PC SUBSYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS
SYSTEM BOARD [1] * chipset[2] * BIOS PROCESSOR SUBSYSTEM [1] * CPU - floating point unit L1 cache L2 cache * Memory GRAPHICS SUBSYSTEM * Controller firmware RAM driver * Monitor[3] DISK SUBSYSTEM (SCSI) * Controller firmware cache - driver * Hard/Removable Drives firmware buffer * CD-ROM Drive firmware buffer FLOPPY SUBSYSTEM * Controller firmware * Drives firmware buffer COMMUNICATIONS SUBSYSTEM (56K) [4] * Port * Modem firmware driver Notes [1] Component of all subsystems [2] Determines speeds of the various buses [3] Factor in image quality, not performance [4] Performance also affected by external connect factors: line, routing, network, servers.