Parts of a computer

This page adds "extra" information about

some of the computer parts we've studied.
Click here to see the lists of definitions you
need.

A term you want not listed? Go here.

Everything inside the computer is connected to a circuit board called the

'motherboard'. The motherboard has sockets for low-level programming (BIOS), the
computer's brain, called a CPU; the computer's memory (RAM, ROM and CMOS);
and for add-on cards to control the video (picture), audio (sound), printer and
anything else that might be connected to the computer. You may also find a modem
inside on an add-on card.
CPU: stands for 'Central Processing Unit' and is the
'brain' of the computer. Most CPU's today are made
by Intel and bear such names as 'Pentium',
'Pentium Pro' and 'Pentium II'. Older Intel CPU's
include the 80486 and 80386 families. Other
manufacturers also make CPU's: Motorola for the
Macintosh, AMD and Cirrus for PC's and others.
The 'speed' of a CPU's processing is measured in
megahertz. The CPU is the place that holds info
about the operating system (DOS or Windows, for
example).
RAM: RAM is what you know as
“Memory”, as in how much
memory does your computer
have? It is not permanent memory
- the RAM is erased when the
computer turns off. Permanent
memory is stored on the hard
drive. Memory is measured in
increments of bits and bytes.
Generally the least memory you
should ever have with a Pentium
computer is 64 MB (megabytes:
look up kilo-, mega-, and giga- for
more info), and more is much
better. There are places on the
motherboard (called “slots”) for
memory modules. The memory
modules are small printed circuit
boards with memory chips on
them and are usually either SIMM’s (Single Inline Memory Modules) or DIMM’s (Dual
Inline Memory Module).
Don't confuse this with ROM.
This is
an add-
in or

expansion board such as a video card, sound card or modem. On every

motherboard there are places to add circuit boards to extend the capabilities of the
computer. The most common circuit boards used are the internal modem, sound
card, and the video display adapter. There are various types of expansion slots that
may be on the motherboard. The ISA (Industry Standards Association) expansion slot
is the older type and most of the older circuit boards used this type of slot. A more
sophisticated type of slot is the PCI and the newer modems, and more sophisticated
sound cards require this type of slot. The newest type slot in a PC is the AGP
(Accelerated Graphics Port) slot, which is specifically designed for a video display
adapter. The AGP port enables high performance graphics capabilities, especially for
3D graphics.
The video card controls what you see on the monitor. It determines how many dots
across the screen and down the screen the computer can look after. The more dots,
the more information or the more detail you can see. The video card also controls
how many colors you can see. Most computers today can show anywhere from 256
colors to many millions of colors. The sound card controls the sound. Most computers
come with pretty cheap speakers, and the sound card can probably produce much
better sound than the speakers can. With good speakers, today's sound cards can
make your computer sound as good as a stereo!
The
hard
drive
uses
disks
that
are
made
of

aluminum or glass (and therefore 'hard'). Each disk can store much more information
than either a floppy or CD-ROM. Sometimes, there may be several disks in a hard
drive. However, the disks in a normal hard drive can not be removed or replaced.
Today, hard drives are measured in gigabytes. That's one thousand million bytes. 1
gigabyte is about 11/3 CD-ROM disks. Sometimes a special cache is used for quick
retrieval of often-used information (such as web pages). This is just a separate
directory on the hard drive.
Generally when we talk about a floppy disk drive we are talking
about the drive that uses the 3.5 inch 1.44Mb floppy disk in it. There
have been other types that have come and gone.

CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk – Read Only

Memory. The original name was WORM drive,
which meant Write Once Read Many. So the term
CD-ROM is not really very accurate, but it is the
name that has stuck.

At one time there was the PC keyboard, the AT keyboard, and the 101 key enhanced
keyboard, which had F9 through F12 keys and a separate numeric keypad. Now the
101 key enhanced keyboard is the standard type and keyboards are named
according to the type of connection it makes to the computer. The two common types
of connectors that go from the keyboard to the computer motherboard are the AT and
the PS/2. The AT is the larger older type, and the PS/2 is a newer type and
communicates better with he computer.
There are a lot of varieties of mice in use today. Some have two buttons, some have
3 buttons, and some have a roller ball on top and don't require you to actually move
the mouse on the desktop. There are also programmable mice, touch pads that
substitute for a mouse, etc.. The standard types are the Serial, and the PS/2. The
Serial mouse plugs into one of the 9 pin serial port of your computer (COM1), and
the PS/2 mouse plugs into a special PS/2 port on your computer.

A modem allows your computer to connect to

another computer using the normal telephone line. It converts data from a computer
format, which requires many wires, into a format that can be sent using only the two
wires of a telephone line. At the other end of the telephone wires the process is
reversed. Data transfer rates from the modem vary from 14.4Kbs to 56Kbs. (14.4Kbs,
28.8Kbs, 33.6Kbs, 56Kbs) There are special types of modems such as cable
modems that can communicate at much higher data rates.

The USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector is the newest type port (connector) on
the PC. It is extremely easy to use. You just plug in a USB compatible device and the
computer automatically configures itself to use the device. The computer does not
have to be turned off or rebooted. As many as 127 USB peripherals can be plugged
into a computer at one time. At 12Mbits per second it is more than 100 times as fast
as a serial port. The next generation USB motherboards will communicate at
480Mbits per second.