COMPUTER
COMPONENTS
A computer system consists of a group
of components that work in unison with one another.
Basic computer system components include:
- Monitor
- Keyboard
- System unit (the assembly of drives, processor, boards, etc built
into a case)
- Mouse (or other pointing devices)
SAFETY: Disconnect the power to the unit to protect
yourself from electrical shock. Be sure
to ground yourself to computer case to prevent damage to unit.
Inside a typical
computer case:
- Power supply
- Transforms 120 volt AC to the various DC voltages needed in the
system.
(typically 12 volt and 5 volt DC)
- Motherboard (mainboard)
- Has slots where adapter cards are
inserted to provide a variety of functionality in the computer.
- Adapter cards can include:
- Video card (connectivity
to a monitor)
- Sound card (allows speakers
to be used)
- Modem (connectivity to
telecommunications)
- Has a special slot or port where the processor is installed.
- Contains the “bus” (multi-path connectivity for the components)
- Contains a battery, which powers the clock and the CMOS. CMOS
memory contains basic “boot” configuration information for the computer.
Some of which you can access and you can change certain settings.
- Memory units
- Floppy drive (3 ˝”
with 1.44Mb capacity)
- CD-Rom (Optical drive
with nearly 700Mb capacity)
- Hard drive (Capacity varies
up to 80 Gigabyte
- RAM (A chip which
contains volatile memory)