Interacting with computers
Computer Fundamentals
Lecturer : MMH Nahid
Lecture
Computer system
• A Computer System is a complete, working computer. It will include the
computer along with any software and peripheral devices that are
necessary to make the computer function.
Computer systems have four parts
1) Hardware
2) Software
3) Data
4) User
Information Processing Cycle
The set of steps a computer follows to receive data, process the data
according to instructions from a program, display the resulting
information to the user, and store the results.
Information Processing Cycle has 4 parts.
Input
Storage Processing
Output
Computer system
Hardware Software
• Mechanical devices in the computer • Tell the computer what to do
• Anything that can be touched • Also called a program
Data
• Pieces of information Users
• Computer organize and present data • People operating the computer
Essential Computer Software
• System software
• Controls the system hardware and interacts with application software
• Operating system (OS)
• Utility
• Application software
• Accomplishes a specific task
Essential Computer Hardware
• Computers use the same basic hardware
• A computer hardware devices fall into four categories
Processing devices Memory devices
Storage devices Input /Output (I/O) devices
Processor
A processor is the logic circuitry that
responds to and processes the basic
instructions that drive a computer.
The term processor has generally
replaced the term central processing unit
(CPU).
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Manufacturer of Processor
• Intel
– Core Duo, Quad, i3, i5, i7
– Pentium
– Celeron
• AMD
– Athlon
• XP, 64, 64 X2,
• Phenom, Phenom II, A6, A10
Did you know…
• Storage :
Provides capacity for all the
files and information you need(
e.g. capacity of the computer’s
hard disk)
• Memory :
Provides your working space
( e.g. the amount of RAM
installed in the computer)
RAM
• RAM -- or "random access memory" -- is the temporary storage space that
a computer loads software applications and user data into when it is
running.
• All current RAM technologies are "volatile", which means that everything
held in RAM is lost when a computer's power is removed.
• The more RAM a computer has, the less it has to swap out data from
memory to work with data, which makes it computer faster.
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Offline Storage
• Storage – any devices that are capable
of holding information, even when the
power is off (non-volatile).
• Ex: hard disk drive, USB flash disk,...
• Offline storage – type of storage that
can be removed and can be accessed
from any computers when connected.
Optical storage devices
Compact Disc (CD) DVD Blu-ray Disc
Capacity: 700 MB Capacity: 4.7 GB Capacity: 25 GB
Available from 1982 Available from 1995 Available from 2006
Optical storage devices
Advantages:
Small and portable
Cheap to produce
Large market of music, movies and games
Most desktop computers or laptops are
equipped with
CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive
Disadvantages:
xFragile, easy to get scratched
xSlower data transferring rate
xRequired specified drives to write data to the discs
xLimited number of writes
Flash memory devices
Commercially
available in 2000
Max. capacity: 1 TB
(as of 2013)
Small size
Ideal solution for
storing small data
Flash memory
devices
•Solid state drive (SSD)
• First introduced in 1995
• Max. capacity: 2 TB (as of
2017)
• Very high transferring
speed in comparison to
normal physical hard disk
Flash memory devices
Advantages:
Large and increasing capacity
High transferring speed
Small size, portability
Low power consumption
Work more quietly than physical hard drive
Disadvantages:
xHigh price compared to hard disks (cost per MB)
xLimited number of reads/writes (write endurance
rating)
xEasy to lose because of small size
Storage units
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Video Graphics Card
• Price Around : 3000-1,000,000 Tk.
• The card has a chip called a Graphics Processor Unit,
a microprocessor specialized for video calculations.
The GPU lets the computer's main processor do its
job, allowing the computer to run at full speed.
Popular For making and playing games
applications, Video Editing, Effects etc
If you just plan on doing word processing and watching cat
videos, the integrated graphics card can handle that, normally
comes with an Intel (or some cases AMD) processor.
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Class work
Q 1. How many CD do you need to save 5500 Mp3 songs
where average mp3 file size is 5 MB.
Q 2. How many flash memory stick (each of them are 16
MB) you need to copy all the information from a 1 Tera
byte Portable hard disk ?
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