How a Computer Works | Visual Learners

[@williamnelson4968]

Besides one minute physics and 3Blue1Brown I now have a new favorite 3DSage! Thanks for an incredible work of art, logic and science intertwined to make learning fun.

[@3DSage]

Thank you so much! That means a lot to me :)

[@logi-operations]

i agree, all of these channels are great

[@Jaceisafloridaboy]

Agreed

[@sniffelur7996]

Thanks for learning us how the wizards inside the computers work

[@sudarsanhot]

Wat

[@smiffy5075]

Wow, for someone who doesn't have a background in computing, this is VERY good! well done mate!!!

[@MrVolt]

Great production quality! Hope you continue this series

[@3DSage]

That means a lot coming from you Mr. Volt so thank you! I'm trying to get better.

[@ggldmrd5583]

@@3DSage Turing>Einstein :D

[@ggldmrd5583]

@@3DSage But can it run Crysis ? (I had to tell it), seriously, it would be cool if it could use Fourier Series to draw things on the screen using the motor. But this seemss too much for the computing power of the computer.

[@PseudoNo]

That's so cool! I've always wanted to understand how hardware works. I think few programmers can actually describe how their code works on a machine level. And this is the most interesting part of programming. Everybody can learn coding and be very good at C++ and so on, but very few can imagine and actually understand the mighty physics inside it.

[@3DSage]

Well said! I'm glad you liked my video! :)

[@TheSimoc]

Yes. And same applies also in other direction - I have been quite savvy with electronics, somewhat including computer hardware and low-level programming, but I still struggle to learn and meaningfully understand the working of high-level programming.

[@king_james_official]

@@TheSimoc same man, i can write an opengl game in c++, but i'm struggling with python for loops 😂🤚

[@transientlattice]

2:39 - 2:49 If you're really new at logic gates like me and this has you really stumped I thought of a way of explaining it in a way that made sense to me. The NOT gate is a *logical inverter.* As shown in the video the NOT gate's light stayed *on* until the button was being pressed, opposed to a non inverted light that stays *off* until the button is pressed. When you wire the output of one NOT gate, to another NOT gate's input you *invert the inversion* of the first NOT gate. creating the 4 bits of ram inside the video. hope that was helpful and made sense, if it wasn't and you know why I'm eager to listen

[@moth.monster]

Who needs "programming languages" anyways? Just do it in machine code.

[@ithaca2076]

I agree ;)

[@Tokmurok]

Might take you a long time.

[@ImXyper]

Who needs "machine code" anyways? Just do it in transistors.

[@vibaj16]

machine code technically is a programming language

[@randomcuber230]

so try to run doom but written only with 1s and 0s

[@SianaGearz]

You don't need a transistor! A couple generations before you were born we did these things with vacuum triodes. And I'm sure you can make hydraulic computers too if you haven't conquered electricity yet.

[@3DSage]

True but I heard vacuum tubes were large and burned out frequently so the transistor really made it reliable and incredibly small. I saw a video where a guy made a full adder add two numbers with dominoes! Thank you for your comment!

[@SianaGearz]

Yes vacuum tubes are bulky, power-hungry devices that need regular individual service, but they have a pretty spectacular linearity and consistency in behaviour while they haven't burned out yet. When first transistors appeared, large swaths of professionals were sceptical, as they behaved in a fairly erratic manner, and first transistor equipment was very flaky! Still today you can take a bag of perfectly fine factory-fresh transistors, and find that their gain is all over the place, twice or half the norm is not unusual, and then it changes over the life of the semiconductor. Digital circuits were partially the saving grace for transistors as their terribleness would not matter as much, and yet a significant learning curve was incurred before transistors started powering everything in our life. What i find utterly fascinating also are electromechanical switching devices. Konrad Zuse created fully programmable (principally Turing complete) computers completely out of telephone station relais! I saw the machine in operation, you can literally see and hear what it does. Zuse's machine was also the first Van Neumann architecture machine, meaning the program is executed from RAM just like data, and no principal distinction between code and data exists, and it also implemented floating-point numbers! The machines in the museums today are no longer particularly reliable due to material decay, but they can still go for minutes without a computational error, and it must have been spectacularly power-frugal and reliable for its time - compared say to the tube-powered ENIAC from around the same time.

[@3DSage]

Wow that is all fascinating! I grew up with modern computers so I missed out on these milestones and I'm sure it was very exciting to see the breakthroughs in technology. I wonder if quantum computers will become more common in the future and what that evolution will do for computing.

[@TheSimoc]

@@SianaGearz You are principally right, transistors have challenges in their individual charasteristic deviation, but as you implied it only matters in analog circuits - in computers transistors have since very beginning been much less problematic. I'm not sure what learning curve you were referring to, but in low-level computer demonstrations, transistors suit better than tubes because of easier learning curve. Tubes are much more complicated to set up in first place with all the extra circuitry they need, and even once you have made and understood it, setting up a computer with them makes way more complicated wiring mess, making the computational behavior more overwhelming to take grasp on by beginners. Not that I hate tubes at all, and I really like vintage, and generally different and interesting ways to do things, and I also see your point that with analog circuits, some (not all) things are even simpler to make and understand with tubes. But just in this context - demonstrating low-level computer inner workings - transistors are simply better without excuses.

[@shawty789coldee]

You deserve a lot more subscribers man, great video.

[@3DSage]

Thank you so much!

[@alexandraguerin3289]

Great job Sage! The info still goes over my head, but the way you've set it up really simplify things a ton. Thanks for all the hard work and I can't wait to see what you make next!

[@3DSage]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it and I look forward to making more fun videos!

[@flingmonkey5494]

I dropped out of one of the best engineering colleges in 1975, but while I was there I was introduced to computer programming (Fortran, using punch cards for programs,) logic gates, and basic electronics. I ended up working low-end jobs that demanded no skills. I finally landed a job as an electronics assembler. After a few years of that I was working for a company that made peripherals for the Commodore Pet computers, and they were just coming out with their own computer, a glorified Pet running a 6502 at 2MHZ. I was offered a chance to try my hand at troubleshooting the boards, and I took to it like a duck takes to water. Ultimately I was a junior HW engineer and THE hotshot troubleshooter. Over the next couple of jobs I designed a keyboard around a Motorolla 6801, and I made some test fixtures that were little computers, like a memory module tester. Then I had a boss that forced me to learn to program in C, and it was duck-takes-to-water again. I have been creating automated test systems using C programming and some hardware skills ever since. I am now a senior-level test automation engineer. I still have no degree, but I am in demand. One thing I picked up a few years back was the Arduino. I would never seek to make a career based on that thing, but it is a fabulous skill to add to your existing skill set, it just opens new vistas for you. I use them between my PC and the hardware under test, sensing, controlling, reporting, communicating via a serial port. If you want to play with a low-level computer, for cheap, learn the Arduino, and then search for fun projects that use it. The PC is still the main test system for me, but very often there are a couple of Arduinos attached to it.

[@3DSage]

This is amazing! Thank you for that wonderful information. Part of me is envious that you lived through those early punch card eras so you have a closer relationship to computers and the fundamentals. Computer are just pure wizard magic to kids today. They don't know. That's why I wanted to make this video and take away some of the mystery. That's great you are now into the Arduino. It's a great tool to have and know. Thank you again for the great comment!

[@flingmonkey5494]

@@3DSage Computers used to be a lot more fun than they are now. They are now so big and complex that they are virtually incomprehensible as a whole. When I was learning to troubleshoot those early systems my primary reference was a thick book from Texas Instruments on the 7400 series of chips. When I bought my Apple II computer in 1979 it came with schematics and ROM listings, I still have that book somewhere. All the chips in it were socketed and off-the-shelf. I don't know how many times I repaired it myself. The early IBM PCs were also very cool, but I hated the 8086 in them. "Building your own computer" today is about buying completed boards and plugging them together. Back then it was proto board and wire-wrap sockets. That's why I like the Arduinos for fun, they get you back to the basics, though the Harvard architecture is different from back then.

[@3DSage]

@@flingmonkey5494 That is fascinating. I really like seeing those old computers. I think they still have value. And a few youtubers are making computers from simple chips. Ben Eater has a great breadboard computer series that helped inspire me. I hope to see more interest in those simple computers, at the very least, to help people understand how they work so they can understand our super advanced computers work today.

[@flingmonkey5494]

@@3DSage It was fun at the time watching how computers were changing the way companies operated. For instance, accounting. It used to be that the accountants would work each month with the accounts to produce a report at the end of the month on the financial standing of the company, and it was gospel. Management would make decisions on company direction based on that report. Then a couple of nerds created Visicalc, the first computer spreadsheet for the Apple II. (I had a pirated copy.) Now the CEO could go back to the accountants, say "Change these numbers and this calculation", and get a recalculated spreadsheet in minutes. Suddenly the companies spreadsheet was malleable. It was no longer gospel, it was just the latest version.

[@mr.9931]

"That's soup with a hat" I officially love this channel.

[@CYON4D]

Awesome explanation and demonstration of the computing concepts! As a programmer I am always fascinated how the complexity rises from binary operations using simple gates and memory. Would love to see your dream console come to life, best of luck!

[@3DSage]

This comment makes me happy so thank you for saying that! Yes I still want to make my own console :)

[@kellybmackenzie]

This is amazing, thank you so much. I learned about logic gates in a class last semester but was confused how the whole thing with two NOT gates worked. This cleared it up so much for me. Thank you so much!

[@MSFTSTRIO]

I absolutely love this video. Amazing how you made a super simple circuit using components that most people would know. Instead of what other people do and jump straight into the complicated stuff without explaining what even controls these gates in the first place! Thank you! Thank you!

[@AndrieMC]

0:00 "Look around and try to find a computer" Me: *Lying in bed looking at my phone watching this video*

[@jakec5618]

Amazing video !!! Really helps in explaining and visualizing this, which is what I was trying to learn. Definitely deserves more views. It's pretty fascinating that all this was able to be achieved with transistors and basic circuits and how they increased the levels of abstraction to make modern computers.

[@bravo1oh1]

Holy crap. This is amazing. I'll have to watch this again. I wish you were my teacher in grade school

[@gamesnooz9165]

You did a great job even four years later it's still amazing.

[@3DSage]

I'm so glad to hear that so thank you! :)

[@bobbyshaftoe45]

This is a great vid! This should be in k-12 curriculum as mandatory! Great job!

[@3DSage]

That is very nice to hear so thank you! :)

[@oliverdowning1543]

This was a cool video. I already knew a lot but what you said about making ram with not gates was new to me, before I used two XOR gates which was mush bigger since I wasn’t working with ic’s but I usually just simulate in Minecraft anyway so I just use redstone blocks and pistons

[@trashtrash2169]

I would love to see how you would go about making your console... you know... if a project like that were to come into fruition would you be able to release a dev kit and feature games made with it on the console (I assume this project is a while off and by then doing such a crazy thing would be worthwhile with a larger audience.)

[@estebann]

2:14 It is awsome that strictly speaking you could use only NAND gates as primitives and model all the same logic. It is my personal favorite because of that!

[@vibaj16]

The NOR gate can do that too, and imo it's more intuitive for building the other gates. Only problem is that it's more complicated to make NOR gates than NAND gates using transistors

[@CameronCrosby2468]

This is such a great video! I learned so much!! Subbed. :)

[@3DSage]

I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you. :)

[@hopehowdoyoufeel]

how does this have so less views? This is really informational!

[@3DSage]

Feel free to share it. And thank you, that's very nice of you to say! :)

[@WoodyW2k]

Just found this. I love this video so much. Humble, informative, approachable, well produced and narrated, funny, and educational. Insta-Sub.

[@TheStarniel]

Man, that`s a very awesome video. Thanks for the it,because you answered the question I was asking myself for years. Keep up :D P.s I would like to see a self build gaming console and an idea is that you make gamecards so that other people could try to make a game for your console. That would be AWESOME^2 and like I said before keep up with the great work.

[@3DSage]

That makes my day, thank you. I like those moments when I don't understand something, then someone says it a different way and it just clicks. I'm glad to hear that, I wan't to make a console. People could write their own code and play their own games on it. It's ambitious but I like the idea. :)

[@TheStarniel]

I am waiting for it :D and if you need help, i dont know if i can, but i will try to:D

[@jakec5618]

Presented very well. Trying to connect the dots between software and hardware and this video really helped. Even displays make more sense now. Interesting fact about how over 24 times/second it looks static to human eyes.

[@DanielBerzinskas]

Fun fact: This video is exactly 699.29 seconds long

[@itiswhatitis-yes]

This was sooooooo good to watch!!

[@smallgraphics8914]

Is there some sort of game or simulation where I can build this kind of stuff at this scale?

[@suvetar]

Love this!! What is that running on the laptop at 0:12? Thanks!

[@raminote5726]

Amazing video and great project !! The one downside is that you didn't provide much info about your build, no link to get the chips, no info as to how you designed the boards...it would be nice if you could. Also, I hope your idea to make your own console is still up to date, cause that would make an amazing series !!!

[@3DSage]

I was so excited to post this video at the time but i would like to go back and give the project info for people to make :)

[@raminote5726]

@@3DSage yay !! That would be very nice ! thanks

[@Mordopk]

@@3DSage I love your computer project. I'm still waiting for the schemes and the components and I really want to make the project too. Thx so much and have a nice day!

[@3DSage]

@@Mordopk I will be making a part two video that will be more of a tutorial! It will look different but ill explain how this works :)

[@Mordopk]

@@3DSage Great! Hope it doesn't take long. Thanks again 😉

[@ihsanshafi1047]

10:50 Ha this guy thinks this is laughable, this is admirable and motivational keep it up

[@pacmancoder]

Wow! that's great! It is fun to watch your videos, thank's for your efforts!

[@3DSage]

Thank you for saying that! :)

[@TheMwi98]

This video deserves 100x as many views

[@coolvideos8864]

Just came across your channel. You are a fantastic teacher and have a really high production value!

[@colonelbarker]

Great video, do you have schematics anywhere for people to look over?

[@midnightmushrooms1141]

can you share how you started learning about electronics yourself, and which sources you used (and would recommend)? Not knowing if there could be something better to learn by can be so exhausting :\

[@3DSage]

Honestly, I watched hours and hours of KZbin videos. I also bought a few good books too. That is also why I wanted to make this video. It's a kind of thank you and giving back to the KZbin community for teaching me so maybe I could pass it on.

[@ltrizzle12]

Uhhhh coolest video EVER?! 🤘😆🤘

[@Garfield_Minecraft]

soup with a hat 🥫🧢 2:00 middle leg 💀 that looks sus

[@sontapaa11jokulainen94]

What about the instruction decoding logic etc? (are there any schematics or something, because you only showed us the clock, the memory and the program counter)

[@u0000-u2x]

This is a great project! I just recently found Ben Eater's 8-bit computer series but your take on an 4-bit computer, with 'cards' seems much simpler and elegant. Do you have a write-up/blog post/video going into more details of the build?

[@3DSage]

I don't have anything like that yet but I do have plans and ideas for this project so stay tuned. :)

[@jmallone]

@@3DSage please continue

[@didierdegranrut4815]

Can you provide us with the chips you used and where you got them -?

[@raminote5726]

oh yes ! Please ?

[@estebann]

Great video!!! 0:19 are those flip flops from Argentina? (I mean, because of the flag colours)

[@Nintendont64]

Awesome video! But, the battery in the GBA Pokemon games were just for the clock feature, the GBC and original GB games used them to store save data. Sorry to nitpick

[@raminote5726]

2 years later, still no fucking sign of the promised tutorial

[@infidelgermany]

Amazing. I'd love to see a tutorial.

[@3DSage]

ok maybe i'll do that! Thank you

[@raminote5726]

@@3DSage "1 year ago"

[@3DSage]

@@raminote5726 I would like to make one! But i dont know why this video wasnt as popular as i thought. I hope people want to see this

[@raminote5726]

@@3DSage look at the amount of people saying they loved the video ! Also, I'm not the only person asking for another related video...idk

[@jmallone]

@@3DSage i want see dude :D

[@jeanle1er]

Were can i find the details of this electronic bord? i would like to do de same où puisje trouvé les détail de ce que tu as construit? Je veux faire les même

[@sontapaa11jokulainen94]

How did you implement the control unit? The part which decodes the instruction and sends control signals to the ram etc. and how did you implement the fetch decode execute cyclr or whatever?

[@dylanmissuwe4839]

the production quality on this video is amazing. Very informative and humorous. your channel deserves alot more popularity. The device you build is not technically a computer because it doesn't compute. if you want to build a computer from sctatch you'll need an ALU, a register, a binary counter, ram, rom and alot of logic gates. you can however use a pre build cpu, like the Z80 for example. you just have to hook up the eeprom, ram and i/o devices and you have a fully working computer (after programming). the eeprom is where the program goes it's like ram but stores the data permanently. the program consists of a set of instructions and operants. eg: 00000000 = load byte A into register 10001010 = byte A 00000001 = add byte B to register 10011000 = byte B 00000010 = output register to an i/o device indexed by byte C 00000000 = byte C the instruction set i used in this example is; 00000000 = load * into register 00000001 = add * to register 00000010 = output register to * this is a very simple example of a machine code program. it outputs the sum of byte A and byte B to a i/o device

[@3DSage]

Thank you for saying that! I am trying to get better with each new video. I hope this helps explain these electronic fundamentals. I would like to expand on this and make my own functional gaming console. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@dylanmissuwe4839]

3DSage if you have the computer running you'll need to be good at assembly language to make the games you want. or maybe you can find existing games on the internet. but you will have to change your hardware to the games requirements.

[@typedeaf]

You show the Red PCB Timer (555 IC), the Green PCB Counter (74HC141), and the Blue PCB SRAM (CDP1824). Clearly the heart of this computer is mssing. Where is the CPU? Did you use a CDP-1800 series 8-bit CPU? Is this basically a COSMAC ELF?

[@duality4y]

what music was the music box

[@syscemokcookie62]

Woah! I dont know that your ginger cat is a computer! Keep it up! P.S: Finish part 3 pls

[@SergioBur]

Awesome video! Waiting for other videos on this topic.

[@Michael_eMki]

I real, enjoyed watching this video. Keep it up. 👍

[@3DSage]

That is so nice to hear so thank you for the comment! And I will! :)

[@HunainCoaching]

This is the video i was searching for!!! Thanks Thanks Thanks

[@3DSage]

I'm glad you found it and you like it! :)

[@anandk1977]

What a great vid. From the explanation i thought it was easy, but when you showed your project, it confused the shit out of me

[@3DSage]

Sorry to hear about confusing you. I thought it would help. I hope you learned something and enjoyed the video.

[@anandk1977]

3DSage no probs i'm only 12 yrs old anyways. A liitle older me would have understood it.

[@Mr_Folsi]

can you share the schematics please?

[@rebornreaper194]

How did you make the circuit board that demonstrates logic gates?

[@theblukatlife]

You're gonna grow. Watch. Here at 5k

[@UlfAsk-h8z]

Wow. That's an interesting piece of equipment. Do you have the schematics? I'd love to try building my one "Sageputer". :)

[@3DSage]

I'd like to make a part 2 with a step by step tutorial if anyone is interested! :)

[@piotrbukowski9407]

Make a Playlist where you can show process if building your console (if you decide to build one)

[@3DSage]

I would love to make my own console. I use instagram (3DSagePix) to show my progress and then I post the final video on youtube.

[@piotrbukowski9407]

3DSage I'm going to check it out

[@MyNathanking]

0:00: I love that cute cat.

[@Dhirajkumar-ls1ws]

beautiful presentation.

[@manuelgarcia486]

Love It. Download link for PCB printing or any tutorial?? Thanks

[@kelp4312]

Schematics?

[@TheAnakamex]

Dude, i loved this video, it's really good introduction!

[@3DSage]

I'm glad you liked it! It took so much work haha. Thank you.

[@K3uchhusten_ft80]

wow thats amazing !!! Could you explain how you built it?

[@3DSage]

Yes I made a updated video and I plan to post a step by step!

[@BuzzKirill3D]

The presentation itself is very well put together, but it's NOT for beginners/people who are trying to understand the basics of how computers work. I'm not a total noob when it comes to computing and have a grasp on the basic theory of a lot of how PCs work, as well as some programming know-how, but I was LOST for much of this video, especially the part where you explain how your home-made computer works.

[@kalangototal]

Ahhh yes, Nice video and explanation. 👌

[@georgeapelgren2157]

we'd appreciate if you'll give us some sources from where did you learn all of this.

[@MikaelBu]

Great video, i'd love to see a homemade game console in the future.

[@3DSage]

That's great! I would like to make my own console and maybe have anyone write their own games for it too.

[@brandonlaplace9547]

What process happens when you click on something to make something else show on the screen?

[@snehagaundalkar8972]

I am waiting for your 8 bit console.☺☺

[@Rockman975]

your sandals have an argentinian flag on them. thats weird . You are a master of the universe

[@3DSage]

I never noticed that! I just liked the colors haha

[@zozodejante8350]

Can't wait for part 2 !

[@explorecomputerthingswithme]

what computer kit do you use?

[@ken-vc3iu]

Very good,I need more videos on this Parts names, SIR can you help me ,I like reading more about computers💻

[@PhuccccNin]

Will you made the version to sell please I love something like this but I can do it :

[@johanpicocrie7798]

Hallo can jou post the schematic of this computer i would like to build one

[@TheDeatrockerRoom]

Omg, you a genius at all, im wanna do same devices, but im stupid at hardware at all =( you are great!

[@Ozzymandias0]

I am working for universite exams and I wanna e computer engineer. If i pass, i will make my own like you. That was awesome thank you

[@3DSage]

Thank you for saying that and yes I hope you do make your own computer! I really like that I was able to make my own.

[@Dinglehut2]

How does the button check work

[@raminote5726]

Still no tutorial...

[@blacklizzard2807]

Great and very educational video, for anyone who is interested in more i highly recommend Ben Eater (not throwing shade, just telling the people about the cool channel)

[@3DSage]

No problem, he helped inspire me! But actually I got more confused at all his chips and wires and how they connect so my 4 chips made more sense to me.

[@blacklizzard2807]

Yeah I totally agree this is way simpler to understand, but I just wanted to point people if they want to do or research more. I got hooked to electronics when I saw people making their own computers.

[@BuckeyeStormsProductions]

This is amazing!

[@3DSage]

Thank you! :)

[@gohsti1232]

So nice good quality and a nice vidio can you mayby make a vidio how to make this computer.

[@Gamingismyfood]

Do you have a schematic of that transistor circuit? P.s Great video

[@ricardomilos2674]

Amazing .What is the circuit diagram

[@timothyfowler4026]

I have the same hat 😂 Also great video! I'd heard about logic gates before but never really understood them before

[@Lemon-yp5ed]

And if you take an and gate and an or gate, have the output of the and gate lead to a not gate, have the not gate and the or gate outputs lead to another and gate, use the same first input for the first and gate and the or gate along with the second output being the same, you get an XOR Gate

[@vibaj16]

You can also make an XOR gate with 3 NOR gates and an OR gate: both inputs go into one NOR gate, which goes into two other NOR gates, and for each of those two NOR gates, the 2nd input is one of the inputs. The two NOR gates go into an OR gate, which is the output.

[@matteobrugnera6518]

u deserver more viewers... no dubts!

[@3DSage]

Thank you for saying that! :)

[@sudarsanhot]

Hey make a video of how you made it

[@JosiahPilon]

Great job!

[@yourmumisacrumpet4882]

i love it sad that only got 9k views

[@jetstreamsham4968]

What happens if all opcode bits are low? How does the computer know what an opcode bit does?

[@3DSage]

think about it more like a light switch. You wouldn't say how does the light bulb know the switch is on or off. We know when a circuit is completed, the light turns on. Same for the chips that have many logic gates. If a bit is low, that controls the circuit in the chips.

[@sdthomson10]

fun facts: 1 byte: 8 transistors 5 bytes: 40 transistors 10 bytes: 80 transistors tranistors can be usede in ICs computers can have tens of those.

[@bobmarley8000]

This is better than what's taught in universities lmao

[@workhard5751]

Awesome 👌👍