The CPU

The CPU, The Real Computer

The CPU if often just called the processor. It performs the transformation
of input into output.
A modern microprocessor, or CPU, is an extraordinary complex collection of
electronic circuits.
The circuit board that contains a computers CPU is called the motherboard.
Only two factors are important in the choosing of a CPU: compatibility and
performance.

Compatibility
Not all software is compatible with every CPU.
Every processor has a built-in instruction set - a vocabulary of instructions
the processor can execute.
Chips in Intels Core i7 processor family are backward compatible with the
Core i5, Core i3, Core 2 duo, Celeron, Pentium, 486, 386, and 286 chips
that preceded it.
The ARM processors used in many smart phones and notebook PCs have a
different instruction set from Intel CPUs.
CPU cant decipher Intel Pentium instructions and vice versa.
Programs written for Linux cant run on Windows even though both
operating systems can be installed on PCs powered by an Intel

Performance

Some processors are faster than others. Web browsing are more
convenient to use on a faster machine.
Some computationally intensive applications, such as statistical programs,
graphic design programs, and many computer games, require faster
machines to produce acceptable results.

A computers overall performance is determined in part by the speed of its

microprocessors internal clock.

From Multicore to Cluster

Instead of adding more cores to a CPU, a large system might simply add
more machines to a network.
Multicore processors: a single physical processor contains the core logic of
two or more processors.
Core: A processor core is a processing unit which reads in instructions to
perform specific actions.

Buses, Ports, and Peripherals

Information travels between components on the
motherboard through groups of wires called Internal
buses (buses) which usually consist of 32 or 64 wires.
Buses connect to storage devices in bays (open areas in
the system box for disk drives and other devices) and
also to expansion slots (slots) inside the computers
housing.
Users customize their computers by inserting specialpurpose circuit boards called expansion cards (cards)
Buses (external buses) also connect to ports (sockets
on the outside of the computer chassis) which usually are
used to attach peripherals (external devices that allow
the CPU to communicate with the outside information

Ports

Single-core CPU: multiple

applications by rapidly switching
between applications.
Multicore CPU: along the right
software, divide the workload
between processors.

Multiple servers can be grouped

together in a cluster to improve
rendering speeds.
Reliability reasons: If one
machine in a cluster shuts down,
the other servers can pick up the
slack.

Memory
Memory is the work area of the CPU.
Is made of millions of tiny storage cells, each of which can contain a single
byte of info.
PCs contain a large amount of random access memory (RAM).
Ram chips are usually grouped on small circuit boards called dual in-line
memory modules (DIMMS) and are plugged into the motherboard.
1. When you turn the computer, the CPU begins executing system
instructions stored in the read-only memory (ROM)
2. The executing instructions help the system to start up.

Buses, Ports, and Peripherals

Information travels between components on the
motherboard through groups of wires called Internal
buses (buses) which usually consist of 32 or 64 wires.
Buses connect to storage devices in bays (open areas in
the system box for disk drives and other devices) and
also to expansion slots (slots) inside the computers
housing.
Users customize their computers by inserting specialpurpose circuit boards called expansion cards (cards)
Buses (external buses) also connect to ports (sockets
on the outside of the computer chassis) which usually are
used to attach peripherals (external devices that allow
the CPU to communicate with the outside information

Ports

Buses, Ports, and Peripherals

Information travels between components on the
motherboard through groups of wires called Internal
buses (buses) which usually consist of 32 or 64 wires.
Buses connect to storage devices in bays (open areas in
the system box for disk drives and other devices) and
also to expansion slots (slots) inside the computers
housing.
Users customize their computers by inserting specialpurpose circuit boards called expansion cards (cards)
Buses (external buses) also connect to ports (sockets
on the outside of the computer chassis) which usually are
used to attach peripherals (external devices that allow
the CPU to communicate with the outside information

Ports

 Turn it off when youre away

Save energy, not screens: Use sleep
as your screensaver, and youll save
energy, too.
Turn it all the way off:Many electronic
devices consume power even when
theyre turned off.

How it Works: The

CPU

The central processing unit (CPU) is the hardware component

that executes the steps in a software program.
Contains the circuitry to perform a variety of simple tasks
called instructions.
An individual instruction does only a tiny amount of work.
Most CPUs have a vocabulary fewer than 1,000 distinct
instruction.
All computers programs are composed of instructions drawn
from this tiny vocabulary.

4. The decode unit takes the instruction

read by the prefetcher and translates t
into a form suitable for the CPUs
internal processing.
1. Execution of an
instruction is performed
by the CPUs arithmetic
logic unit.

2.Program instructions
are stored in primary
storage (memory)

3.The prefetcher
instructs the bus unit to
read the instruction
stored at a particular
memory address

5. If an instruction requires that information be sent out

from the CPU, then the fiinal phase of execution is
writeback, in which the bus unit writes the results of
the instruction back into memory or some other device.

6. Microprocessor
manufacturers use
many techniques to
eliminate bottlenecks
and speed up
processing.

7. The most popular PC

CPUs today are
multicore processors.
Each of the cores in a
multicore CPU is a
processor that can fetch
and execute
instructions.

8. Some CPUs increase

their efficiency by using
a technique that
enables each core
processor to execute
two concurrent threads
of instructions, making it
seem to the operating
system as if there were
twice as many cores.