Infor Science Chapter 4

Front 1

System unit

Back 1

case that contains electronic components of the computer to process data

Front 2

motherboard

Back 2

aka system board, main circuit board of the system unit.

Front 3

chip

Back 3

small piece of smeiconducting material, usually silicon, on which integrated circuits are etched.

Front 4

CPU

Back 4

central processing unit, interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer.

Front 5

multi-core porcessor

Back 5

`chip with two or more separate processor cores.

Front 6

control unit

Back 6

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

Front 7

ALU

Back 7

arithmetic logic unit, another component of the processor, performs arithmetic, comparison and other operations

Front 8

system clock

Back 8

small quartz crystal circuit that controls the timing of all computer operations.

Front 9

clock speed

Back 9

pace of a system clock measured by the number of ticks per second.

Front 10

binary system

Back 10

number system that just has two unique digits, 0 and 1, called bits.

Front 11

bit

Back 11

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

Front 12

byte

Back 12

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

Front 13

memory

Back 13

consist of electronic components that store instructions waiting to be executed by the processor, data needed by those instructions, and the results of processing the data (info)

Front 14

volatile memory

Back 14

loses its contents when the computers power is turned off.

Front 15

nonvolatile memory

Back 15

does not lose its content when the computers power is turned off.

Front 16

RAM memory

Back 16

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

Front 17

ROM memory

Back 17

(read only memory) memory chips storing permanet data and instructions.

Front 18

memory module

Back 18

small circuit board.

Front 19

memory slot

Back 19

holds memory modules on the motherboard.

Front 20

cache

Back 20

helps speed the processes of the computer because it stores frequently used data and instructions.

Front 21

L1 cache

Back 21

built directly in the processor chip, usually has very small capacity ranging from 8kb- 128kb

Front 22

L2 cache

Back 22

slightly slower but much larger capacity. 64 kb- 16 mb

Front 23

Flash memory

Back 23

type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten

Front 24

CMOS

Back 24

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

Front 25

access time

Back 25

amount of time it takes the processor to read data, instructions, info, and memory.

Front 26

nanosecond

Back 26

`one billionth of a second.

Front 27

expansion slot

Back 27

socket on the motherboard that can hold an adapter card.

Front 28

adapter card

Back 28

AKA expansion card, circuit board that enhances functions of a component of the system unit and/or provides connects to peripherals.

Front 29

peripheral

Back 29

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

Front 30

video card

Back 30

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

Front 31

sound card

Back 31

enhances the sound-generating capabilities of a personal computer by allowing sound to be input through a microphone and output through speakers or headphones.

Front 32

hub

Back 32

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

Front 33

graphics card

Back 33

another name for video card

Front 34

memory card

Back 34

removable flash memory device usually no bigger than 1.5 inches in height or width that you insert and remove from a slot.

Front 35

port

Back 35

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

Front 36

USB port

Back 36

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

Front 37

FireWire port

Back 37

can connect multiple types of devices that require faster data transmission speeds to a single connector.

Front 38

SCSI port

Back 38

allows you to attach SCSI peripherals such as disk drives and printers.

Front 39

port replicator

Back 39

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

Front 40

docking station

Back 40

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

Front 41

bus

Back 41

allows the various devices both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other.

Front 42

system bus

Back 42

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

Front 43

frontside bus

Back 43

another name for system bus

Front 44

backside bus

Back 44

connects the processor to cache

Front 45

expansion bus

Back 45

allows the processor to communicate with peripherals.

Front 46

bay

Back 46

opening inside the system unit in which you can install tradtional equipment.

Front 47

drive bay

Back 47

rectangular opening that typically holds disk drives.

Front 48

power supply

Back 48

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