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["Pearl"] is confused. "So there's speed (the [wiki:Mhz mhz] stuff), and short-term memory ([wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]) and long-term memory/storage ([wiki:Read-only_memory ROM])?"

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Uh."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "[wiki:Read-only_memory ROM] is memory that does not change."

["Pearl"] knew she didn't know much.

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "It *is* complicated."

["Calin"] explains.

["Akili"] could also, but lets ["Calin"] do it.

["Calin"] says, "[wiki:Mhz mhz] means how many thousand '[wiki:Instruction_%28computer_science%29 instruction]s' the computer can do per second."

["Paw"] purrs, "I've 390something [wiki:Megabyte Meg]s of [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]."

says ["Cal"], "how many million."

["Calin"] says, "Ah, right."

["Paw"] purrs, "Which is adequate even in a 2.something [wiki:Ghz mhz] computer methinks."

["Calin"] says, "And that's still not EXACTLY right, as some [wiki:Instruction_%28computer_science%29 instruction]s take more than one [wiki:Clock_cycle cycle]."

["Akili"] shakes his head to ["Paw"]. "Your current memory will not work in a newer motherboard."

["Calin"] says, "Anyway, an [wiki:Instruction_%28computer_science%29 instruction] is a very tiny bit of stuff. Like doing one bit of arithmetic."

["Pearl"] got it.

["Calin"] says, "So his computer currently does 400million tiny things per second."

says ["Cal"], "the older [wiki:Cpu CPU]s took several [wiki:Clock_cycle clock cycle]s to execute most [wiki:Instruction_%28computer_science%29 instruction]s. the new stuff can do more than one per clock tick."

["Calin"] says, "New computers are up over 3 Ghz (billion per second)."

["Pearl"] says, "Wow"

["Calin"] says, "On to memory now."

["Pearl"] nods.

["Calin"] says, "[wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is like a big whiteboard. You can use it to help you do math, and to keep track of lots of things... it's very fast to write on and very easy to read, but it's only so big. And it gets erased every time the computer reboots."

["Calin"] says, "A [wiki:Hard_disk hard disk] is like a file cabinet or a notebook. It's not as convenient as the whiteboard... it takes longer to write in, longer to look up what you want... but it doesn't go away when you reboot."

["Pearl"] nods. "Short-term and long-term memory."

["Calin"] says, "[wiki:Read-only_memory ROM] is usually described next to [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM], but I'm not going to. It has no bearing on the current discussion."

["Akili"] asides, "[wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] also has different access speeds - how quickly it can be read and written to. Which is why the type of [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] you need will vary depending upon the type of mainboard you're using."

says ["Cal"], "and [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] that can keep up with the [wiki:Cpu CPU] is EXPENSIVE."

["Pearl"] asks, "[wiki:Cpu CPU]?"

says ["Cal"], "Microprocessor."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "["Calin"]'s getting to it."

["Calin"] says, "Yeah, sorry. The [wiki:Cpu CPU] is the part with the [wiki:Mhz mhz]."

["Calin"] says, "It's the part that executes [wiki:Instruction_%28computer_science%29 instruction]s."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Stands for Central Processing Unit, if you're curious."

["Pearl"] says, "Got it."

["Calin"] says, "So there are several things that go into how fast (or slow) a computer is."

["Pearl"] says, "I always thought the whole computer tower was called the [wiki:Cpu CPU]."

["Akili"] smiles. "That's a common perception."

["Pearl"] says, "Good to know these things!"

["Calin"] says, "The [wiki:Cpu CPU], the [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM], the hard disk, and the motherboard (or [wiki:Electrical_bus bus], or whatever - it's the glue that holds it all together)."

["Calin"] says, "If you have a fast [wiki:Cpu CPU], but very small [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]... it will have to keep going to the long-term storage to get info, instead of keeping it all handy."

["Pearl"] says, "So after knowing all this, it's just a matter of keeping up with the times to know the units, and what is currently on the market, and what your needs are."

["Calin"] nods.

A still calm settles silently across the cool plants.

["Calin"] says, "The one part that I didn't adaquately describe yet is the motherboard/[wiki:Electrical_bus bus]."

["Calin"] says, "I will use the two interchangeably for now."

["Akili"] holds off on his comment until ["Calin"] finishes this section.

["Calin"] says, "The motherboard is the part that moves information between the [wiki:Cpu CPU], [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM], hard disk, and any other pieces (network, modem, etc)."

["Pearl"] nods.

["Calin"] says, "Motherboards have their own speed, and have limits about what kind of [wiki:Cpu CPU], [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM], etc they can use."

["Pearl"] says, "AH."

["Calin"] says, "The motherboard is usually much slower than the [wiki:Cpu CPU], but that's not too bad."

["Calin"] says, "The faster the better, of course."

["Akili"] asides, "It's not uncommon for the [wiki:Cpu CPU] to run as much as ten times faster than the motherboard it's sitting on."

says ["Cal"], "Cache."

["Pearl"] blinks at ["Cal"].

["Calin"] says, "If the [wiki:Cpu CPU] is your head, and the [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is the whiteboard, the motherboard speed is how long it takes you to read the board."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "["Cal"]'s trying to jump ahead again."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "We'll get to that."

["Calin"] says, "Even if you're a slow reader, once you read it you can do lots of math in your head."

["Paw"] purrs, "Oh... and a side note here... Floppy disks."

["Pearl"] laughs!

"Eh?" asks ["Calin"].

["Paw"] purrs, "Floppy disks are MUCH slower than the Hard Drive."

["Paw"] purrs, "MUCH MUCH SLOWER."

["Calin"] says, "Oh. Well, yeah."

says ["Cal"], "floppys are simular to small, slow hard drives."

["Calin"] says, "That doesn't really effect how fast a computer will run programs though."

["Pearl"] laughs at ["Paw"]. "I got it okay! I'll copy my files to hard drive from now on. :)"

["Calin"] says, "Not these days."

["Paw"] has caught ["Pearl"] working on files off of the floppy one too many times.

["Calin"] chuckles. "Ah."

["Paw"] purrs, "Usually complaining that her computer is soooo sloooooow."

["Pearl"] swoons. "Such a sin!"

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Even a CD or DVD drive can't keep up with a hard drive."

["Calin"] says, "And those are MUCH faster than a floppy."

["Calin"] says, "Anyway, I think I'm done with my explanations."

["Akili"] grins. "A hard drive is as fast as you can go, while still being slow."

["Paw"] purrs, "Yeah, but you wouldn't generally be editing a file on a CD or DVD."

"Any questions?" asks ["Calin"].

["Pearl"] says, "Nope. I don't think so."

["Calin"] says, "Cool."

["Akili"] finishes his earlier comment. "The often frustrating part is that while the speed of the [wiki:Cpu CPU] - the [wiki:Mhz mhz] rating - is important... it's not always an accurate comparison when looking at the speed ratings of different chips."

["Pearl"] exclaims, "Good stuff!"

["Pearl"] is lost again, ["Akili"]...

["Akili"] smiles. "I'll explain."

["Paw"] purrs, "So, in upgrading, I'd need a Processor, Motherboard and [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]."

says ["Cal"], "the pentium 4 has really high clock speeds, but doesn't get as much done per clock tick as other chips."

["Paw"] purrs, "Err... [wiki:Cpu CPU] = Processor."

["Calin"] says, "Yeah, which makes me wonder what the point of the high clock speed is."

["Paw"] asks, "How else will you rate it?"

says ["Cal"], "sales to idiot customers."

["Calin"] says, "I don't know."

["Pearl"] asks, "[wiki:Mhz mhz] and now gigahertz are for [wiki:Cpu CPU] speed. What's [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] and [wiki:Read-only_memory ROM] units?"

["Pearl"] asks, "MB?"

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Megabytes and Gigabytes, same as your hard drive."

says ["Cal"], "the P4 was released before it was properly optomised because Intel needed a 'new [wiki:Cpu CPU]'."

["Calin"] says, "The smallest unit of [wiki:Cpu CPU] speed is a hertz. The smallest unit of [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] and Hard disk is Byte."

["Calin"] says, "And again, [wiki:Read-only_memory ROM] has no place in this discussion."

["Akili"] agrees.

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Anyway, as I was trying to explain about [wiki:Cpu CPU] comparisons...."

["Pearl"] listens to ["Akili"].

says ["Cal"], "[wiki:Read-only_memory ROM] is used for getting started and little else these days."

["Calin"] explains now, just so it doesn't feel left out. "[wiki:Read-only_memory ROM] is read only memory. It stores just enough stuff to get the computer started booting, and that's the only part it plays."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "["Calin"]'s statement about the millions of instructions a processor can run a second is quite correct. But nowadays, [wiki:Cpu CPU]s have built-in shortcuts. Rather than, say, run five instructions to solve five math calculations, one shortcut will allow you to do one instruction for those five calculations. So, for that particular math instruction, your [wiki:Cpu CPU] is effectively five times faster."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Even though the [wiki:Mhz mhz] is the same."

["Akili"] asks, "Make sense?"

says ["Cal"], "and multiple instructions can be run in parallel in some cases."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "I'm oversimplifying, ["Cal"], thank you."

["Pearl"] asks, "So the chip makes the shortcuts?"

["Calin"] nods.

says ["Cal"], "the program has to be compiled to use the shortcuts."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Well, the chip offers them. The person writing the program has to know to use them. Those are those phrases like MMX, 3dnow, Sse, and other terms you might have heard in relation to [wiki:Cpu CPU] ads."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "So, a 200[wiki:Mhz mhz] chip is just as fast as a 200[wiki:Mhz mhz] chip that offers those MMX code shortcuts. But when running the right program, the MMX-enabled chip can potentially run faster."

["Akili"] asks, "Does that make sense?"

["Pearl"] nods.

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "So that's one trick. There's a couple others."

The placid stillness silently falls across the cool bushes.

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Some of the newer Intel chips have something they call Hyperthreading, which allows the chip to run two instructions on one clock tick. So, with the right software, your system will run twice as fast as the [wiki:Mhz mhz] rating."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "There are many others, and I don't know them all. That's just an example of how the [wiki:Mhz mhz] rating isn't a straightforward comparison. AMD no longer rates their chips on the [wiki:Mhz mhz] speeds, for that very reason. And the last thing, that ["Cal"] mentioned earlier, is Cache."

says ["Cal"], "the old origional pentium could do 2 instructions at once, in very restrictive cases."

["Akili"] makes sure ["Pearl"] is still following along okay.

["Pearl"] says, "I'm with ya."

["Pearl"] says, "So basically, I'll need an expert if I'm going to buy a motherboard with chip because I won't know how good it is."

["Calin"] says, "Yeah, pretty much. But anything new is going to be significantly faster than what he has now."

["Akili"] smiles. "Cool. Now, as was also mentioned earlier, [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is your short-term, high-speed memory storage. MUCH faster than a hard drive, but temporary. Well, there's something else that's even faster. [wiki:Cpu CPU]s usually have even faster memory built into the chip itself, which is Cache."

["Pearl"] laughs

says ["Cal"], "where [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is like a whiteboard, Cache is like a pad in your hand. smaller, but faster to use."

["Pearl"] blinks. "Wait a sec. [wiki:Cpu CPU]s have a chip? I thought the motherboard had the chip..."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "The [wiki:Cpu CPU] *is* a chip."

["Pearl"] asks, "[wiki:Cpu CPU]=hard drive?"

["Calin"] says, "[wiki:Cpu CPU] = Processor = Chip."

["Pearl"] is lost then.

["Pearl"] lemme review the log.

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "The motherboard is where the chip plugs in to."

["Calin"] says, "The hard drive is that metal flat rectangle I know you've seen before."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Er, the [wiki:Cpu CPU]."

["Pearl"] rolls her eyes.

["Pearl"] exclaims, "Terminology!"

["Calin"] says, "Yeh, it's not fun."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Notice that we haven't used the word 'computer' anywhere in this discussion. :)"

["Pearl"] asks, "Okay, hard drive is what we were talking about before. MB. Long-term storage. Memory. Yeah?"

["Akili"] nods.

["Calin"] says, "Well, pretty much."

["Calin"] says, "Though the word 'memory' usually means [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]."

["Calin"] says, "But yes, the hard drive is long term storage."

["Pearl"] asks, "[wiki:Cpu CPU] is not the tower. [wiki:Cpu CPU] is the processor. WHat's that then if not the hard drive. Hard drive include the motherboard? No. Motherboard is separate, with the chip?"

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "The [wiki:Cpu CPU] is your brain. It's what can do the math."

["Calin"] says, "The tower is just the box that holds it all together."

["Pearl"] laughs and thought she had it all.

["Pearl"] says, "[wiki:Cpu CPU] is brain. Processor."

says ["Cal"], "[wiki:Cpu CPU] does the thinking."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Right."

["Calin"] says, "The [wiki:Cpu CPU], [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM], and hard disk all plug in to the motherboard. [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is usually like small circuit boards."

says ["Cal"], "motherboard is a communications path."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "The [wiki:Cpu CPU] has little to no 'memory' of its own, though. Which is why you have [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]."

["Calin"] says, "The hard drive is a metal rectangle, about 3.5 inches by 6."

["Pearl"] says, "I got that part. I think I'm confused on the difference between hard drive and [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]."

["Pearl"] says, "Ok"

says ["Cal"], "hard drive is mechanical, high capacity, slow."

["Calin"] exclaims, "Oh, I know you'll get this one!"

says ["Cal"], "[wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is all electronics, faster."

["Calin"] says, "That thing that ["Paw"] takes back and forth to school is a hard drive in a plastic case."

["Pearl"] says, "Right."

["Calin"] says, "It's designed to plug in outside instead of inside, but it's the same thing."

["Pearl"] says, "So the hard drive has [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM]"

["Calin"] says, "Nope."

says ["Cal"], "The hard drive has storage."

["Pearl"] laughs out loud!

["Calin"] says, "The hard drive stores data, and [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] stores data, but they are not the same thing."

says ["Cal"], "[wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] has smaller, faster storage."

["Pearl"] says, "Oh right."

["Calin"] says, "The whiteboard instead of the file cabinet."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "You cannot afford an amount of [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] equal to the size of storage you have on a hard drive. :)"

["Pearl"] says, "So hard drive is like a large floppy."

["Calin"] says, "Yes."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Right. A very large, very fast floppy."

["Pearl"] glares at ["Akili"]. "But hard drive and floppy aren't measured in speed. They're storage SPACE/memory."

says ["Cal"], "hard drive, floppy, CD, DVD, all hold data on the surface of a disk of some sort."

["Calin"] says, "You are correct."

["Calin"] says, "Hard drive and floppy do have speeds, but we're usually more interested in the capacity."

says ["Cal"], "Hard drives have a speed rating, but that's secondary to storage size."

["Pearl"] says, "[wiki:Cpu CPU] is speed. How fast it processes. MOtherboard is the go-between, in speed."

The placid stillness quietly falls through a chilly fog.

["Calin"] says, "Yup."

["Pearl"] asks, "[wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is storage space, but also speed?"

["Calin"] says, "[wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is fast storage."

["Calin"] says, "Fast temporary storage."

["Pearl"] says, "Or is it how [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] and [wiki:Cpu CPU] work together that determines [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] speed."

says ["Cal"], "yup. you want enough [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] to hold what's being worked on."

["Calin"] says, "I don't think we should worry about [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] speed for now."

["Pearl"] says, "Okay."

["Calin"] says, "Just think of it as fast storage."

["Pearl"] says, "Got it."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Fast, but temporary storage."

["Calin"] says, "How much you have will effect overall system speed though."

["Calin"] says, "And here's why:"

["Calin"] says, "If on your whiteboard you can write a whole page of math, you can easily see any part of it."

["Pearl"] asks, "So big hard drive to save my monsterous file. Fast [wiki:Cpu CPU] to grab it for me. Fast motherboard to bring it to [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] so I can see it. And lots of [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] to see it quickly?"

["Cal"] hears a speed demon driver spin out and pass at dangerous speeds.

["Calin"] says, "On the other hand, if you only have room to write one tiny equation... you'll have to erase and rewrite SO much to do that same amount of math."

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Lots of [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] to contain the entire contents of that monsterous file."

["Calin"] says, "That sounds right, ["Pearl"]."

["Pearl"] whews.

["Pearl"] says, "I'm set. Nobody say anything else now. :)"

says ["Cal"], "though there are circuits to read and write the hard drive without needing the [wiki:Cpu CPU] to be constantly involved."

["Calin"] zips it.

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "Well, I was mentioning cache. :)"

["Akili"] rumbles lightly, "But that can pass."

["Calin"] glowers.

["Pearl"] cracks up!

["Akili"] puts on sunglasses.

["Pearl"] asks, "You guys are so funny. Sure, ["Akili"], what's cache?"

says ["Cal"], "cache is to [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] what [wiki:Random_access_memory RAM] is to the hard drive."

["Pearl"] says, "Got it."

["Pearl"] says, "The hand notebook."