Essentials of a Computer

Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that constitutes a computer system. Computer hardware is the physical parts or components of a computer. A computer cannot run without the proper hardware. If the hardware is not present, the computer will not run properly, or might not even run at all.

Motherboard The motherboard is a vital part of the computer as it holds many important parts of the computer which would be needed to run. It has the ability to hold crucial parts for the computer such as the CPU, RAM, and has slots for other things. You could consider it the engine of a computer. It is needed to run, but without the right parts attached to it, the ‘car’ won’t work.

A motherboard includes: CPU
 * A socket to install the CPU
 * Slots to install the RAM
 * A chipset which forms an interface between the CPU's front-side bus, main memory and peripheral buses
 * Non-volatile memory chips containing the system’s BIOS
 * A clock generator which synchronises the system’s components
 * Slots for expansion cards
 * Power connectors which takes power from the PSU
 * Connectors for hard drives, usually SATA only

The central processing unit is a component of the computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O) operations. The term ‘CPU’ refers to a processor of the computer. Although the designs of CPUs have changed over time, what they do has not.

RAM Random Access Memory is a type of computer data storage. A RAM device allows data items to be read. When a program is opened, data of the program is stored in the RAM device, allowing the program to be used. When there is not enough space in the RAM, the data is stored to the HDD, in which the reading speed is significantly reduced. The data is then erased afterwards.

PSU The power supply unit is a crucial part of the computer which supplies power to the rest of the computer. The primary function of a PSU is to convert one form of electrical energy to another, thus are sometimes referred to as electric power converters.

Sound card

A sound card is an internal computer expansion card that controls input and output of sound throughout the computer. Many are integrated into the motherboard, while some can be added to improve sound quality. These are also called audio cards.

GPU The Graphics Processing Unit is an electronic circuit designed to be able to create and process high quality graphics. You would usually find them in computers, mobile phones and consoles. Usually, the GPU nowadays is used to process high quality graphics in video games, used to create effects for movies and for designing 3D things.

Storage devices

Storage devices are things where you store data into. These would be devices such as the HDD, SDD, CDs, DVDs etc. HDDs/SSDs are crucial as you would need them to install your operating system into.

Cooling system A cooling system for computers would be fans. Recently, there has been water cooling introduced, but it is far more expensive. Depending on the build of the tower, you might want multiple fans. This is usually to cool the CPU, GPU and RAM.

Case

Of course, you would need somewhere to place all these components. There are cases specially made for desktop computers, so then you would place your parts in it. The cases come in different sizes and some may have added features.

Monitor A monitor is an output device of the computer where everything that is processed from the computer is displayed. If there is no monitor present, the computer’s tower is essentially just a decoration.

Operating system

You would need to install an operating system to your HDD/SDD as you would need it to run the computer. It is a software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provide common services for programs. It is crucial as many applications require an OS to run. Some examples of them would be Windows, OSX, Linux, Ubuntu and SteamOS.

Input and output devices

There are some crucial input and output devices to make a desktop computer work. They are listed here:

Input
 * Mouse - you need this to be able to navigate the cursor to give instructions to the computer
 * Keyboard - you need this to be able to input characters into the computer

Output
 * Monitor - you need this for the computer to be able to display what is being processed

Written by Adam