Fredrick Donaldson
Nov.5, 2014
NT1110
Unit 5 Assignment 1
Video Summary 3 CPUs

In today’s market there are 2 main manufacturers of CPUs: Intel and AMD. There are also some smaller competitors that manufacture CPUs, but they tend to come and go.
The way a CPU is organized varies, but here are the basics: The motherboard system bus carries information into and out of the CPU. When the system bus enters the CPU, it’s called a Front side bus. The Front side bus usually uses a 64-bit wide data path.
On the side of the CPU you will find a controller. A controller manages the basic functions of the CPU, and controls communication between the motherboard and other components within the CPU. These other components includes one or more ALUs and internal cache. An ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit), is responsible for solving complex calculations. Having multiple ALUs in a single processor is what gave the early Pentiums their multi-processing capabilities.
Communication between the controllers and the ALU uses a 32-bit wide internal data bus. The bus system that supports communication between the cache, the ALU, and the controllers is referred to as the backside bus.
The most important thing a person needs to know about a processor is the speed at which it processes information; (CPU speed). There are several ways to gauge CPU speeds. This may sound like an advantage, but oftentimes, these multiple ways are misleading.
The speeds differ inside and outside the processor. Internally the processor may work at 1, 2, or maybe 3 GHz. The system bus runs at 800 MHz. When buying a new computer, the CPU may be rated at 3.2 GHz, but the real question that a person really needs to ask is; what is the system bus speed? The system bus speed is the limiting factor that controls the actual functional speed of a computer.
The Multiplier is the ratio between the processor and the system bus. (System bus speed x multiplier = processor speed) On older systems a person would have to configure the multiplier and CMOS settings, but the newer machines of today will do this automatically.
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Multi-Processing is the ability to simultaneously perform multiple functions. Multi-processing requires multiple processors. Your system must be designed to support more than 1 CPU on a single motherboard.
Another option that’s been recently developed is the use of Dual Core processors. This is when a person incorporates multiple processors with multiple ALUs inside a single CPU. These ALUs process information independently, but share the same controller.
The Cache memory uses SRAM or Static RAM. The rest of the system uses DRAM or Dynamic RAM. SRAM is faster but more expensive than DRAM. SRAM holds memory without being refreshed, and it can hold its memory for as long as there is power available to it. DRAM has to be refreshed.
There are 3 types of cache: The L1 cache which is located on the processor chip. The L2 cache is located inside the processor housing, not on the processor chip. The L3cache is located inside the processor housing, and it is further away from the processor chip.
There are many types of sockets into which a processor fits, but the ones that are most likely going to be on the A+ exam is the LGA 775 and Socket 754. The LGA 775 is used with Intel-Pentium4 and Celeron. Socket 754 uses AMD-Athlon, Sempron, and Opteron.
The ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) is a lever to gently lock the CPU into a socket without damaging it.
When installing a CPU a person has to consider the problem of heat. CPUs generate a lot of heat that can damage components and shut the system down. The optimum temperature should be about 90-110F or 32-42C. You check system temperature in CMOS. There are 3 solutions to controlling heat. The first solution to controlling heat is a Thermal Compound. This is a cream-like substance that you squeeze from a tube around the edges of the upper surface of the processor. The heat sink is then set into this goo which forms a seal.
A heat sink is a series of fingers or fins that sits on top of the processor and draws heat out of the CPU and towards the fan. The CPU fan either sits directly on top of the CPU or sits on top of the heat sink that sits on top of the CPU. It draws heat away from the CPU and expels it from the computer case.
The A+ test requires for me to know about all of the topics that I have covered in this assignment.