The Computer's Chipset
A computers memory and peripheral ports connect through two highly integrated chips called simply the chipset. The chipset consists of a northbridge chip and a southbridge chip. More ...
CPU Process Scheduling
CPU scheduling is the basis of multiprogrammed operating systems. By switching the CPU among processes, the operating system can make the computer more productive. More ...
Microprocessor Counter, Clock, Timer Circuits
All the circuitry in the microprocessor, in fact all the circuitry on the motherboard require a clock signal for operation. The clock signal is the heartbeat of the system. Without a clock signal, the microprocessor and the computer are dead. More ...
Electronic Circuits
There are five types of circuits; open, short, series, parallel, and series-parallel. Using Ohm's law, along with the reciprocal formula to calculate the equivalent resistance of resistors in parallel, you can calculate the voltage or current in any part of a circuit. More ...
Simplified Windows Architecture Overview
A simplified overview of the Windows operating system architecture divides it into user-mode and kernel-mode components. More ...
Operating System Process Scheduling Queues
The objective of multiprogramming is to have some process running at all times, to maximize CPU utilization. To meet these objectives, the process scheduler selects a process from a queue for execution on the CPU. More ...
The AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor
The Athlon 64 X2 is the first dual-core CPU manufactured by AMD.
It is essentially two Athlon 64 cores on one die joined together with additional control logic. The cores share one dual-channel memory controller. The benefit of dual-core processors is their ability to process more software threads at the same time. However, many programs are written with only one thread. More ...
AMD Sempron Processor
The Sempron replaced the Duron as AMD's budget processor. The socket A Sempron is basically an Athlon XP with half the cache. The socket 754 Sempron is a cut down version of the Athlon 64 processor with half the cache. More ...
Intel's Sandy Bridge Micro-Architecture
"Sandy Bridge" is Intel's code name for a new cpu core microarchitecture. It introduces a few new or improved features. The memory controller, the PCI Express controller, and video circuitry are all located within the processor die and the new ring architecture uses a Last Level Cache between the CPU and graphics cores. More ...
Operating System Processes
An Operating System Process is a program in execution. It includes the value in the program counter and in the processors registers. A process also includes a stack, data section, and a heap. More ...
AMD's Phenom II Processor
Phenom II is AMD's family of 45 nm multi-core processors and is the successor to the original Phenom. In the Phenom II, the shared L3 cache increased from 2MB to 6MB. The chip has an integrated, dual-channel memory controller that supports DDR3 RAM, and 4000MHz HyperTransport technology. More ...
Operating System Process Management
A program is not a process. A program is a file containing a list of instructions stored on disk. A process is an active entity with a program counter specifying the next instruction to execute and a set of resources. A program becomes a process when an executable file is loaded into memory. More ...
