Here's a question...
- Thread starter oolceeoo
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Cases Power Supplies
RAM is needed to store data and programs being used by the CPU. But this is a the CPU area so I can also tell you the CPU cache is there to provide quick access to data being used a lot. And video cards need RAM to store screen contents. Of course there are also all the ROM chips to, but I'll let you ask yourself that dumb question.
Ned_Flanders
Splendid
- Jan 30, 2004
- 7,502
- 0
- 30,780
This is not homework club.
</font color=white><b><font color=red>■ ■ <font color=blue>■ ■ <font color=orange>■ ■ <font color=green>■ ■ </font color=green>■ ■ </font color=orange>■ ■ </font color=blue>■ ■</font color=red></b>
</font color=white><b><font color=red>■ ■ <font color=blue>■ ■ <font color=orange>■ ■ <font color=green>■ ■ </font color=green>■ ■ </font color=orange>■ ■ </font color=blue>■ ■</font color=red></b>
HardWareBoss
Splendid
- Feb 9, 2003
- 8,248
- 0
- 30,780
This wasn't homework. It just popped into my head one day. Why do computers need data? I understand that a processor needs space to store information that it will need, but is it possible for a computer to exist without any form of memory?
P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by oolceeoo on 10/04/05 08:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by oolceeoo on 10/04/05 08:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
pat
Expert
- Jan 2, 2001
- 6,399
- 0
- 25,810
damn.. because thay are computer and they compute data.. Why do cars need gas? because they are car and they need fuel to run. Why do TV set need tv channels? because they are tv set and meant to watch show that are on channels.
I had a bunny.. I had to remove it to stop hurting Wingding's ego..
I had a bunny.. I had to remove it to stop hurting Wingding's ego..
The CPU would not really be slow, but getting work done would. If you can't store your computer data, instructions for the CPU, how to you tell it what to do? I figure some punch cards, or a long day at the keyboard. Better yet, lets just have magnetic storage and intergarted circut.
Ahh I was hoping that someone would think about it instead of saying that it is a stupid question and why would anyone even think of it.
Don't ask me how a computer without memory would or even could operate, but wouldn't it be like an animal, operating on its own 'being'?
P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd
Don't ask me how a computer without memory would or even could operate, but wouldn't it be like an animal, operating on its own 'being'?
P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd
A computer can only do what it is told to do... From the first time you flip on the power switch 'till ya hit the shut down button, the CPU is being fed commands - whether it is just waiting or crunching some serious data.
Basically, your BIOS boots the system up from the commands stored in the ROM. It also enables soft control (OS) if your hardware. Consider the old apple II's or commodore computers... They had no hd's - just a bootable rom and/or cartidges or floppies to run programs off of. System memory was simply used by the processor for temp storage. Writing cache to a disk wasn't really used since drives were soo incredibly slow.
On a more basic level, the CPU MUST have some memory. Take a simple 8-bit CPU. Most commands involve swapping, adding, subtracting or comparing two bits of memory. That is it. There are other commands for I/O and timing - but the meat of prgramming is simply comparing adding and subtracting bits of data. All of the data is stored in the CPU's memory. Memory is essential to the operation of any CPU.
The data must be stored somewhere for the CPU to retrieve. Even the program needs to be stored somewhere. Without it, the CPU cannot function. Sure, you can apply power to it, but it will not do anything.
Basically, your BIOS boots the system up from the commands stored in the ROM. It also enables soft control (OS) if your hardware. Consider the old apple II's or commodore computers... They had no hd's - just a bootable rom and/or cartidges or floppies to run programs off of. System memory was simply used by the processor for temp storage. Writing cache to a disk wasn't really used since drives were soo incredibly slow.
On a more basic level, the CPU MUST have some memory. Take a simple 8-bit CPU. Most commands involve swapping, adding, subtracting or comparing two bits of memory. That is it. There are other commands for I/O and timing - but the meat of prgramming is simply comparing adding and subtracting bits of data. All of the data is stored in the CPU's memory. Memory is essential to the operation of any CPU.
The data must be stored somewhere for the CPU to retrieve. Even the program needs to be stored somewhere. Without it, the CPU cannot function. Sure, you can apply power to it, but it will not do anything.
Well, <i>all</i> storage (HDD, CD-ROM, Tape) is a 'form of memory' really. Without anything, CPUs would be incapable of actually processing anything, as there would never be anything for it to work on.
So all you'd have without it is a load of thin wires which do nothing apart from have current going through them. You already have lots of these. They're called light bulbs.
---
<pre> (\_/)
|~~~~~|======
|_____| This was bunny. He was tasty.
/\/\/\/\</pre><p>
Wow, I thought people on here might be more open-minded but instead I get useless and irrelevant criticism like that.
None of you have answered my question though!
P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd
None of you have answered my question though!
P4C 3.0ghz
Asus P4C800E-D
GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256MB
2x512 MB corsair dual channel pc3200
200GB WDJB HDD
Nothing OC'd
OK, since I'm bored and kind...
(This is in very brief, simple terms, so please no corrections from veterans.... It's the principle rather than the actuality that I'm gunning for here, so yes my numbers may not be that accurate)
A cpu is useless without data to work on. This data needs to come from somewhere obviously. If there is no memory, then for each request the CPU makes - even if it asked for exactly the same amount of data 2 seconds ago - the system will have to access the hard disk, physically move the heads on the disk to scan for the information, read the information, and then pass it back through the motherboard to the CPU. It can then do whatever it was going to do with that data, and send the results wherever it needs to (possibly the graphics card, or back to the hard disk), and the whole cycle repeats.
Hard disks are <i>horrendously</i> slow compared to a CPU. Don't forget a cpu can process millions of things a second, whereas a hard disk can only do hundreds or thousands. So for every time the cpu actually gets something to do, it sits there doing nothing for a thousand times as long or more.
If you now get some memory (<i>much</i> faster than a disk - no moving components for one thing) and stick it in between as a 'buffer' (or <i>cache</i> would be a correct term really), then each time the CPU requests the info, and it gets loaded from the disk, it can be stored in the memory so next time it is needed it's more readily available, and the cpu will only waste a few hundred cycles waiting for information.
The Cache on a modern CPU performs exactly the same function, but is between the CPU and the memory, and is much faster than the normal memory, so the cpu only has to wait a couple of cycles if the data resides there.
There's also clever bits in modern systems which also fetch loads of other data when some bits are requested, in anticipation of the CPU's next few requests, so the data is waiting in memory before it's asked for, thus greatly speeding things up.
So you see, <i>that's</i> why people said your computer would be slow without memory.
[/Computing 101]
---
<pre> (\_/)
|~~~~~|======
|_____| This was bunny. He was tasty.
/\/\/\/\</pre><p>
(This is in very brief, simple terms, so please no corrections from veterans.... It's the principle rather than the actuality that I'm gunning for here, so yes my numbers may not be that accurate)
A cpu is useless without data to work on. This data needs to come from somewhere obviously. If there is no memory, then for each request the CPU makes - even if it asked for exactly the same amount of data 2 seconds ago - the system will have to access the hard disk, physically move the heads on the disk to scan for the information, read the information, and then pass it back through the motherboard to the CPU. It can then do whatever it was going to do with that data, and send the results wherever it needs to (possibly the graphics card, or back to the hard disk), and the whole cycle repeats.
Hard disks are <i>horrendously</i> slow compared to a CPU. Don't forget a cpu can process millions of things a second, whereas a hard disk can only do hundreds or thousands. So for every time the cpu actually gets something to do, it sits there doing nothing for a thousand times as long or more.
If you now get some memory (<i>much</i> faster than a disk - no moving components for one thing) and stick it in between as a 'buffer' (or <i>cache</i> would be a correct term really), then each time the CPU requests the info, and it gets loaded from the disk, it can be stored in the memory so next time it is needed it's more readily available, and the cpu will only waste a few hundred cycles waiting for information.
The Cache on a modern CPU performs exactly the same function, but is between the CPU and the memory, and is much faster than the normal memory, so the cpu only has to wait a couple of cycles if the data resides there.
There's also clever bits in modern systems which also fetch loads of other data when some bits are requested, in anticipation of the CPU's next few requests, so the data is waiting in memory before it's asked for, thus greatly speeding things up.
So you see, <i>that's</i> why people said your computer would be slow without memory.
[/Computing 101]
---
<pre> (\_/)
|~~~~~|======
|_____| This was bunny. He was tasty.
/\/\/\/\</pre><p>
HardWareBoss
Splendid
- Feb 9, 2003
- 8,248
- 0
- 30,780
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
News Microsoft updates Windows 11 24H2 requirements, CPU must support SSE4.2 or the OS will not boot- Started by Admin
- Replies: 14
-
-
-
Question New Build GPU help- ASRock Steel Legend OC Radeon RX 7900 GRE - Keeps turning off
- Started by bp240
- Replies: 5
-
Question How can I make my AMD GPU scale *all* resolutions to 1080p, even resolutions that are "supported" by my TV?
- Started by Sol33t303
- Replies: 7
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram