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4. COMPUTER SYSTEM
 Parts of Computer
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 Parts of Computer
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 Parts of Computer
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 What is Computer System?
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 Computer Systems are made up of many different

parts for e.g. hardware, software, processors,
memory, etc.
 Hardware
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 Any physical parts of a computer that you can

touch, see and pickup.

 Examples – monitor, keyboard, mouse, disk drives,

printer, scanner and speakers.
 Software
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 The applications and programming instructions

needed to make the computer hardware do useful
work.
 System Software – Operating systems, Utilities,
User Interface
 Application Software
 Word Processors e.g. MS Word
 Spreadsheets e.g. MS Excel

 Databases e.g. MS Access

 Differences between Hardware and Software
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 Peripherals
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 Any device which connects to the computer and

exchanges data with the CPU.

 Include all of the computer’s input and output

devices.

 Examples – monitor, keyboard, external modem.

 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
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 ‘Brain’ of the computer.

 Where all the searching, sorting, calculating and
decision making takes place.
 The speed of the CPU is measured in Megahertz
(MHz) or Gigahertz (GHz).
 1 MHz = One million instructions per second.
 1 GHz = One billion instructions per second.
 CPU Components
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 CPU Consists of three main parts:

1. Control Unit
2. Immediate Access Store
3. Arithmetic and Logic Unit
 The Control Unit
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 Three main jobs:

1. It controls and monitor the hardware attached to the
system.
2. It controls the input and output of the data.
3. It controls the flow of data within the CPU.
 The Immediate Access Store
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 Holds the data and programs at that instant by the

Control Unit.
 The CPU reads data and programs kept on the
backing storage and stores them temporarily in the
IAS’s memory.
 Arithmetic and Logic Unit
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 This is where the computer processes data either by

manipulating it or acting upon it.
 It consists of two parts:
1. Arithmetic part – it performs the calculation on
the data e.g. 3 + 2 = 5
2. Logic part – deals with logic and comparison for
e.g. it works out if one value is greater, less than
or equal to another.
 Motherboard
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 The central circuit board of

your computer.
 All of the components and
peripherals are plug into it.
 Houses the ROM chips
which stores the BIOS
instructions.
 Relay information between
the components and
peripherals.
 Disk Drives
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 Purpose is to read data from a storage device.

 The most common disk drives:
1. Hard disk drive
2. Removable disk drive
3. Floppy disk drive
4. Zip drive
5. CD drive, DVD drive
 Memory
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 Two main types: Random Access Memory (RAM)

and Read Only Memory (ROM).
 Cache Memory
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 A special type of computer memory which can be

accessed much faster than RAM.
 Volatile i.e. when the computer is shut down, the
data stored there is lost.