A1 Computer hardware in a computer system

A1 Computer hardware in a computer system

1. Types of Computer System

   • Multi Function
     • More than 1 job (EG Multi Function Printer)
     • Will Have its own CPU, WIFI, Lan Port, Touch Screen
   • Personal Computers
     • Desktop (Not portable, powerful for the money it costs)
     • Laptop PC (Slimmed down, portable, more expensive or less specs than a Desktop)
     • Media Pc (Aimed at media playback, low spec, aimed at lower power and noise)
     • Micro-Pc (Tiny and very cheap, usually for coding, not powerful enough for Windows)
     • Internal Components
       • CPU
         • Factors to consider: Clock Speed, Cores, Cache, Power Usage, Cooling
       • Memory
         • Main Memory
           • Ram - Stores current data being processed (more MB/GB is better)
           • Cache - Stores current INSTRUCTION being processed (more MB/GB is better)
         • Backing Storage
           • Magnetic Hard Drive (Cheapest per TB, has most storage, slower than SSD)
           • Solid State (More expensive per TB than Magnetic, Less storage than Magnetic, Fastest!)
           • NAND Flash Memory (Technology used for SSD, allows electricity to open (Binary 1) or close (Binary 0) gates , found in SSD, Camera Memory, Phone Memory
         • System on A chip
           • A Small circuit with CPU, Ram, Cache etc all on one single chip
       • Graphics Card (GPU)
         • Desktop PC
           • Most PCs that want a decent amount of graphics will have a separate graphics card. The graphics card will allow for speedy processing of any graphics. Pcs used to more office style systems may just make use of an integrated graphics unit. A laptop will most likely use an integrated or “LOW PROFILE” card
         • Media PC
           • A Media PC will require a good quality graphics hard so that video can be played back and displayed smoothly. Again it will be required to use little power, require little cooling and be silent
         • Mini-PC
           • This will have a graphics unit integrated onto the motherboard chip as there will be no room for a dedicated card. It will most likely not handle games at any decent rate and will be used to purely output a resolution.
         • Tablet
           • There is no room for a graphics card, but it will still have a GPU embedded onto the circuit board that will be used to output video.
         • Smart-Phone
           • There is no room for a graphics card, but it will still have a GPU embedded onto the circuit board that will be used to output video
         • Server
           • A server will have very little use for high quality graphics so the server would make use of the standard embedded GPU on the motherboard
         • Factors Affecting
           • Clock Speed – Just like a CPU, the GPU has a clock speed that will process the graphics. The higher the clock speed, the better and smoother the graphics Cores – A graphics card can only have 1 core – this is because the nature of a GPU means that processes are done in parallel anyway Memory – This is obvious – the more memory a GPU has, the more data can be stored temporarily and processed at a time Slot Type – PCI-E and AGP are the most common types of card types.
   • Mobile Devices
     • Tablet PC
       • Very small and portable Less powerful than a Desktop or Laptop (for the money) Can be purchased very cheaply Impossible to self-repair or update
     • Smart Phone
       • Very expensive compared to desktop/laptop for similar specs Hard to get a Spec similar to a desktop PC Easy to break/smash/break Impossible to update
   • Servers
     • A Large computer used for central storage on a network
       • They can be used to: Provide storage Provide access to an internet connection Provide management of users Provide a backup facility Provide access to shared peripherals (such as printers)

2. Input and OUtput Devices

   • You should already have a good idea of the INPUT and Output devices available for computer systems Keyboard Mouse Webcam Microphone Joystick/Keypad Scanner Hard Copy – Printer Visual – Monitor/Projector Speakers

3. Storage Devices

   • Storage devices we need to know about: Magnetic Hard Disk Drives (HDD) Solid State Hard Drives (SSD) External Hard Drives Flash Memory Drives Server Storage Cloud Storage SD/Camera Memory Cd/DVD/Blu-ray
   • RAID
     • having two or more Hard Drives joined in one system
   • NAS
     • Similar to RAID, however is a seperate system purely for holding the hard drives and attaching to the network

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