Components

Components

1. Fan- cools the components that may get hot

2. Power supply- supplies power to the components

3. CPU- (central processing unit) processes information

   • The purpose of the CPU is to process information- it is where processes (calculating, sorting, searching) take place.Whatever is done on our computers, such as checking emails, playing games and doing homework, the CPU has processed the data we use.

4. Motherboard- connects all components

5. RAM- stores data while powered

6. Fetch, decode, execute.

   • Fetching the instruction The first step the fetch-execute cycle carries out is fetching the instruction. The CPU fetches this from the main memory (the hard drive) and stores it in the CPU temporary memory, the immediate access store (the registers).
     • Once the instruction has been fetched, the CPU will need to understand the instruction to action it. This is called decoding.
       • Executing the instruction When the instruction has been decoded, the CPU can carry out the action that is needed. This is called executing the instruction. The CPU is designed to understand a set of instructions - the instruction set.
         • The processor fetches new instructions from the RAM, decodes them and executes them.

7. 1 Kilohertz (kHz) = 1000 cycles per second.

   • 1 Megahertz (MHz) =1000000 cycles per second.
     • 1 Gigahertz (GHz) =10 cycles per second.

8. A single piece of program code might require several instructions. Look at this Python (3.x) code: area = length * width First, the computer needs to load in the value of the variable length into the immediate access store (registers). Next it needs to load in the value of the variable width. Then it needs to multiply the two numbers together, and finally it needs to store the result in the variable area. 1 2 3

9. RAM- Random Access Memory- only stores data while powered. Short term memory. It can store any data but only