Some Questions About the Mechanics of Computer Hardware Components?

Question

I hope someone (maybe even a hardware tech-savy) can provide me with some insightful answers and clarify some possible misconceptions I may have regarding the hardware components within a computer.

Firstly, I think I remember from somewhere that the Hard drive in a computer is the only moving part, which consequently subjects it to more potential damage and shorter lifespan than any other component. If it is true that its the only moving part and everything else is virtual, how does a computer work?

Secondly, I was wondering what the Ghz, or in some cases Mhz value of the CPU meant. I understand its commonly used to measure the speed of a processor, and for processors of the
same family and architecture be used to determine the faster of the two processors by observing the Ghz value. But what does the Ghz value really mean? Upon simple google searching, the only thing I could extract other than what I already know is that the, CPU measures the speed of the processor through how many instructions it can perform within one second. (I thought Ghz was a measure of frequency, and thus a measure of how fast the CPU spins) However if that is the case, wouldn't it not matter what model or architecture the CPU is, you could for example compare an AMD processor to an Intel processor just by how many instructions the two CPUs can perform, and conclude for certain which one would be faster (ignoring the existence of multi-core processors in order to retain the simplicity of the original question) Also, what would be used to be the standard instruction to measure the Ghz Value?
Perhaps someone who had the chance, money, and experience to work with many hardware components can help clarify for me these questions.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Firstly - HD, NOT QUITE. It depends on the TYPE of HD.

There ARE solid state HD's that have NO MOVING PARTS, and are entirely electonic in operation.

The majority DO have moving parts, there are the "platters", (magnetic coated discs) that spin at fairly high speeds, and the "heads" that move over the platters to read/write to the specific areas as the platters spin over or under the heads. The transfering of data may be done by several different methods to and/or from the HD.

The currently most common methods of connection are called SATA; and ATA, which, (with various enhancements,) is connected to a data/address bus through an IDE or EIDE connection. ATA uses parallel data lines and SATA uses serial data lines for transfer of information. Another, not curently common method, with the advantage of being able to "daisy chain" MANY drives is called SCUSI.

Once the data reachest the HD, the internals of the drive are all controlled by electronic circuitry with extreme accuracy inside a hermetically sealed case.



The OTHER primary moving part is the various fans, or sometimes pumps, used to keep components cool by moving air, OR cooling liquid over parts that generate a lot of heat which would destroy them if NOT cooled. CPU's being the primary item needing cooling.

MANY units only 15 to 20 years old operated much slower, were larger, and therefore did NOT require extra cooling fans or heat sinks to operate safely.



Secondly - MHz and/or GHz are in fact frequency measurements. They measure the speed of the CPU clock in cycles (hertz) per second. EACH clock cycle CAN handle up to 1 instruction for each processor core in the CPU and/or other units driven by the clock. THIS is NOT a mechanical motion but an electrical "change of state." The timing is critical in seeing to it that the proper connections operate at the proper time and in the proper sequence.

The reason that Intel and/or AMD and/or other processors can NOT be directly compared is that their internal wiring, and therefore the way they react to electronic changes is different for each type and/or "family". That makes some faster for one thing and others faster for something else, and makes programming for a specific action different for the different processors.

Example, One processor might need 4 instructions to multiply and 5 to divide while another might need 6 to multiply, but only 3 to divide.

They also differ in how many instructions they can process at one time, or in one sequence, without having to go get another instruction "group". The "getting" and/or "sending" of results of instructions and/or data is the slowest part of the CPU operation cycle as it requires transfers to and from the CPU(s) through the rest of the circuitry.



Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more directly.

Answer 2

The Hard Drive is a moving part, internally, so are the fans that cool stuff off. The remaining hardware is NOT virtual, it is Actual. It's hardware. Explaining what happens and how it works would fill a book so I won't do it here.



The GHz rating of the CPU has nothing to do with spinning. Nothing spins that fast. It is the clock frequency that the processor is operating at. Everything that happens in a computer is done one step at a time. Todays computers are really fast and take very many steps in a short amount of time. GHz is short for GigaHertz. Hertz means frequency; or the number of cycles or "steps" per second. Giga means Billion. Your CPU could be running at 3.2 Billion Hertz (steps), per second. That's really fast.



Intel and AMD design their processors differently in order to increase the amount of things that get done in the same time span. There's things like Threads and channels and pipelines. All kinds of stuff including parallel processing where multiple cores process different parts of the program at the same time therefore making the whole thing perform even faster. These design improvements mean that the frequency or GHz, is not the sole determining factor when figuring out which one is fastest. Sometimes software is written for multiple cores, sometimes it's not. That too will affect the speed of the program and the apparent speed of the computer.



There are people out there who spend a lot of time testing these things and then tell us what they figured out and how it might benefit us. I suggest you subscribe to Maximum PC magazine. These guys test everything and tell us like it is. Plus they give away cool software every month on a CD that comes with it. Other PC mags are mostly advertisements.

Answer 3

I'll try to reply to some of your questions as basically as possible. Other than fans and CD/DVD drives, the hard drive is the only major component of a computer that has moving parts and it runs constantly when the pc is powered-up. The rest of the unit is 'solid state' consisting of hardware, firmware, and software.

The gigahertz rating of a CPU (microprocessor) is used as an indicator of the frequency of ultra-high-frequency (UHF) and microwave EM signals and also, in some computers, to express microprocessor clock speed. The CPU is a micro-electronics module sealed into a case which is usually socket mounted on the motherboard. It has no moving parts, only an attached heat sink to dissipate the excess heat it generates. Typically, the higher the date rating of a CPU the hotter it runs and that heat has to be dissipated to keep it from self-destructing.

It could take multiple pages to explain the structure and process of computing but I hope these few sentences help you understand more than before.

Answer 4

ines for transfer of information. Another, not curently common method, with the advantage of being able to "daisy chain" MANY drives is called SCUSI.

Once the data reachest the HD, the internals of the drive are all controlled by electronic circuitry with extreme accuracy inside a hermetically sealed case.