Cgs2100 Exam 2 Study Guide Technology In Focus Computing Alternatives Open source software freely distributed to you and others OpenOffice free suite of productivity similar to Microsoft Office with Writer Microsoft word Calc Excel Draw graphs and charts Impress Powerpoint Base database Charting Alternatives Draw free Microsoft Visio not free Dia free SketchUp free Email Alternative Mozilla Thunderbird helps you organize your emails Document Alternatives Adobe Dreamweaver not free SeaMonkey Composer free Image Editing Alternative GIMP GNU Image Manipulation Program free F Spot free Inkscape Pros for using open source software simple to install can help you avoid hackers and viruses by using a not so widely spread operating system such as Windows but instead use Linux portability Linux is able to be transported via flash drive Linux also takes up less space on the hard drive Distros different versions of Linux think of it as a different model of a car Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS are examples Hardware Alternatives Apple Computers Macs do it yourself Things to keep in mind when building your own computer 1 Case Atx Style accommodates the newest motherboards make sure there are enough hard and other peripheral drives to accommodate DVD CD Blu Ray 2 Motherboard adequate CPU PCI expansion slots for video and sound cards Four USB ports 3 Processor CPU the faster the longer the life of your computer cooling fan necessary if it is not included 4 RAM correct type and amount that will fit in available slots must be supported by the operating system you choose 5 Hard Drive SSD drives are fastest and most expensive choose one around 7 200 10 000 rpm for optimal performance 6 Power Supply adequate wattage 7 Video Card Normal computer use 512 MB of video memory Gaming or displaying high end graphics videos 1 GB Digital LCD monitors or if you will hook your gaming system up buy a video card that has a DVI connection or HDMI port 8 Sound Card PCI card compatible with Sound Blaster which is the standard for sound cards 9 Optical Drives Cd DVD and Blu Ray needed for software installation Advantages to building your own computer Exact configuration and figures you want Option of using components other than those that are used in mass produced computers Feeling of satisfaction Disadvantages of building your own computer No technical support Examining more complex technical specifications Not necessarily the cheapest idea Chapter 6 Understanding and Assessing Hardware Evaluating Your System Moore s Law the number of transistors inside a CPU will increase so fast that CPU capacities will double every 18 months the number of transistors on a CPU chip helps determine how fast it can process data External SATA eSATA fast transfer port used to easily add external hard drive for more storage space ExpressCard adds functionality to your notebook allows you to ass a solid state drive SSD eSATA FireWire ports and others System Evaluation determines whether your computer system has the right hardware components to do what you want it to by looking at the subsystems CPU Memory subsystem RAM random access memory storage subsystem hard drive and other drives video subsystem video card and monitor audio subsystem sound card and speakers and ports The control unit of a CPU coordinates the activities of the other computer components The arithmetic logic unit ALU of a CPU performs all arithmetic calculations makes logic and comparison decisions Core complete section from a CPU embedded into one physical chip Clock speed how quickly the processor can work Cache memory form of random access memory that is more accessible to the CPU than regular RAM Level 1 cache memory block of memory that is built onto the CPU chip for the storage of data or commands that have just been used Level 2 cache located on the CPU chip but is a little further away so it takes longer to access Contains more storage than level 1 Level 3 cache largest in size but takes the longest to access Hyperthreading enables a new set of instructions to start executing before the previous set has finished and provides quicker processing of information Located in multiple core CPUs Each core simulates having two processors so the Intel i7 with six cores processes like it has twelve processors Front Side Bus FSB connects the processor CPU in your computer to the system memory Data travels between the CPU and RAM here The faster the FSB the faster data can get to your processor FSB speed in measured in megahertz Benchmarks measurements used to compare CPU performance between processors Generated by running software programs that push the limits of the CPU CPU Usage the percentage of time that your CPU is working Random Access Memory RAM computer s temporary storage space short term memory Volatile Storage cleared out when the power is off RAM is an example Nonvolatile Storage permanent storage of instructions and data when the computer is off ROM is an example Hard drives provide the greatest capacity of nonvolatile storage in the computer system ROM Memory holds critical startup instructions Memory modules or memory cards small circuit boards that hold a series of RAM chips and fit into special slots on the motherboard Mostly called dual inline memory modules or DIMMs today Physical Memory the amount of RAM that is actually sitting on memory modules in the computer Kernel Memory memory that operating systems use Access Time the time it takes a storage device to locate its stored data and make it available for processing Solid State Drive SSD uses the same kind of memory that flash drives use but can reach data faster than flash drives Data Transfer Rate the speed at which the hard drive can transfer data to other computer components like RAM Platter coated round thin plate of metal stacked on a spindle that a hard drive uses to store data Serial Advanced Technology Attachment Serial ATA type of hard drive that uses much thinner cables and can transfer data more quickly than IDE drives Head Crash a stoppage of the hard drive that often results in data loss Video card video adapter expansion card that is installed inside your system unit to translate binary data into images viewed on monitors Video Memory a video card video adapter s RAM Graphics Processing Unit GPU performs the same computational work as a CPU but is specialized to handle 3 D graphics and image and video processing with efficiency and speed Bit Depth defines the color quality of the image displayed
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