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Computer Systems

MOTHERBOARD

Connects all components together and diverts electricity

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

The 'brain' of the computer, performing over 100 million basic calculations per second

Good cpu's have frequency speeds higher than 3GigaHertz (3GHz)

GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT (GPU)

Renders images and videos to be displayed on your screen with pixels

Ideally, you want to push visuals at 4k resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate

POWER SUPPLY UNIT (PSU)

Takes electricity from a standard wall outlet and diverts it to different components of the computer

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

Holds data that the CPU and GPU process

Usually 8-32 GigaBytes (8GB-32GB)

Think of it like short-term memory

STORAGE

Holds program files and documents

Usually 1TeraByte (1TB)

(1024x bigger than 1GB)

Long-term memory

COOLING SYSTEMS

Consists of a CPU cooler, GPU cooler, and case fans

Keeps the CPU and GPU colder to run better

(hot = bad)

Newer systems use liquid cooling to pull away heat faster than just fans

OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)

Software that everything 'runs' on

Windows / MacOS / Linux

Windows and MacOS are usually preinstalled on computers or laptops

Linux: you build yourself, but it's yours! (also very difficult)

KEYBOARD & MOUSE

Input devices to control the computer

You should be familiar with keyboards and shortcuts by now

A computer mouse uses:

LEFT CLICK (selecting)

RIGHT CLICK (opens a menu)

and the SCROLL WHEEL (scrolling and zoom)

PERIPHERALS

Everything else that you use to interact with the computer

Monitors, speakers, microphones, webcams, headphones, controllers, etc.

Usually connects with a Universal Serial Bus (USB)

Put all the parts together in a case and you have a Personal Computer (PC)

or buy an iMac...you can't upgrade your parts though 👎

I/O (Input/Output)

Input + Sensors

Input means things we as users are communicating to the PC, with devices like keyboards and mice.

Sensors also give information to the computer from outside of the system, like cameras, microphones, temperature sensors (for PC efficiency), and ambient light sensors (can detect how dark a room is and adjust screen brightness)

Output

Output is the data that the computer communicates with outside of its own system, usually on a screen or through speakers.

Output can also be in the form of files and documents that are emailed on the cloud or saved on external storage (like a memory card/thumb drive)

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