Essentially, on the largest scale, I suppose you have things that do work (datapath), things that help manage things (control) and you have something else, which a lot of people fail to realize - lots and lots of wires. The transistors are actually really small compared to the wires (interconnect), and the technology width is largely limited by how thing a wire you can make.
You are almost there. Going from an ALU to Microprocessor is a big jump maybe if you look at the other parts of a microprocessor you will begin to get it...
http://www.microcore.org/Introduction/Im...
Actually, it's billions.
Billions of transistors connected together is too complicated for any one to grasp, that is why they are designed with teams of people and very special computer software.
The course you took should give you a basic idea.
Look at the designers guide or data sheet for some of the most capable Intel processors like the I7.
they are so much solid transistor, they get photogenically transferred onto a silicon sheet making them easily really really small
I took a basic digital design course & and electronics course. I know what transistors are and I know how to design as advanced as an ALU so I have an idea, but I have no idea how millions of transistors can form the laptop i'm using to write this question. It's too complex for me to grasp, much like the idea of the universe. I want some intuitive way of trying to fathom how this computer works, from the click of the mouse to the graphics of games..etc
anything would be helpful thanks
