My Lab Report for CSC 103

Inside a Computer...

210 W
a computer does not use an alternating current like the electricity from the wall socket, so the power supply transforms the power to be useable for the computer. A fan sits over the power supply to cool it off, because the process of making the energy useable for the computer is not perfect and heat is given off.

The DVD and CD drive for the computer, on the upper left part of the computer when it was opened.
This DVD drive was designed by Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology

Here, the motherboard is the green plane on the lefthand side of the inside of the computer
It is connected to the essential components of a computer, including the RAM, processor and the crystal. It provides the electrical connections by which other components of the computer communicate. Daughterboards can be attached to the motherboard to expand the functionality of the computer. (Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughterboard)

Intel Pentium 4
2.80 GHz
The biggest chip on the motherboard is the processor. Information flows to and from the motherboard through the pins on the bottom of the processor.
It caries out the instructions of a computer program to preform the basic operations of the system, and can be considered analogous to the brain in the computer. (Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit)
The processor has a clock rate at which it executes instructions, with a required fixed number of clock ticks for each instruction--the faster the clock, the more instructions per second. This rate is determined by the frequency of the crystal. (Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit#Clock_rate)

Panasonic
3 V
This battery allows the computer to keep track of the time and date when the computer is turned off.
Many computers will still function even if the clock battery is dead, but the computer clock will need to be reset each time the computer is restarted, since power is lost, time is lost as well.

(Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock )

Crystals have a precise frequency--this crystal's Hz is unknown
located on the motherboard
The frequency of the oscillator crystal determines the clock rate of the processor. This clock rate determines how quickly a processor can carry out instructions. (Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_rate)

256 MB
The memory of the computer when it is in use. When you are using your computer, the operating system and all the information is in here (when it is not in use, it is on the hard disk).
It is temporary storage and working space for the operating system and its applications. (Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory)

4 GB
Memory is stored here when the computer is turned off.
Bits are stored on the hard disk as individual north-south magnets
The dominant secondary storage of data in computers
Data is recorded by magnetizing a thin film of material on a disk--it is written as sequential magnetic transitions on the disk.
A typical disk drive has two motors--one that spins the disks and one that positions the head assembly across the spinning disks. (Retrieved from Wikipedia on Feb. 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive )