When you hear PC owners talking about the speed and performance of their computers, they're typically talking about one of three different components (or all of these components together, as a group):

• The central processing unit (CPU): Many of today's PCs use either an Intel Pentium 4 or its cheaper and slower cousin, the Celeron. Another popular processor is the AMD Athlon 64. The speed of your processor is measured in either megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz), with 1 GHz equaling 1000 MHz.

• Your system memory, or random access memory (RAM): RAM is temporary storage, where the processor does its work, where programs run, and where information is stored while it's being worked on. The more memory that your PC has and the faster that memory is, the better your PC will perform - especially Windows, which uses a great deal of memory.

• • The graphics processing unit (GPU): This is the chipset used on your video card. The better the chipset, the faster and the more realistic 3-D graphics that your PC can produce..

Decide if the sentences are true (T) or false (F).

1. Today's PCs try not to use an Intel Pentium 4.

2. The speed of your processor is measured in gigahertz.

3. The less memory that your PC has, the better it performs.

4. Windows doesn’t use a lot of memory.

5. GPU is the chipset used on videocards.

VOCABULARY

2. Find the words in the text that mean:

1. the part of a computer that controls and performs all its operations

2. a unit most often used for measuring the speed of a computer’s processor or memory, equal to one million hertz

3. the ability of a computer to store information or the process of doing this

4. the part of a computer in which information, instruction and programs are stored

5. a number of integrated circuits designed to perform one or more related functions

6. pictures produced by computers

3. Complete the text with the words in the box.

power static expensive data refreshed

Basic types of RAM

There are two basic types of RAM: dynamic RAM (DRAM) and 1.__________________ RAM (SRAM).The two types differ in the technology they use to hold 2.______________, dynamic RAM being the more common type. Dynamic RAM needs to be 3.__________________thousands of times per second. Static RAM does not need to be refreshed, which makes it faster; but it is also more 4.____________than dynamic RAM. Both types of RAM are volatile, meaning that they lose their contents when the 5.____________ is turned off.

WRITING

4. Write a short paragraph about your PC’s CPU and RAM.