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How Are Various Styles of System Units
Learn It Online Different?
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The system unit is a case that contains electronic
components of the computer used to process data. On
desktop personal computers, most storage devices also
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are part of the system unit. On notebook computers, the
Companies keyboard and pointing device often occupy the area on
FAQ top of the system unit, and the display attaches to the
High-Tech Talk system unit by hinges. On mobile devices, the display
often is built into the system unit. With game consoles,
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the input and output devices, such as controllers and a
Trailblazers television, reside outside the system unit. On handheld
Web Links game consoles and portable media players, by contrast,
the packaging around the system unit houses the input
devices and display.
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Install Computer What Are Chips, Adapter Cards, and Other
Vista Exercises Components of the Motherboard?
Maintain Computer The motherboard is the main circuit board of the system
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unit. The motherboard contains many electronic
components including a processor chip, memory chips,
Personal Mobile Devices expansion slots, and adapter cards. A chip is a small piece
Tech News of semiconducting material, usually silicon, on which
Timeline integrated circuits are etched. Expansion slots hold
adapter cards that provide connections and functions not
built into the motherboard.

What Are the Components of a Processor,

and How Do They Complete a Machine Cycle?

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The processor interprets and carries out the basic

instructions that operate a computer. Processors contain a
control unit that directs and coordinates most of the
operations in the computer and an arithmetic logic unit
(ALU) that performs arithmetic, comparison, and other
operations. The machine cycle is a set of four basic
operations — fetching, decoding, executing, and storing —
that the processor repeats for every instruction. The
control unit fetches program instructions and data from
memory and decodes the instructions into commands the
computer can execute.

What Are the Characteristics of Various

Personal Computer Processors?
A dual-core processor is a single chip that has two
separate processors. A multi-core processor is a chip with
two or more separate processors. Intel produces the Core
and Pentium processor families for high-performance PCs,
the Celeron processor family for basic PCs, and the Xeon
and Itanium processor families for workstations and
low-end servers. AMD manufactures Intel-compatible
processors, which have an internal design similar to Intel
processors. Some devices have a system on a chip
processor that integrates the functions of a processor,
memory, and a video card on a single chip.

What Is a Bit, and How Does a Series of Bits

Represent Data?
Most computers are digital and recognize only two discrete
states: off and on. To represent these states, computers
use the binary system, which is a number system that has
just two unique digits — 0 (for off) and 1 (for on) — called
bits. A bit is the smallest unit of data a computer can
process. Grouped together as a unit, 8 bits form a byte,
which provides enough different combinations of 0s and 1s
to represent 256 individual characters. The combinations
are defined by patterns, called coding schemes, such as
ASCII, EBCDIC, and Unicode.

How Do Programs Transfer In and Out of

Memory?
When an application program starts, the program’s
instructions load into memory from the hard disk. The
program and operating system instructions are in
memory, and the program’s window is displayed on the
screen. When you quit the program, the program
instructions are removed from memory, and the program
no longer is displayed on the screen.

What Are the Various Types of Memory?

The system unit contains volatile and nonvolatile memory.
Volatile memory loses its contents when the computer’s
power is turned off. Nonvolatile memory does not lose its
contents when the computer’s power is turned off. RAM is
the most common type of volatile memory. ROM, flash

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memory, and CMOS are examples of nonvolatile memory.

RAM consists of memory chips that can be read from and
written to by the processor and other devices. ROM refers
to memory chips storing permanent data and instructions
that usually cannot be modified. Flash memory can be
erased electronically and rewritten. CMOS technology uses
battery power to retain information even when the power
to the computer is turned off.

What Are the Types of Expansion Slots and

Adapter Cards?
An expansion slot is a socket on the motherboard that can
hold an adapter card. An adapter card is a circuit board
that enhances functions of a component of the system
unit and/or provides a connection to a peripheral such as
a modem, disk drive, printer, scanner, or keyboard.
Several types of adapter cards exist. A sound card
enhances the sound-generating capabilities of a personal
computer. A video card converts computer output into a
video signal that displays an image on the screen. Many
computers today support Plug and Play, which enables the
computer to configure adapter cards and peripherals
automatically.

How Are a Serial Port, a Parallel Port, a USB

Port, a FireWire port, and Other Ports
Different?
A port is the 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. A serial port,
which transmits data one bit at a time, usually connects
devices that do not require fast data transmission, such as
a mouse, keyboard, or modem. A parallel port, which
transfers more than one bit at a time, sometimes connects
a printer to the system unit. A USB port can connect up to
127 different peripherals together with a single connector.
A FireWire port can connect multiple types of devices that
require faster data transmission speeds. Five
special-purpose ports are MIDI, SCSI, IrDA, and
Bluetooth. A MIDI port connects the system unit to a
musical instrument. An eSATA port connects an external
SATA hard disk to a computer. A SCSI port attaches the
system unit to SCSI peripherals, such as disk drives. An
IrDA port and Bluetooth technology allow wireless devices
to transmit signals to a computer via infrared light waves
or radio waves.

How Do Buses Contribute to a Computer’s

Processing Speed?
A bus is an electrical channel along which bits transfer
within the circuitry of a computer, allowing devices both
inside and attached to the system unit to communicate.
The size of a bus, called the bus width, determines the
number of bits that the computer can transmit at one
time. The larger the bus width, the faster the computer
transfers data.

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What Are the Components in Mobile

Computers and Mobile Devices?
In addition to the motherboard, processor, memory,
sound card, PC Card slot, and drive bay, a mobile
computer’s system unit also houses devices such as the
keyboard, pointing device, speakers, and display. The
system unit for a typical notebook computer often has
video, modem, network, FireWire, USB, headphone, and
microphone ports. Tablet PCs usually include several slots
and ports. PDAs and smart phones often have an IrDA
port or are Bluetooth enabled so users can communicate
wirelessly.

How Do You Clean a System Unit?

Before cleaning a system unit, turn off the computer and
unplug it from the wall. Use a small vacuum and a can of
compressed air to remove external dust. After opening the
case, wear an antistatic wristband and vacuum the
interior. Wipe away dust and grime using lint-free
antistatic wipes and rubbing alcohol.

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