Hardware

The motherboard is the backbone of the computer: every component either plugs into it or communicates through it. Grade 11 looks deeper at its parts and how they cooperate.

The CPU is far faster than main memory, so small amounts of very fast cache memory sit close to the CPU holding the data it will most likely need next.

Memory is the computer's working space. Understanding the memory hierarchy — registers, cache, RAM, storage — explains most performance behaviour.

No single number defines performance. CPU, RAM, storage and GPU all contribute — the slowest link drags the rest down.