Computer systems elements Essay

Computer System Elements

As a professional IT Consultant we can never forget that knowing IT technical language is not essential for every person outside the IT industry. This essay aims to fulfil the gap between IT professionals and end-users by providing the reader a brief description of the most important computer system elements.
Computer
“A computer is a programmable device that can automatically perform a sequence of calculations or other operations on data once programmed for the task. It can store, retrieve, and process data according to internal instructions” (vandal.net). Therefore a Computer Systems is a system formed by diverse devices that perform particular functions and co-operate together to offer the end user a multitasking computer.
Before we start with the assignment questions, we must define the computer system components. We found the Microsoft Website one of the clearest and more reliable one to aid us on this research.

Computer Systems
“A computer is really a system of many parts working together. The physical parts, which you can see and touch, are collectively called hardware.
Software, on the other hand, refers to the instructions, or programs, that tell the hardware what to do” (Microsoft). In this Course Unit 2 Computer
Systems we are going to talk about both of these types of computer components: hardware and software. All computer systems have similar parts, although some devices may combine them into different packages and sizes. Central Processing Unit
“The system unit is the core of a computer system. Inside this unit there are many electronic components that process information. The most important of these components is the central processing unit (CPU), or microprocessor, which acts as the "brain" of your computer” (Microsoft).
Nowadays the speed of the CPU is usually described in Gigabytes (GB) and completed by another unit called cache, measured un Megabytes (MB) which
“stores recently used information so that it can be quickly accessed at a later time” (techterms.com). Please note that “computers incorporate several different types of caching in order to run more efficiently, thereby improving performance. Common types of caches include browser cache, disk cache, memory cache, and processor cache” (techterms.com).
Random Access Memory

“Another component is random access memory (RAM), which temporarily stores information that the CPU uses while the computer is on. The information stored in RAM is erased when the computer is turned off”
(Microsoft). At this point is important to make it clear that the RAMs function is similar to the mentioned CPUs cache one; however, the RAM is not integrated in the processor. It is obviously measured in MB or GB.
Motherboard
“The motherboard is the main circuit board of your computer and is also known as the mainboard or logic board...Attached to the motherboard, you'll find the CPU, ROM, memory RAM expansion slots, PCI slots, and USB ports.
It also includes controllers for devices like the hard drive, DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse. Basically, the motherboard is what makes everything in your computer work together...Each motherboard has a collection of chips and controllers known as the chipset. When new motherboards are developed, they often use new chipsets. The good news is that these boards are typically more efficient and faster than their predecessors. The bad news is that older components often do not work with new chipsets. Of course, if you are planning on upgrading multiple components, it may be more costeffective to just buy a new computer” (techterms.com). Most devices are plugged into the motherboard and that is why we must be careful when upgrading our computer system and choose devices that are compatible with each other (for example, RAMs can be DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 types which shapes are slightly different and therefore the motherboard will need

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