6666CH

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SYSTEM UNIT

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Lecture Objectives

System unit componentsMicroprocessorsMemory

Microprocessor Details• Microprocessor Components• Main Types (CISC/ RISC) of

Microprocessors• Word Size of a Microprocessor

System Board

Allows I/O devices to

communicate with the system

unit.

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System Board

Connects all components

Allows communication between devices

Main board or motherboard

Circuit board electronic components

Sockets

Slots

Bus lines

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Microprocessor

Central Processing Unit (CPU )

Two basic components Control unit

Arithmetic and logic unit

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The Microprocessor chip

Control Unit sends control signals to the rest of the devices like

Memory – reading/writing for instructions/data/resultsArithmetic Logic UnitOther external devices – for input/output etc.

ALU performs arithmetic or logical operations

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… The Microprocessor chip

Input DevicesInput Devices Output DevicesOutput DevicesMouseKeyboard

PrinterScreen

Program Problem DataControl

UnitALU

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Microprocessor Chips

Chip capacities are expressed in word sizes

Types of microprocessor chipsCISC chips: Complex instruction chips

Most widely used design

Used by Intel

RISC chips: Reduced instruction set computer chipsUses fewer instructions

Design is simpler and less costly

Used by the PowerPC

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Microprocessor & Small Server Chips

CISC ExamplesPentium III and Pentium IV are most recent formsIntel, AMD and Cyrix III are popular vendors of CISC type

RISC ExamplesMotorola’s PowerPC

Compaq's Alpha

Silicon Graphics' MIPS

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Microprocessor & Server Chips

Manufacturer Processor Type Typical Use

Intel Pentium CISC Microcomputers

AMD Athlon CISC Microcomputers

hammer CISC Workstations

Motorola PowerPC RISC Apple computers

Sun SPARC RISC Workstations

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Microprocessor Chips

Word sizeNumber of processed bitsExpresses chip capacitySize of word determines power

32 bit processor– 4 bytes at a time64 bit processor – 8 bytes at a time

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Specialty Processors

Graphics coprocessors

Parallel processors

Smart cards

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More Microprocessor Detail on the Web

The Pentium 4 and the PowerPC G4e (and Part II)

http://www.arstechnica.com/cpu/01q2/p4andg4e/p4andg4e-1.html

a detailed comparison of the very different designs of the world's two most popular processors.

Inside the IBM PowerPC 970 (and Part II)

http://www.arstechnica.com/cpu/02q2/ppc970/ppc970-1.html

a detailed look at the design of the just-released PowerPC G5, including comparisons to the G4e and Pentium-4.

Into the K7 (and Part II) http://www.arstechnica.com/cpu/3q99/k7_theory/k7-one-1.html

a detailed look at the Athlon, the only competitor to ever really challenge Intel's dominance in the world of x86 processors.

The UltraSPARC III http://www.aceshardware.com/Spades/read.php?article_id=115

a brief look at the only mainstream processor to still use purely in-order execution, along with its other features such as a wave-pipelined D-cache.

Itanium: Titan or Titanic? http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=45000183

a brief look at both the design and the performance of "the most controversial Intel CPU the industry has ever seen".

The Pentium 4 and Hyper-Threading

http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=50000319

some benchmarks for real-world applications showing where SMT helps and where it doesn't (at least

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Technology Description from Intel Executives

Commentary by WILLIAM A. SWOPE, President Intel Architecture Group [video clip]

Commentary by MICHAEL J. FISTER, Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Platforms Group [ Video clip]

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