Skip to content

Computer Architecture

1. Computer Architecture

Computers use bits (0 or 1) to represent data and commands

  • bit - 0 or 1
  • byte - 8 bits
  • KB - 1024 bytes
  • MB - 1024 KBs
  • GB - 1024 MBs
  • TB - 1024 GBs
  • etc...

1.1. Storage

Arranged from slowest to fastest and largest to smallest possible size:

  • HDD | SSD - Non-volatile (retains data without power)
  • RAM - Volatile (loses data without power)
  • Cache - Order of CPU looking for data in cache (L1 -> L2 -> L3 -> RAM)

1.2. CPU

CPU Functions

  • Fetches, decodes, and executes instructions
  • Can read/write from RAM/Disk/Cache data

Memory Access

CPU accesses memory in this order:

  1. L1 Cache
  2. L2 Cache
  3. L3 Cache
  4. RAM

⚡ Faster access, but smaller capacity as you go up the list