"Chips" are an important component of the computer. Chips are made from silicon which is a "semi-conductor" of electricity. To make a chip, silicon is grown into crytals called "ingots." These naturally form a cylindrical shape. The ingots are sliced into thin "wafers" of silicon. Using a process called "photolithography," the chip's circuits are etched onto the wafer. The chip is cut out of the wafer and placed into a package so that it can be plugged into a circuit board. One common type of package is called a "DIP"-dual in-line package, so called because it has two rows of metal "feet" that are used to connect it to a circuit board.
For more information on the process, click here.
Inside the main console, there are several important types of chips including:
CPU-central processing unit, the brain of the computer (example:
Pentium II Processor). The CPU is divided into two main parts:
ROM-read only memory, non-volatile memory
RAM-random access memory, volatile memory (Sometimes called SDRAM or DRAM-dynamic random access memory.)
von Neumann machine (input->memory<-/->processor->output )
ram cache-fast memory that stores information for DRAM
virtual memory (using disk space as if it were RAM)
bus-data pathway between system components
SIMM-single inline memory module
mhz-megahertz millions of instructions per second
pipelining-a strategy for optimizing processor speed by beginning the next operation before the last is completed
parallel processing-using multiple processors to perform a task
CISC-complex instruction set computer
RISC-reduced instruction set computer
Operating System
The operating system performs basic operations such as:
Some operating systems:
Other terms:
Related Software:
Applications-special purpose software
Some applications:
When the computer is turned on, the permanent instructions stored in ROM tell the computer how to find the disk containing the operating system. The operating system is then copied from the disk into RAM for quick access. Hardware diagnostics are run and the system may check itself for viruses.