Introduction to Computing By Engr. Bilal Ahmad

Aim of the Lecture  In this Lecture the focus will be on Technology, we will be discussing some specifications.  It is going to be an informatory session for you  Please keep in mind that it is not going to be technical lecture and processor designing is an advanced level course and I will not be able to cover all the aspects  But what you can expect that at the end of the Lecture if you want to purchase a computer you will know the technicalities.

Discussion  Before any starting from my side I would like you all to write the answers on a blank page with your roll no’s and name. The answers should be technical with proper explanation (Not more than 2 Lines)

Questions 1. Why there is a need of processor? 2. What is a processor? 3. Compare your brain with a processor, what are the limitations? 4. What is memory? 5. Why there is a need of a memory? 6. Why there is a need of RAM, ROM and Cache? What if there was no RAM/ ROM or Cache? 7. What are the limitations of modern computers? Challenges etc…… 8. If you want to build a computer what components will you buy?

Intel OR AMD  Yes two big companies both build processors  It has been always a debate whether AMD or INTEL  Because you are technical people what would you say if I ask you whether AMD or INTEL.  The discussion in this lecture will be based on statements not technicalities as in order to completely understand AMD and INTEL you must know the concepts of Computer Architecture.

Discussion  If I say to buy a computer is a process that involves steps, will you agree or NO?  No one can say that this is the best computer because it might be best computer for you but not for me.  It depends more towards a usage side.  As an example for a person who is online 24/ 7, the priority will be webcam and reliability. Not necessarily this person will need a high performance oriented processor because the role of processing is very less. Am I right or Wrong?

Statement  If you are after performance above else and you can also afford the price tag than Intel processors are really a best one for you.

Explanation  The difference can be marginal though, it may be less significant if you are planning to spend time over clocking your chosen CPU, or if your target applications make good use of multiple cores especially as AMD chips are generally priced much lower as compared of Intel Chips. You sometimes get more cores in less price if you go towards AMD.  In the previous figure you have observed that frames per second are higher in Intel series.

Haswell CPU’s  The fourth generation Intel processors are out in the market, even if you use them processors you will not observe any major leap forward in desktop power and the reason is that again the new processors are using the same default clock frequencies.  The performance might edge up to 10% but you will not notice any difference as a user.  It means that they have made the management feature more powerful and design instead of redesigning the whole architecture.

4 th Generation Processors

What can you get more in core series  The new technology that is introduced in the new INTEL families is hyper threading. Just assume that it is nothing else than multi-tasking.  The problem is that if you increase the clock speed you will need to have more power and than it will effect other components as well.  You all might have noticed that gaming machines doesn’t last for many hours (Battery Wise)? Do you know why?

Clock Speed  Clock speed - also called clock rate, the speed at which a microprocessor executes instructions  Every computer contains an internal clock that regulates the rate at which instructions are executed and synchronizes all the various computer components. The faster the clock, the more instructions the CPU can execute per second.

Bus Speed  A bus is a collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. You can think of a bus as a highway on which data travels within a computer. There are various types of busses, both internal and external, that connect the hardware, inside and outside, the computer.  Like the CPU, busses have a clock speed. A fast bus allows data to be transferred faster, which makes applications run faster.

AMD  Less expensive  They always try to compete INTEL  They have some thing that is called bus speed, that they use to cover the clock issues.  The problem is that they are not highly reliable  They are very good for gaming and for gaming machines if you use AMD than it will be far much less expensive than INTEL machines.  Technically both are different architectures and they cant be compared with each other but for analogies some people do compare and that is absolutely wrong

Core i3, i5 and i7-The difference  If you need a simple answer than core i7 is better than i5’s and which are better than i3’s  It is not appropriate that i7 has 7 cores  Again there are generations 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd and 4 th  The numbers are indicative of their powers  Their relative levels of processing power are also signified by their processor star ratings. Which are based on a collection of criteria involving the number of cores, clock speeds, size of cache and some new technologies as hyper threading and turbo boost.

Difference (Continued)  Core i3s are rated with 3 stars, i5 with 4 stars and i7 with 5 stars  Well if you are wondering why the rating is started with 3 means you are confused or you don’t know the technology. Do you understand what I want to explain here? Yes or NO, Yes, No yes go visit

Intel Turbo Boost  The Intel Turbo Boost Technology allows a processor to dynamically increase its clock speed whenever the need arises. The maximum amount that Turbo Boost can raise clock speed at any given time is dependent on the number of active cores, the estimated current consumption, the estimated power consumption, and the processor temperature.  For the Core i5-661, its maximum allowable processor frequency is 3.6 GHz. Because none of the Core i3 CPUs have Turbo Boost, the i5-661 can outrun them when it needs to. Because all Core i5 processors are equipped with the latest version of this technology — Turbo Boost 2.0 — all of them can outrun any Core i3.

Cache Size  Whenever the CPU finds that it keeps on using the same data over and over, it stores that data in its cache. Cache is just like RAM, only faster — because it’s built into the CPU itself. Both RAM and cache serve as holding areas for frequently used data. Without them, the CPU would have to keep on reading from the hard disk drive, which would take a lot more time.  Basically, RAM minimizes interaction with the hard disk, while cache minimizes interaction with the RAM. Obviously, with a larger cache, more data can be accessed quickly. All Core i3 processors have 3MB of cache. All Core i5s, except again for the 661 (only 4MB), have 6MB of cache. Finally, all Core i7 CPUs have 8MB of cache. This is clearly one reason why an i7 outperforms an i5 — and why an i5 outperforms an i3.

Discussion Timing You can work in groups and four topics we need to address; 1. Ethical Issues while using the computer technology 2. What change in computers do you expect in future 3. Why do we need to do programming? Can we use computers without programming 4. Role of computers in Modern work environments.