used by some 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.
See page203

Front 49

access time

Back 49

Measurement of the amount of time it takes the process to read data, instructions, and information from memory.

Front 50

nanosecond

Back 50

One billionth of a second.