ESSENTIALS OF

COMPUTER

What Is Inside The CPU Box?

Inside the CPU box are the motherboard, CPU, memory, internal storage and power supply.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)

Power Supply

RAM (Random Access Memory

CPU Box

Hard Disk

Motherboard

The motherboard

Also

called the system board is the main base of

the computer hardware system. All parts,
components and devices connect to the
motherboard. The motherboard is also the host of
the CPU, the memory and the other essential
elements of the computer. All other components
are usually connected by data cable.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The

brain of the computer, is inside the

CPU box placed on a special slot on the
motherboard. The CPU is contained inside a
small chip called microprocessor. The CPU
processes all the basic and complex
instructions given to it.

Memory

Is where data and programs are placed for execution by the CPU. The
memory is also directly connected to the motherboard through a slot
also called socket. There are three kinds of memories.

a.

RAM (Random Access Memory) also called the main memory. Data and
programs are placed here when the CPU is processing. Information in
the RAM are lost when power is turned off.

b.

ROM (Read Only Memory) stores important programs for example, to

start the computer. ROM information cannot be changed even when
power is off.

c.

CMOS (Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) stores the data,

calendar and current time of the computer. It is powered by batteries
so that even when the computer is off information inside it, remains.

Internal Storage

is

where data is kept for future use.

This storage retains information even
when power is turned off. The
common internal storage is the hard
disk but solid-state drives, hard disk
without moving parts, is now popular.

Power Supply

The

CPU, motherboard, hard

disk and other components
inside the CPU box get their
power source from the power
supply.

The Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The CPU executes a step by step instructions in its memory

called the program. The CPU has two basic components; the
arithmetic logic (ALU) and the control unit. These two
components work together to do the computer processing.

The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) does arithmetic and logical

operations of the computer. The arithmetic function includes
the basic math calculations such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. The logical function on the other
hand compares whether a data is greater, less or equal to
another and then certain actions occurs.

The control unit functions just like a traffic cop that directs
what operation the CPU does first, next and so on. It
determines what numbers to add and what data to compare in
the arithmetic logic unit.

Machine Cycle

There are four basic steps that the CPU does to process its
operation: fetch, decode, execute and store. The process is
repeated again until the last instruction. This is also called the
machine cycle.

FETCH is the process of getting a program instruction or data from

memory.
DECODE is the process of translating these instructions or data
that the CPU can understand and execute upon.
EXECUTE is the process of carrying out the command. It is either
an arithmetic or logical operation.
STORE is the process of writing the result to memory. This memory
is in the CPU itself and they are called registers. This memory is
not the RAM or the hard disk.

REGISTERS
- Inside the CPU are small but high-speed
data storage called registers. Registers hold
data and instructions temporarily but are
transferred to the CPU for processing at very
high speeds. Processors have different types of
registers some are used to store location of
instructions, store instructions while the CPU
is decoding them, store data while ALU
computes and stores results of ALU calculation
or comparison.

SYSTEM CLOCK
- The CPU system clock is generated by a quartz
crystal. The system clock provides the fixed
sequence in time that cannot be varied. The number
ticks in one cycle is called clock rate. The faster the
clock rate, the faster is processor clock rates are
measured in gigahertz (GHz). Giga is a prefix
denoting billion and hertz is one cycle per second.
Therefore, one gigahertz (GHz) is one billion ticks of
the system clock per second. CPU that is rated at 1.6
GHz has 1.6 billions processor clock cycles per
second. Therefore, it is preferable to have a
processor with high clock rate.

CPU COOLING

The

CPU chip generates a lot of heat when

processing and may burn up if not cooled. A
cooling system is needed to ensure that the
processor chip is cooled to a level that it
operates efficiently. Most processors are
provided with cooling fans but these may not be
enough, additional external cooling is needed.

HEAT SINK

Is

a metal component attached to the CPU with fins

designed to dissipate heat therefore cool the processor.
Heat is absorbed by the heat sink and is dispersed to the
air by the fin. Sometimes heat pipes are used to blow
heat away.

Other

computers use water cooling just like cars. Water

flows from the processors to the radiator-type grill that
cools the water then water returns to the CPU to cool it
again.