AP CyberSecurity-Computer Parts

CPU(Central Processing Unit)

• The brain of the computer 

• Performs all calculations and logical operations. It interprets and executes instructions from programs.

• Comprised of billions of transistors

Transistors

• About 3-5 nanometers in size

• Electrons pass through the transistor entering through the source and exiting through the drain when the gate is open. When the gate is closed no electrons can pass through

• This is how it computes 1 and 0, “on” or “off”

Cooling

• With so many transistors passing electricity through them, we are going to create a lot of heat.

• Coolers are designed to transfer heat as efficiently as possible. They do this by using copper which is a good thermal conductor, taking heat away from the CPU, and aluminum which is a good at putting heat out into the environment

• We use a fan for convection cooling, moving fresh cool air over the fins of the cooler

RAM (Random Access Memory)

• Computers short term memory aka temporary storage

• Stores data for programs currently running

  • Like textures, shaders, and asset data for games

• Is erased when the computer is turned off

Motherboard

• Nervous system of the computer

• Ensures all components can communicate with each other

• The section with all of our ports is called the IO (Input/Output)

SSD(Solid State Drive)

• Uses a special transistor to keep electrons trapped inside to keep the 1 or 0 value for data

• Keeps data even when system is off

• Faster than HDD

HDD(Hard Disk Drive)

• Uses a spinning magnetic disk to store data physically

• Slower than SSD

PSU (Power Supply Unit)

• Transforms AC (Alternating Current) to DC (Direct Current)

  • Electricity from our walls is messy. Our PSU smooths it out so even and stable power is delivered to the system

• ‘80 Plus’ standard is how efficient the PSU is, Higher the rating the less heat waste generated