Computer Hardware

Input Devices - A keyboard and mouse are the standard way to interact with the computer, but also joysticks and game pads used for games.

Output Devices - The monitor is how the computer sends information back to you, and a printer is also an output device.

Processing - All instructions are sent to the main central processing unit for processing. The CPU has L1 cache and an Arithmetic Logic Unit.

Storage Devices - Hard disk drives are higher capacity drives which also stores the operating system which runs when you power on the computer.

MOTHER BOARD

The best way to describe the motherboard goes along well with my human body analogy that I used for the CPU. The CPU is the brain, and the motherboard is the nervous system. Therefore, just as a person would want to have fast communication to the body parts, you want fast communication between the parts of your computer. Fast communication isn't as important as reliable communication though. If your brain wanted to move your arm, you want to be sure the nervous system can accurately and consistently carry the signals to do that! Thus, in my opinion, the motherboard is the second most important part of the computer.
The motherboard is the circuit board to which all the other components of the computer connect in some way. The video card, sound card, IDE hard drive, etc. all plug into the motherboard's various slots and connectors. The CPU also plugs into the motherboard via a Socket or a Slot.

The CPU

So what's a CPU? It stands for Central Processing Unit. Many users erroneously refer to the whole computer box as the CPU. In fact, the CPU itself is only about 1.5 inches square. The CPU does exactly what it stands for. It is the control unit that processes all* of the instructions for the computer. Consider it to be the "brain" of the computer. It does all the thinking. So, would you like to have a fast or slow brain? Obviously, the answer to this question makes the CPU the most important part of the computer. The speed here is the most significant. The processor's (CPU's) speed is given in a MHz or GHz rating (see Glossary). 3 GHz is roughly 3,000 MHz.

When you use a program, the computer loads a portion of the program from the hard drive to the much faster memory (RAM). When you "save" your work or quit the program, the data gets written back to the hard drive. Microprocessors -- "The brain of the computer" - PCs primarily use microprocessors (sometimes called the chip) manufactured by Intel. The older Intel versions include the 386, 486 and now the Pentium line.

MEMORY

All programs, instructions, and data must be stored in system memory before the computer can use it. It will hold recently used programs, instructions, and data in memory if there is room. This provides quick access (much faster than hard drives) to information. The more memory you have, the more information you will have fast access to and the better your computer will perform.
Memory is much like the short term memory in your brain. It holds your most recent information for quick access. Just as you want to accurately remember this information in your head, you want your computer's memory to have the correct information as well, or problems will obviously occur. Bad memory is one of the more common causes of computer crashes, and also the most difficult problem to diagnose. Because of this, making sure you get good RAM the first time around is very important. My Recommendations will help you get the fastest, highest quality RAM you can.

As the primary communication device to the rest of the computer, the hard drive is very important. The hard drive stores most of a computer's information including the operating system and all of your programs. Having a fast CPU is not of much use if you have a slow hard drive. The reason for this is because the CPU will just spend time waiting for information from the hard drive. During this time, the CPU is just twiddling it's thumbs...
The hard drive stores all the data on your computer - your text documents, pictures, programs, etc. If something goes wrong with your hard drive, it is possible that all your data could be lost forever. Today's hard drives have become much more reliable, but hard drives are still one of the components most likely to fail because they are one of the few components with moving parts. The hard drive has round discs that store information as 1s and 0s very densely packed around the disc.

VIDEO CARDS

Video cards provide the means for the computer to "talk" to your monitor so it can display what the computer is doing. Older video cards were "2D," or "3D," but today's are all "2D/3D" combos. The 3D is mostly useful for gaming, but in some applications can be useful in 3D modeling, etc. Video cards have their own advanced processing chips that make all kinds of calcuations to make scenes look more realistic. The many video cards out there are based on much smaller number of different chipsets (that are run at different speeds or have slight differences in the chipsets). Different companies buy these chipsets and make their own versions of the cards based on the chipsets. For the most part, video cards based on the same chipset with the same amount of RAM are about equivalent in performance.

CD-ROM / DVD

CD-ROM drives are necessary today for most programs. A single CD can store up to 650 MB of data (newer CD-Rs allow for 700 MB of data, perhaps more with "overburn"). Fast CD-ROM drives have been a big topic in the past, but all of today's CD-ROM drives are sufficiently fast. Of course, it's nice to have the little bits of extra speed. The speed can play a big role if you do a lot of CD burning at high speeds or some audio extraction from audio CDs
CD-R/RW (which stands for Recordable / ReWritable) drives (aka burners, writers) allow a user to create their own CDs of audio and/or data. These drives are great for backup purposes (backup your computer's hard drive or backup your purchased CDs) and for creating your own audio CD compilations.
DVD-ROM drives can store up to 4 GB of data or about 6 times the size of a regular CD (not sure on the exact size, but suffice to say it's a very large storage medium). DVDs look about the same and are the same size as a CD-ROM. DVD drives can also read CD-ROM drives, so you don't usually need a separate CD-ROM drive. The DVD format allows for much higher resolution digital recording that looks much clearer than VCR recordings.

MODEM

If you are at home, then you are most likely using a modem to view this page right now (dial-up modem, cable modem, or DSL modem). The modem is what hosts the communication between your computer and the computers you are connecting to over the Internet. If you're on a network, then you're using a network card (ethernet card most likely - and that may connect to your cable or DSL modem). A modem uses your phone line to transfer data to and from the other computers. Newer cable modems and DSL modems provide about 10 times the speed of a regular phone modem. These are usually external and plug into a network card in your computer.

Modem stands for "modulator / demodulator" and it encodes and decodes signals sent to and from the network servers. Good modems should be able to do all the encoding / decoding work on their own without having to rely on your computer's CPU to do the work. Modems allow you to communicate with other computers using a phone line. Modem speeds are in bits per second (14.4, 28.8 and 56 thousand bits per second are standard).

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