Computer iron for dummies. What is a computer and how it works

In this note I want novice users to tell that it is inside the computer (from which the computer consists). Know what is inside system Block It is useful if suddenly you have something will break, then you can independently replace the detail in order. Also, if you want to improve something in the computer, then you will not have to seek outsiders. Especially since nothing complicated inside.

We will study the most normal computerwhich consists of a system unit, monitor and keyboard with a mouse. With the monitor and all sorts of sorts of mice and keyboards everything is clear, but the system unit deserves more attention. In it just is your computer.

So, what is the computer that is inside. (Your appearance may differ from the fact that in the pictures, but it looks like this. In most cases it is:

1. The motherboard (motherboard) is the main part of the computer, it connects all the parts of the computer with each other.

2. The processor, the brain of the computer, considers and calculates. True, you will not see it, it is closed with a fan from above.

3. RAM. Fast but short-lived memory.

4. The video card is responsible for displaying pictures on the screen.

5. Hard disk, the main data storage device, the operating system is installed on it.

6. The sound card is responsible for the sound.

7. DVD drive, place where you insert a round circuit with games and movies.

This is the so-called minimum set of computer components. From it you can exclude a sound card, it is often built into the motherboard. Can still stand separately lAN cardBut usually now it is also built into the motherboard. There is still a power supply, it usually goes along with the case. As a collection, all this looks like this.

All parts directly or through the wires are attached to the motherboard. In principle, everything is done in the computer so that it is not possible to stick the item in your place. You can deceive with the landing place if there are several of them, for example, for random access memory Usually 2-6 connections (slot) for fastening, in the manual instructions there is a description of how to properly insert the slats (modules) with memory. If the bar is alone, then in the first slot, if two, and motherboard Supports, the so-called "dual" mode, then usually 1 and 3 slots. Most often they are painted in different colors. For the normal operation of RAM, it is desirable that all modules were the same. I will not describe in detail the operational memory, if suddenly, you will want to increase the volume of RAM, it is best to disassemble the system unit, pull the bar with memory and go to the store. There is nothing difficult in this, and the sellers will easily select the memory you need.

You can still miss, connecting a hard drive or DVD drive. They are usually attached to the same connectors. Now, these are the so-called SATA, the wire looks like

If you connect one hard disk, then connect it in the connector on the motherboard, which is usually signed as SATA 0.

Not so long ago, hard drives and DVD drives mostly had an IDE connector, it looks like this

If you have an old computer, and you want to buy a new hard disk or DVD drive to it, then you will definitely look if you have a SATA connector on the motherboard. Because now all the disks will mostly go with this connector.

Modern video cards, almost everything, now go with a connector PCI EXPRESS.. Previously, the main was the AGP connector. The difference can be viewed in the picture.

If you have a video card AGP card, and you want to change it, then it is better not to look for a modern video card with such a connector, firstly, it will be more expensive than an analogue on PCI Express, and secondly, you will not attach it then.

With the processor it's more difficult. There, too, there are several different connectors (sockets), for different types processors. There are motherboards for intel processors and AMD. Connectors (sockets) have a numerical designation by the number of legs on a processor, for example 1155, 775 or 478. If you have a motherboard with the Socket 775 designation, then the processor you need to buy the corresponding socket. Or vice versa, if we looked at yourself modern processor, you will have to buy a new motherboard for him, unless of course it has a different connector for the processor.

How to decipher your motherboard. Usually in stores there is a brief description of the motherboard, it looks like this:

ASUS Rampage Extreme Socket775, X48, DDR3, FSB1600, PCI-E, LAN1000, ATX

Means this as follows:

ASUS - Manufacturer.

Rampage Extreme. - Name of motherboard.

Socket775. - Type of the connector for the processor.

X48. - (labeling) type of chipset on the motherboard, also called chipset.

DDR3- type of supported RAM.

FSB1600.- The frequency of the system tire. The system bus connects the chipset with the processor (x48 with SOCKET775)

PCI-E. - type of connector for the video card.

LAN1000. - Type of built-in network card.

ATX - Motherboard form factor, in other words, size.

Additionally, there may be inscriptions: Sound. and Video.What will mean that the sound card and video card is built into the motherboard. The sound now, mostly, does not indicate, because it is practically embedded everywhere, but video, indicate, although you can learn about the presence of a built-in video from the marking, in the example it X48. , without a video, and if it were, for example, G35

This book is devoted to the consideration of iron - so the people call the real component of computers (or hardware - hardware), in contrast to the software part of the functioning of computers (or Software - Software). Standard complision of home personal computer Showing in the figure below.

What is the hardware part of the personal computer? First of all, from the system unit, inside which are located internal devicesand external devicesconnected to the system unit using information cables or connectivity to wireless information channels (using infrared radiation, radio waves, etc.).

TO external devices These are those that are outside the system unit. These include: Keyboard, Mouse, Display, There may be other devices: Printer, external modem, scanner and other devices.

TO internal devices refer to the motherboard (the people called the maternal or simply "mother"), cPU, RAM, RESOLUTION, Power supply, hard disk, previously installed a drive on flexible discs, drive on CD -ROM disks and (or) DVD drive, sound card, video card, speaker, and some other additional devicesInserted into the so-called expansion slots - network cards, television maps, etc. Figure below shows the standard location of the internal devices in the system unit.

Motherboard, processor, RAM, video card, sound card, extension cards, hard disk and speaker are inside the system unit, not visible to the user, more precisely, do not have access to the front panel of the system unit.

Internal devices.

Computer case It is used to install in it the main devices, protection of them from dust and other external influences, as well as to some extent protects the user from the electromagnetic radiation of the components that are located in it. On the front panel, indicators and buttons are placed, some internal devices are also located onto it (drives for flexible disks, DVD -RW drives).

Power Supply Designed to convert an AC electrical current with a voltage of 220 volts in a constant current of a smaller voltage and power supply to the devices inside the system unit. As a rule, this unit comes along with the system unit, but it can be bought separately. The system unit has on the back of the connectors to connect to a power source (electrical outlet or network filter), in some models - a connector for connecting the power to a 220 volt monitor (if the monitor has an electron beam tube) and the switch to different input voltage - 110 or 220 volt. Inside the system case there are wires that come out of the power supply and connect to internal devices.

Motherboardserves for the interconnection of information flows between different components of the computer. It has a central processor, RAM, BIOS microcircuit, in some cases - own fan for cooling the central processor, as well as a variety of connectors (for connecting external fan boards, connecting consecutive and parallel ports, extension boards, and so on). In addition, recently, built-in network, sound and video subsystems were installed on the motherboard, as well as their own speaker.

CPU. A processor that can be called the brain of the computer performs basic operations. Processors can be: 86, 286, 386, 486 (X86 series), Pentium, Pentium mmx, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV, Atom, Pentium Dual 2 Core, Pentium I 3, Pentium i 5, Pentium I 7 - Produced by Intel, as well as other companies, for example, AMD - Athlon XP, Athlon 64, etc. The difference between them consists in performance. The higher the processor the clock frequency, the higher the performance of your computer (although it is not always, for example, the performance of the first and second level cache, as well as the information processing structure, for example, the technology of emulation of the second Hyper -Threading processor). The performance also affects the presence of nuclei; Two or three-core processor work much faster than one-core.

The clock frequency determines how many operations per second can perform a processor. For earlier types of processors (for example, 286), one team was performed for several clocks. In modern over one clock, several operations are performed.

RAM. After turning on the computer, data from hard disk It is transferred to RAM and the processor works with them. If there were no this type of memory, the processor would work only with hard disk And each given it would have to record and read from it. In this case, the speed of work would decrease sharply, since the system would be waiting for I / O operations. In the presence of RAM, which operates at a speed close to the processing speed of the processor, the computer performance rises. The greater the memory size, the less access to the disk, the faster the computer will work.

The main characteristic of memory is its size, which is measured in gigabytes. It can be installed 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Gigabytes in the system. Often, it is often cheaper to increase the size of RAM than changing the processor to a higher frequency.

To speed up the calculations and do not wait until the data come from RAM or you need to write data into it, the processor has a more productive cache memorywhich differs in volume. The presence of cache memory can rather significantly increase computer performance.

The system unit is also located speakerwhich is usually supplied with the housing. The main function of the speaker is the supply of sound signals after turning on the computer and if it is malfunction. As a rule, in other cases it is used quite rarely. Sound fee is designed to work with sound.

Sound fee. This board processes audio data that comes from RAM. Data can also come from the DVD -ROM disc reader when playing music. After processing, the data is sent on speakers, tape recorder or other devices.

Video pay Processes data for the display (monitor). For programs that work with two-dimensional or three-dimensional images, the processor on the display can take over the video card, which will unload the main processor. The image quality is usually sharply rising.

One of the main characteristics is the size of the video memory of the board. It can have 1, 2, 4, 8 .... 64, 128, 256 512 1024 and more megabytes (usually 0.5 - 1 gigabyte). The more memory, the faster the data processing is carried out.

HDD.The data in the computer is stored on the hard disk. When the power is turned off, the information on the hard disk is saved. One of the basic parameters is the disk capacity, which is measured in gigabytes (one gigabyte is approximately one billion bytes. One character is stored in the pate). The disk may have a capacity from 8 gigabytes to 4 terabytes (1 terabyte is 1024 gigabytes). Older discs have a container measured in megabytes (one megabyte is approximately one million byte).

Now consider devices overlooking the front surface of the system unit (see Fig.5).

Drive drives on flexible disks. The front panel of the computer enclosure, as a rule, on outdated computers, the front side of the device for working with flexible disks is 3.5 inches (drawing on the right). Dakes 5 1/4 inches long ago came out of use and will not be considered to be practically considered, although many of the principles of their work are the same as for 3.5 inches. Note that in modern computers have long been abandoned from use and 3.5 inch drives due to a minor volume of recorded information.

A 3.5-inch flex disk (hereinafter simply diskette, a diskette) has an appearance shown in the figure above. The data recorded by the user on a diskette can be moved from one computer to another, since almost any computer has previously had the same device for reading flexible diskettes.

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The conditional view of the drive is shown in the figure above. Taking a floppy disk, insert it into the hole for the floppy disk to the stop so that the metal plate is ahead, and the arrow on the diskette housing was on top, and its tip was directed inside the device. After that, the protective cover of the reader will rise to its original place. To remove a floppy disk, you must click on the button located on the front of the storage panel. In this case, the diskette will be released from the device about 1/3 of its length, after which it can be removed by hand.

In the picture, the left corner of the floppy diskette. This is done so that the system can determine which side the diskette is inserted. If you try to insert a floppy disk, then the diskette will not be inserted into the device. In this case, it is not necessary to apply force, but turn over a floppy disk.

On the diskette there are two windows. On the right window on the back side is a switch. If the switch closes the window, then you can write information and read it on the diskette. If the latch is open, then the data can only be read. Usually, the switch is used so that when storing important data, it is randomly on them to record other information, which will lead to their destruction, or as protection against viruses.

Figure above shows the appearance of the front panel of the storage device for floppy disks. The button is used, as already indicated, in order to remove the floppy disk. The indicator begins to glow when the input / output operations are performed with a floppy disk, that is, the data is recorded on the floppy disk or it is read from it.

Drive forCD (DVD) - Disc Works with CD, DVD discs of different types. Appearance These discs, which are also called CDs, the same and shown in the figure on the right. CD -ROM (DVD -ROM) discs are made by an industrial way and write to them additional information It is impossible. CD -R (DVD -R, DVD + R) disks allow you to record information on them, but only once, although you can download the information if there is a disk free place. CD -RW (DVD -RW, DVD + RW) Disks allow not only to record information on them, but also to erase the previous one, which allows you to use them repeatedly.

After the disk was laid in the tray, press the button to extend the tray and the tray will enter the device. CD (DVD) - discs are usually in a box or paper bag. Open the box. To get a disk, move the index finger to the center of the disc and remove it with large and middle fingers, then put on the tray working surface down, respectively, the name will be upstairs. In order to insert CD (DVD) -disk, you must click on the button on the front of the drive when the computer is running (see Figure.). This automatically moves the tray to which you can put the disk. The tray has two recesses, as there are two disk formats. One of them, smaller, is rare, although sometimes it is shown in fantastic films. Discs of such a format are inserted into a smaller deepening. The second type disk, the most common, is placed in a greater recess, the working surface down, and the drawn image is top. After the disk was laid in the tray, press the button to extend the tray and the tray will enter the device.

Sometimes when you click on the button, the tray remains on the spot. In order to push the tray, you can use the hole for the forced opening of the tray. To do this, break the clips, put it insert it into this hole and click a little. The tray will come out of the drive.

On the back of the disk is his name or other information. The opposite side is a worker and it is undesirable to touch his hands. When cleaning the CD (DVD), dust from dust with a rag, gently spend perpendicular to the record tracks from the inner opening to the outer edge.

CD (DVD) - Discussions are two types. The first is wheels with a text, graphical and other information record, as a rule, with programs or text. The second type - the music discs used in laser audio players and can also be used to play on the CD reader (DVD) disks (hereinafter CD devices) on the computer. The sound can be heard through the headphones or from the speakers. Headphone plug is inserted into a special hole on the front surface of the drive. To increase / decrease the volume of headphones, a controller is used, which is located near the plug hole. The light indicator works when reading information from the disk. Since reading occurs with jumps, the indicator may flash.

The appearance of DVD drives is similar to the reading drive from CD -ROM disks. The front panel of the CD -RW drive is shown in the figure above.

Buttons on the system unit. In addition to the above devices, on the front panel of the system unit, as a rule, the RESET, POWER keys are located, as shown in the figure above, on outdated blocks, there may be a TURBO key, a lock for the key and the indicator. Recently, there has been a transition to the ATX standard, which does not have a lock for the key, the TURBO button and the system frequency indicator. Thus, on a modern systemic (and in a monoblock), as a rule, only the inclusion button is located and, often, the work indicator is located. hard disks.

Power button Designed to turn on the computer. When it is pressed, the electric current is fed to the main components inside the system unit, they are tested and continued - loading the operating system programs depending on which of them is installed on the computer: UNIX or Windows 9X. In older computers, this button was placed on the back wall of the system case, then on the side, however, for years it is already installed on the front panel. Near the switch is usually located the inscription type POWER or ON and OFF. In order to turn off the computer usually when leaving the operating system by pressing the Kind Completion of work From Panel Start, the computer automatically turns off. However, in some cases, for example, when the system hangs, you need to turn off the computer forcibly. To do this, click the POWER button and hold it pressed for a few seconds.

Button Reset. (In old computers) serves to restart the computer. When it is pressed, the operating system is rebooted, as well as when the computer is turned on at the very beginning of operation.

In which cases is this button? System failures occur from time to time. The more complex and unworn program, the more errors in it. Over time, with the release of more modern and, accordingly, more devices, the number of errors decreases, but completely to get rid of them is impossible due to the complexity of programs. There are even standards that determine the number of errors in large systems.

They say the computer "hung" when the system does not respond to pressing the keyboard keys, or the program begins to produce incomprehensible characters to the screen, or when you press one key, an action characteristic of the other key occurs. In this case, it is advisable to restart the computer. However, if you turn off the power of the computer, and then press the POWER key, turning on the computer in this way, then all the systems are experiencing shock. For large quantities The inclusions and shutdowns increase the likelihood of the failure of the microcircuit (the same principle as when the electrical bulb is turned on). For these cases, the RESET key is provided, which allows you to restart the computer without turning off the electric current.

If you still decided to turn off and turn on the computer using the POWER key, then between the shutdown and turn on, wait 40-50 seconds. Thus, you extend the service life of your system. In addition to errors in matures, the enlightenment of the computer may occur due to the actions of viruses. In this case, it is advisable to restart with the system floppy disk.

Not all system blocks have a RESET button. In some blocks, the RESET button can be located inside the POWER button (fixed part) or near it.

TURBO key Currently practically used. If you have it, it is best to enable it (that is, the indicator will appear more by the number or word High) and do not touch anymore. This key appeared on the computer when when faster processors appear the need for power reduction, the old programs can work. Now the programs themselves determine the performance of the computer and can slow down the operation of the computer (mainly it is used in game programs), so the Turbo key is not used.

Indicators. As a rule, on the computer they are four species.

Frequency indicator (In old computers), the processor works shown on the scoreboard the number of frequency. These values \u200b\u200bcan be numerical and text. Numerical values \u200b\u200bare usually two, the first is the clock frequency of your processor, the second is the reduced frequency of its work. Text values \u200b\u200bare also two: high (elevated) and low (low), which means the operation of the processor on a normal (high) or low (LOW) frequency. If your computer has been modified or purchased in a firm where the computer has been assembled there, then another value can be shown on the indicator than the processor actually works. In order to determine the frequency of the processor, it is better to take advantage of test programs. When working with a computer, the indicator is now practically not used. On modern computers, this indicator is not used.

Hard disk address indicatorit is lit when I / O operations are performed to the hard disk. It can be placed icon .

Power Inclusion Indicator It is lit when the computer is turned on. Near the indicator is the name Power or icon.

TURBO indicator (In old computers) ignites with Turbo mode, that is, high power or the one on which the central processor is calculated. Near him is inscription Turbo or icon . When working in modern computers is practically not used.

AdditionallyOn the front panel or on the side of it, USB connectors and audio input and awesome can be located.

External devices .

In addition to the system unit, the personal computer includes display(also called monitor), on which text and graphic information is displayed. Externally, it resembles a TV, which is seen from the figure earlier. There are two types of monitors: color and monochrome (black and white, almost not used). The main characteristics are frequency output strings on the screen (than it is more, the better for the eyes), resolutionwhich can be 480x640, 600x800, 768x1024, etc. (the more this value, the better), screen size diagonally in inches (maybe 14, 15, 17, 19 and others).

The next component is keyboard(Figure below), with which is entered text information And the computer is controlled using the function keys. In fact, it is very similar to a typewriter, but has additional keys and, moreover, it allows you to work with different sets of characters, for example, with Cyrillic (Russian) and Latin (English) set.

Next to the keyboard is a type of device mousewhich allows you to control the cursor (drawing on the right). It has become a standard index device, used in almost all computers and externally really looks like a mouse - small, with a long tail, that is, a cable that connects to the system unit. Here and further we will be for convenience to call this device just a mouse or mouse.

At the bottom of the device there is a ball (or a LED device), which allows you to move the cursor on the display on the display when moving on the mat. You can try to work without a rug, but since the grip between the rug and the mouse ball is higher than on the surface of the table, it is better to have a rug, especially since it is inexpensive. The mouse has two or three buttons, however, two of them are used in practical work: the left and right. IN recent models Mouse instead of the third button is a wheel, allowing you to "scroll" the text displayed on the screen.

Often, computers have a device for outputting information on paper called printer. The main characteristics of the printer are its kind (needle, inkjet, laser), the size of the paper with which it works (A4, A3, etc.), the possibility of outputting the image in color, the output rate of printed sheets, etc.

A computer that can work with sound has speakers To play sound information. As a rule, there are two of them to ensure stereo sound. The columns can be built on the display.

In addition, other external devices can be included in the personal computer kit. scanner (Figure below) , plotter, joystick, external hard disket al. However, the specified equipment is basic sufficient to perform standard sets of programs called packages Such, for example, Microsoft Office and solve some applied tasks, in particular, Multimedia - Work with sound and image.

The computer has input tools, output, information processing and a device that controls the computer components. To typical devices input Information relate keyboardwith which symbols are entered and commands are filed for computer functioning, mouse, scanner, microphone, digital video cameraand camera other. To typical devices output Information relate displaywhose screen is displayed visual information, printer, sound columns etc.

There are also input / output devices that are not only enter information, but and remove it: drives on flexible disks , drives by CD and DVD. - Discs , hard drives , tape recorders (or more correct - streamers ), modems etc.

What is computer. Computer, as follows from his name (in English word computer It happened from the word compute. - count, calculate) - this is a computing device. In fact, except to consider, consider a lot and quickly the computer does not know how much. Various peripheral output devices, such as monitor, printer, audio equipment, webcam, etc. They are simply capable of differently the results of these calculations convert to those who understand the signals. Various input devices (keyboard, manipulators, tablets, etc.) are in the opposite task: the transformation of external influences in computer-friendly sets of commands and data. That, without which the computer simply cannot exist is a central processor and a storage device (computer memory). The first is able to count, and the second is to store the source data and the results of calculations. The computer makes calculations on the program in advance. Programs write people, and computer business is to perform them. This is a little more detailed at the end of the material, and now briefly about what kind of computer perceives information.

Part 1. Features of the presentation of information in the computer

The minimum unit of information for the computer is one bitwhich can take two values. One of the values \u200b\u200bare considered to be 1, and another 0. At the level of "iron" (computer hardware), the unit of information is represented by triggers - the class of electronic devices, which have the ability to remain long in one of two states. The value of the output voltage of such electronic devices may have two values, one of which is associated with zero, and another with a unit. If on the basis of semiconductors, it was easy and efficient to create electronic devicescapable of a long time to be, for example, in three or four states, then the bit then considered a unit of information that takes three and more different values. Since all the same modern computers are built on the basis of triggers, the number system in them is used binary.

What is a number system. The number system is a way of representing numerical information determined by a set of characters. For us, the usual is a decimal number system represented by a set of numbers from 0 to 9. The computer for presenting information is enough of two characters: 0 and 1. Why it is so - I tried to answer a little higher when I described the nature of the triggers - the hardware base of modern computers. How are the numbers in various systems Note, I will show on the example of decimal, binary and hexadecimal systems. The latter is widely used in low-level programming, since more compact than binary, and the numbers presented in 16-richestly translate into 2nd and vice versa.

Decimal System of Number of SI10: (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). Binary System System "S2": (0.1) Hexadecimal SI16 Number System: (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, A, B, C, D, E, F) (for the designation of numbers 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, the characters A, B, C, D, E and F) are used)

So, an example: Consider how the number 100 is presented using these systems.

"C10": 100 \u003d 1*100 + 0 * 10 + 0 * 1 "S2": 01100100 \u003d 0 * 128 + 1*64 +1*32 +0*16+0*8+1*4 + 0 * 2 + 0 * 1 "SI16": 64 \u003d 6 * 16 + 4 * 1

All this is different positional Number Systems with different base. The positional systems of number are called those systems in which the contribution to the total amount from each discharge is determined not only by the value of this discharge, but also its position. Example notthe positional number system is the Roman system with its L, X, V, I. We obtain that the value of the number that is indicated in the positioning system with a certain base is calculated as follows:

N \u003d d 0 * b 0 + d 1 * b 1 + ... + d n-1 * b n-1 + d n * b n, where D i is the discharge value on i-m spotStarting with 0, and B is the base of the number system. Do not forget that b 0 \u003d 1.

How to translate the number from the hexadecimal system in binary and vice versa. Everything is simple, each discharge in the 16-riche system translate into 4 discharge of the binary system and write the result consistently at least to the right, even though to the right left. On the contrary: break the binary number on tetradda (4 categories of strictly right to left) and each tetrad separately replace one of the symbols of the 16-richery system. If the last tetrade turned out to be incomplete, then complement it with zeros on the left. Example:

1010111100110 -\u003e 0001 (1) .0101 (5) .1110 (14) .0110 (6) -\u003e 15e6

In order to quickly multiply or split the number on the base of the number system, it is enough to simply move all discharges to the left (multiplication) and to the right (division). Multiplication by 2 in the binary number system is called shift to the left (at the end is added 0), and an integer division by 2 - shift to the right (The last character is cleaned). Example:

11011(27) > 1101(13)

Computer information units. With a minimal unit of information in computing technology Understood - this is a bit. But the minimum address set of information is not bits, but byte - A set of information presented by 8 bits and, as a result, capable of storing 256 (2 8) different values. What means minimum addressable set of information? This means that all the memory of the computer is divided into sections, each of which has its own address (sequence number). The minimum size of such a plot is bytes. I, of course, simplify the picture, but at the moment such a presentation is enough. Why exactly 8 bits? It also happened historically, and for the first time, the 8-bit (byte) addressing was applied in IBM computing machines. Probably found comfortable that the unit of information is easy to imagine exactly two symbols of a hexadecimal number system. And now dispel myths about the volume of data denoted by almost all familiar words kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte., terabyte etc.

1 kilobyte (KB) \u003d 2 10 byte \u003d 1024, not 1000 bytes. 1 megabyte (MB) \u003d 2 20 byte \u003d 1048576 byte \u003d 1024 kilobytes, not 1000.000 bytes. 1 gigabyte (GB) \u003d 2 30 bytes, 1 Terabyte (TB) \u003d 2 40 bytes, etc.

Part 2. Computer Device

How the computer is arranged. Or what does computer consist of. Further narrative will be constructed as follows. The description of the computer device will be presented at various levels. At the first level, I designate the main components of the modern computer, in the second and subsequent levels I will describe each part in more detail each part. To quickly find the information you need, use the following navigation.

Level 1. Common computer device

System unit

The system block of the computer is the same box from which the power cord is sticking out to which the monitor, keyboard, mouse and printer are connected, and in which the CDs, flash drives and other external devices insert. It can be said that all devices that are connected to the system block from the outside are peripheral devices - Performing minor tasks of the computer. Well, in the systemic block itself, all the most valuable and necessary: \u200b\u200bpower supply, system motherboard and a central processor device (central processor) - "brains" of a computer. And also, control modules of peripheral devices (controllers), video and sound cards, a network card and modem, transport highways for transmitting information (tires) and a lot more useful. However, all this is primarily fair for home and office computers. For example, looking at the laptop, it is difficult to say where it ends with the system unit, and the peripheral devices begin. All this division is conditionally, especially since there are also communicators, tablet computers And other portable computing devices.

This category includes all devices that allow you to enter information into a computer. For example, keyboard, mouse, joystick, webcam and touch screen Allow it to do this, and the CD or memory card reader simply reads information from an external medium automatically. Input devices more often include only the means of entering information by man, and all others call drives of external data carriers.

These are devices that are intended to display the results of computer calculations. The monitor displays information in graphic in electronic formatThe printer does practically the same thing, but on paper, and the audio system reproduces information in the form of sounds. All these are means of feedback with a person in response to entering them information through input devices.

Other devices

This category includes any device connected to the computer from flash cards and portable hard drives, to modems (including Wi-Fi), routers, etc. Classify devices - the case is ungrateful, because it is possible to do it absolutely different, and you can always be right. For example, the built-in modem is difficult to attribute to peripheral devices, although the external modem performs absolutely the same functions. The modem is a device for organizing communication between computers, and absolutely no matter where it is. The same can be said about the network card. The hard drive is, first of all, a non-volatile storage device, which can be both internal and external. The above classification of the computer equipment is based primarily on the physical location of one or another device in a classic personal computer and only then to its purpose. This is just one of the ways to classify and nothing more.

Level 2. Stuffing of the system block of a modern computer

For a start a few words about Computer speed. This property is characterized by a clock frequency and system performance. What they are higher - the faster the computer works, but these are not synonyms. Performance Any system component is the number of elementary operations performed by them per second. Clock frequency - This is the frequency of synchronizing pulses supplied to the input of the system by the clock pulse generator, which, in turn, determines the number of executed sequence Operations per unit time. But performance can be increased by providing the ability to perform elementary operations. parallel With the same clock frequency, an example of which is the multi-core architecture of the central processor. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate not only the clock frequency with which the processor works, but also its architecture.

Now about computer components. With a housing and power supply, I think everything is clear and without comment. Systemic motherboard and central processor - This is the heart of the computer and it is they who control the calculation processes. About them more detailed story just below. Tires - This is a means of transmitting information between various computer devices. Tires are divided by tires controlwhich transmit command codes; address tireswhich, as follows from their name, serve to transfer the address by the context of the argument or address set by the context of the command, where the result should be placed; and data tireswhich transmit directly, the data itself - arguments and results of command execution. Controllers - These are microprocessor devices designed to control hard disks, external information carriers and other types of devices. Controllers are intermediaries between the central processor infrastructure and specific deviceconnected to the computer. HDD - This is a non-volatile information storage device. The non-volatility of the storage device is its ability to not lose information after turning off the power. In addition to user data, the hard disk contains the operating system software code, including drivers various devices. Device driver - This is a program that controls its controller. Operating system, for example, Microsoft Windows.Manages all devices through drivers who have a software interface that is understandable. Drivers are usually developed by suppliers of computer components separately for each type of operating system. Also, the system unit can not do without the cooling system and the control panel, which allows you to turn on and off the computer.

Level 3. How the computer works

As the computer presents data. All data for the computer is a set of numbers. How positive is stored whole numbersI told at the very beginning. Data that can be both positive and negative, in the first discharge (in the 1st bit) stored a sign (0 plus, 1-minus). I will not tell about the features of storage of real numbers in detail, but you should know that real numbers The computer is presented using mantissa and exhibitors. Mantissa is the correct fraction (the numerator is less than the denominator), in which the first silent sign is greater than zero (in the binary system, this means that after the semicolon is the first discharge - 1). The value of real numbers is calculated by the formula D \u003d M * 2 Q, where M is mantisse, and q -exponent equal to log 2 (D / M). In memory, the computer keeps not the Mantissa itself, but its meaningful part is the decimal signs. The more discharges (bits) are allocated under the Mantissa, the higher the accuracy of the presentation of real data. Example:

The number of Pi in the decimal number system looks like this: pi \u003d 3,1415926535 ... We present the number to the type of correct fraction multiplied by 10 to the appropriate degree: pi \u003d 3,1415926535 \u003d 0.31415926535 * 10 1 \u003d m * 10 q, where m \u003d 0.31415926535, Q \u003d 1.

Thus, we presented a real number in the form of two integers, since it is enough to store only semicolons for storing the mantissa (31415926535). It should be borne in mind that the mantissa and the exhibitor can be both positive and negative numbers. If the number is negative, then the mantis is negative. If the number is less than one tenth, then the exhibitor is negative (in the decimal number system). In the binary system of the exhibitor, negative, if the number is less than 0.5. Now let's try to do the same in the binary number system.

A little rounded source number: PI 10 \u003d 3.1415 \u003d 3 + 0.1415 So, 3 in the binary system is 11. We now understand the fractional part. 0.1415 \u003d. 0 *0.5+0 *0.25+1 *0.125+…= 0 *2 -1 +0 *2 -2 +1 * 2 -3 + ... As a result, we obtain approximately the following: pi 2 \u003d 11.0010010000111 \u003d 0.11001001000011 * 2 2 \u003d M * 2 Q, where m \u003d 0.11001001000011, and Q \u003d 2.

Now it should become clear that I meant under the accuracy of the representation of real numbers. 14 discharges were spent on Mantissa, and for the number Pi, it was possible to maintain only a few decimal places (in the decimal number system). Also, working on a computer, you can encounter the next form of the number of numbers:

6,6725E-11 This is nothing but 6,6725 * 10 -11 Text - This is a sequence of characters, and each symbol has its own numeric code. Text encodings There are several. The most famous and widely used text encodings are ASCII and Unicode. Graphics - This sequence of points, each of which corresponds to a certain color. Each color is represented by 3 integers: Red (Red) component (Red), green (Green) and blue (Blue) RGB colors palettes. The more discharges are given to storage of color, the larger spectrum of colors you can operate. Video - This is just a sequence of static frames. There are video compression technologies, which, for example, separate sections of the video are stored as one frame and the sequence of the Delta - the differences in subsequent frames from the previous one. Provided that neighboring frames differ in absolutely all points (for example, animation), this approach saves on the total volume of material. Sound - This is a signal that can be translated from analog view to digital by sampling and quantization (digitization). Naturally, digitization will lead to loss of quality, but this is the price of digital sound.

How the calculation process is organized. Motherboard - this is printed circuit boardon which installed cPU (CPU). Also, RAM Modules, a video card, a sound card and other devices are connected through special connectors to the motherboard. The motherboard is an aggregating link in the architecture of a modern computer. The motherboard is equipped system controller (north Most), providing the connection of the central processor with the RAM and the graphics controller, as well as peripheral controller (south Most) responsible for contact with peripheral controllers and a constant storage device. Northern I. South Most together form chipset motherboard - its basic set of chips. RAM or operational storage device ( Oz) - This is the energy-dependent memory of the computer in which the executable and the data of the program are stored. The amount of RAM affects the performance of the computer, since it is RAM that determines the amount of information being processed at each time. Permanent memory (ROM) - This is an energy notcomputer-dependent memory, which stores the most important information for it, including the computer's initial program (up to the operating system download) - Bios. (Basic Input / Output System - basic system I / O). These ROM usually records the manufacturer of the motherboard. Video card - This is an independent fee with your processor and its RAM (video memory) intended for quick conversion graphic information In the form that can be directly displayed. The video card processor is optimized for work with graphics, including for processing three-dimensional graphics. Thus, the video card processor unloads a central processor from such a type of work. The higher the volume of the video memory, the faster and more often the computer is able to update the data on the screen, and the wider there can be a spectrum of the colors used. The central processor device (CPU) may consist of several processors, each of which is capable of performing its program in parallel. Previously, the processor and core processor were synonymous. Now the CPU can consist of several processors, and each processor of several cores. Core Microprocessor is arithmetic logical device (Al.), kernel controller and set system registers. Alu, as follows from his name, can perform with numbers, uploaded to registers. The register set is used to store the address of the current command (the commands are stored in RAM, and the IP register (INSTRUCTION POINTER) indicates the current command), addresses downloadable to execute the data command and the data themselves, including the result of the command. The kernel itself, and manages all this process by performing low-level processor commands. Such commands include downloading data to registers, performing arithmetic operations, comparing the values \u200b\u200bof two registers, go to the next team, etc. The microprocessor itself communicates with the RAM through the controller of RAM. Although the access time to the RAM is much smaller than, for example, access time to information on the hard disk, but with intensive calculations, all this time becomes noticeable. For the organization of storage, the access time to which must be minimal, serves as a superoperative memory (cache memory).

Who or what manages the calculation process. The process of computing, as I said at the beginning, manages computer program. Programs are written in various programming languages \u200b\u200band most often on. The main high levels are: Announcement of variables of various types, performing arithmetic and logical operations, conditional operators and cycles. A person programming in a high level language does not need to think about how the information being processed is presented in the computer. All computations are mainly described in the usual decimal number system for it. The programmer defines in the form in which it is convenient. At his disposal a serious arsenal of already ready-made software components, solutions and programming technologies:, organization of organizations, services of working with, etc. etc. Further, special programs, called compilers, translate the text of the program into the machine code - to the language of the teams understandable to the computer's central processor. What does a program in a high-level programming language look like, for example, look on the pages of this site, and what the program in a low-level language is close to the machine code (), see below (this program just displays the message "Hello, World") .

386.Model Flat, Stdcall Option Casemap: None Include \\ Masm32 \\ Include \\ Windows.include \\ MASM32 \\ INCLUDE \\ Kernel32.inc includeLib \\ Masm32 \\ lib \\ kernel32.lib .data MSG DB "Hello, World", 13, 10 Len Equ $ -msg .data? Written DD? .code Start: Push -11 Call Getstdhandle Push 0 Push Offset Written Push Len Push Offset MSG Push Eax Call Writefile Push 0 Call ExitProcess End Start

One operator in high-level language is transformed into dozens, or even hundreds of machine code rows, but since this happens automatically, then you should not worry about this. At the time of launching the program, the operating system allocates it separately, loads the machine code into RAM, initializes the registers (the address of the first instruction itself is put in the IP register), and the computing process begins.

I believe that in this material the story about how it works modern computer, you can finish. Now you know in general terms, from which it consists and how it works, and the items can easily find on the Internet.

Nowadays, it is already impossible to submit your life without a personal computer. He got into all the corners of our existence. Up to the fact that some users of the days are spent behind it.

About five years ago, it was impossible to think what opportunities would bring a personal computer to our everyday life. Now it is not to go to the bank, in order to make any payment. I think it comes to the point that the store does not have to go. Everyone will be ordered via the Internet. I think that on the background of this, every nonframed user should know the device of his computer, so in this article I will tell you from what it consists.

I will not deepen much, for the everyday user it will be enough to know the main device. A deeper study requires individual large articles. If you don't know anything and you can not imagine what components is your PC, then this article is for you, and then for yourself, decide whether you need deeper knowledge of his device or bypass you to learn from this article.

So, the first thing to say about the device of a personal computer (I think it's so everyone knows, but for the completeness of the article still need to tell about it).

First, this is a system unit

And the first error of an inexperienced user, this is what is called "processor" (why, I do not know). R12 processor; This is completely different, and reading the article to the end you will understand that the system unit is not a processor.

Second, this is a monitor

What is the monitor I think you don't need to explain, it's so everyone knows.

Third, this is a mouse

With it, it is made almost all manipulations in the operating system. It even fits the expression R12; Without a mouse like without hands.

If anyone else knows (what I really doubt it) the mouse is two types of R12; Wired and wireless. Both types of mice have their advantages and disadvantages.

Benefits demon wired mice It is the absence of their wires, but the lack, this is what often has to change batteries very often (depending on their quality). Wired mouses are completely up to the contrary.

Fourth, it's keyboard

With the keyboard, everything just like with the mouse, you can say that they are inseparable friends and complement each other very well.

So, these were the basic components of a personal computer without which the work on it would not seem to be possible. There are also additional components, tact as printers, scanners, webcams and other pribrudes that are in principle are not so important for the functioning of the PC and are installed as much as necessary.

Now consider the system of the system unit. The main element of the computer.

To find out what the system unit consists of, you need to look into it in the inside, which is often afraid to do not experienced users.

Basic parts of the system unit

The first thing we see opening the side cover of PC is a motherboard

Main parts of the motherboard:

1. Connector where the processor with the cooler is installed.

2. The connector for the video card.

3. Connector for RAM.

4. SATA connectors for connecting hard disk or Roma DVD.

5. Connector for connecting the power supply.

Second, it's side power. That's how it looks around

It is responsible for the nutrition of all the system block devices.

Third, it is a video card. That's how it looks around

so look more modern video card

The video card is responsible for displaying the image on the monitor. The more powerful you have a video card, the more faster there will be a video performance, it usually concerns computer games.

Fourth, this is a hard drive

Hard disk is responsible for storing information. This is a kind of warehouse your, photographs, movies, music, etc. etc. In general, everything you have on your computer, all this is stored on your hard disk. (So \u200b\u200bthat it was completely clear, I will bring an analogy of R12; the principle of a hard disk, as for example, the video of the cassette, they recorded something on it, so it will remain on it until they erase)

Well, fifth, it's a DVD-ROM

I think it's not necessary to explain. Everyone knows what a DVD-ROM is and for what it is needed.

And so look the system unit assembly.

1. There is a power supply.

2. Here is the cooler, which cools the processor. Actually under it is the processor.

3. This is a video card

4 and 5. Here is a hard drive

6. Here is usually located DVD-ROM

Here in principle there is a main device of a personal computer, which in my opinion should know every non-profit user. At least in order to have at least some idea of \u200b\u200bwhat it works on.

The computer consists of a system unit and peripheral devices (monitor, mouse, keyboard). In this post, I would like to disassemble the computer in detail to each bolt, consider the computer device as a whole, which is there and for what each item is needed.

System unit

The system unit is the computer itself. The system unit is located: BP (power supply), HDD (hard disk), motherboard, RAM, processor, sound card, video card, network card, drive and other components that are needed to expand opportunities. Let us now consider each device here and learn what function it performs.

System Block Housing

The enclosures are different: compact, transparent, backlit, but the main task is to fit all the computer devices. Of course, it would be possible to do without it, hang the motherboard on the wall, and everything else was folded next to the table, but it is stupid, inconvenient and dangerous.

During the enabled system unit, it is impossible to touch its components. Inside is passed high voltagewhich may even kill. This is always used housing, it is convenient and safe.

BP - power supply

Almost all the wires that have in the computer go out of the power supply. It provides each device in the system unit of electricity, without which nothing will work. BP weighs near a kilogram, and has a size approximately as.

The power supply provides: 3.3V, 5V and 12V. For each device, separate voltage. Also, so that the power supply does not overheat, it is equipped with a radiator and cooling fan. From here and publish the sound of the work computer.

Motherboard

The main task of the motherboard is combined all computer devices. It in the literal sense will combine everything: mouse, keyboard, monitor, USB drives, HDD, processor, video card and everything else. More details with the holes / connectors and ports of the motherboard can be found in the picture above.

CPU - Central Computer Card

The processor provides and calculates all operations on the computer. If compared with the person's organs, the computer processor can be compared with the brain. The more powerful microcircuit (CPU), the more computing it can do, in other words: the computer will work faster. But this is just one of the main devices responsible for the speed of your computer.

RAM - RAM

RAM is an operational storage device. Also called RAM, RAM and RAM. This small fee is required to store temporary data. When you copy something, this information is temporarily stored on RAM, it also stores information system files, programs and games. The more you put the tasks to the computer, the more it is necessary to need RAM. For example, at the same time the PC will download something, play the audio file and the game will be launched, then there will be huge pressure on RAM.

The more RAM, the better the computer works faster (as in the case of the processor).

Video card (video adapter)

A video card, as well as it is called a video adapter is necessary to transfer the image from the computer to the screen / monitor. As mentioned above, it is inserted into the mat. fee in your connector.

In general, the computer is so arranged that for each device there is no one to insert something in place and even rough strength.

The harder image (HD video, game, graphic shell and editor), the more memory should have a graphic card. For example, 4k. The video will not be normally played on a weak video card. The video will slow down, and you might think that the weak Internet.

Modern video card Catain contains a small cooler (cooling fan), such as BP and CPU cooling. Under the cooler is small graphic processorworking on the principle of the central processor.

HDD (Hard Disk) Hard Disk Drive

HDD - It is: hard drive, hard, hard drive, screw, drive. As if him, he was not called, his task is alone. He keeps all the information and files. Including OS ( operating system), programs, browsers, photos, music, etc. In other words, this is the computer memory (as a flash drive in the phone).

There is still SSD.. The essence and principle is the same, but SSD works at times faster and an order is more expensive. If you use SSD as a system disk for OS, then your computer will work much faster.

Drive

If you need to look / copy information from the disk, then you need a drive. In the present time, new computers will rarely meet this device, USB drives (flash drives) came to change the drive. They occupy a much less place than wheels, it is easier to use, and they are reusable. Nevertheless, drives still use, and I could not write about it.

Sound card

The sound card is needed to play audio files. Without it, sound in the computer will not. If you return to the "Motherboard" section, you will see that it is already built into each motherboard.

As you can see in the photo above, there are additional sound cards. They are necessary for connecting more powerful acoustic systems and provide better voicing in contrast to integrated (embedded).

If you use ordinary small columns, then the difference will not even be noticeable. If you have a subwoofer or a home theater, then of course you need to put a decent sound card.

Additional computer devices

Everything that I told the above necessary For the system unit, and now let's look at the additional computer devices that expand its capabilities and add functionality.

External hard drive

Unlike HDD, the external hard disk is portable. If the HDD and SSD need to be installed in the case and secure it there, then the external is connected with only one USB wire. It is very convenient for all cases of life that does not make sense to describe. External HDD is like a flash drive, only with a large amount of memory.

Uninterruptible power system

Absolutely every computer is afraid of voltage drops, I would even say more than any other technique. The uninterruptible power supply will provide a stable voltage and keeps your BP from jumps.

Voltage can jump for various reasons, and it is not always noticeable. For example, if you have a weak wiring, then during the inclusion of other techniques in the house the voltage can jump. Or the neighbors are something powerful ... In general, I strongly recommend everything to use a shine.

TV tuner

TV tuner is a special microcircuit that allows you to watch TV on your computer. Rather here, as in the case of a drive, it still works, but no longer relevant. To watch TV on the computer, it is not necessary to insert special fees, we now have in my blog there is a whole section dedicated to this topic.

Peripherals of computer

As Wikipedia says:

Peripherals - This is an instrument that allows you to enter information into a computer or withdraw it from it. Peripheral devices are not binding system and can be disconnected from the computer.

But I disagree with her. For example, without the monitor, we do not need a computer, but without a keyboard, not everyone can turn on the computer, only the most experienced users will be able to do without a mouse, and you will not see anything without speaking and do not listen. It is still not all devices, so let's look at each of them separately.

Monitor personal computer

We repeat a little - we do not need a computer without a monitor, otherwise we will not see what is happening there. Perhaps in the future will come up with some hologram or special glasses, but so far it is only my sick fantasy).

The monitor is connected to the video card with a special cable, which is 2 types of VGA (obsolete connector) and HDMI. HDMI provides the best image, as well as parallel to the image transmits the sound. So, if there are built-in speakers in your monitor and it has a high resolution, you must use the HDMI cable.

Keyboard

The keyboard is needed to enter information, call commands and perform action. Keyboards are different: ordinary, silent, multimedia and gamers.

1. Normal - SAMIA simple keyboardon which only standard buttons.
2. Silent - rubber / silicone keyboards, when working with not a single sound.
3. Multimedia. In addition to the standard buttons, the keyboard has additional keys to control audio / video files, volume, touchpad (possibly), and the rest.
4. Gamers - Additional buttons for different games, the main buttons for the game have a different color and other buns.

Mouse

The main task computer mouse - This is the control / movement of the cursor on the screen. Also choose and open files / folders and call the Right-click menu.

Now there are many different mice for the computer. There are wireless, small, large, with additional buttons for convenience, but its main function remains the same decades later.

Acoustic system

As mentioned above, the acoustic system is connected to sound card. Through the sound to pass the signal to the speakers, and you hear what they say in the video and sing in the song. Acoustics is different, but without any, computer with all its capabilities becomes an ordinary working tool, which is boring time.

MFP - Multifunctional devices

MFP is more needed for office and study. It usually contains: scanner, printer, xerox. Although it is all in one device, they perform absolutely different tasks:

1. Scanner - makes an accurate copy of the photo / document in the electronic version.
2. The printer - prints the electronic version of the document, photos, pictures on paper.
3. Xerox - makes an exact copy from one paper to another.

Gamepad or joystick

Gamepad is a joystick in the past. Need only for comfort in some games. There are wireless and vice versa. Typically contain no more than 15 buttons, and it does not make any sense in non-games.