Computer hardware parts

what is computer hardware?

let us first start with a simple introduction to the computer hardware.

The computer system basically consists of two types of components the two types of computer components are software components and the hardware components the software components provide a set of instructions which directs the computer to perform a specific task.

In other words a software is a computer program used to communicate with computer regarding the operation that we want computer to perform where as the computer hardware is a general term used to describe the various physical components that are essential part of the every computer.

System the computer hardware components are the actual physical parts of the computer system that are visible to us and that we can use Hardware device to operate the computer the computer hardware includes various mechanical electrical and electronics. components used to build the computer system .the computer hardware components can be of two types the first type of Hardware components are placed inside the computer case or we can also call a computer cabinet some of the most prominent Hardware components that are placed inside the computer case include motherboard power supply unit memory hard disks.microprocessor Ram modules and other such componentswhereas the peripheral devices are the second type of Hardware components that are connected externally to the computer these are also called as input and output devices.

The most commonly connected peripheral Hardware devices include the computer display unit ormonitor keyboard mouse and printer let us now discuss the functions of each of the various computer hardware.

Components in detail let us start with the first Hardware component on our list that is a computer case a computer case is also alternately referred to as a computer cabinet a computer case is type of metal enclosure used to assemble the various internal Hardware components of the computer system the main function of the computer case is to provide a protected enclosure to organize and assemble various internal Hardware components such as motherboard .microprocessor data storage memory hard disks Ram modules smps power unit and other such Hardware components let us move on to the next Hardware component that is motherboard computer motherboard is the main printed circuit board used to assemble and interconnect various computer system components the motherboard provides the connection sockets for the microprocessor CPU main memory RAM secondary memory unit called hard disk graphics card and the controller chips which connects the various input and output devices connected to the computer the next Hardware component on our listb is called a microprocessor microprocessor is the brain of the computer system it provides the processing power to the computer the processor is also called as Central Processing Unit abbreviated as CPU the microprocessor chip is mounted inside a special socket provided on the motherboard the CPU socket is specially designed to firmly hold the microprocessor chip with the help of its lever locking mechanism the processor generates considerable heat and therefore a special heatsink with miniature fan is placed on the top of the processor chip this heatsink protects the processor chip from damage caused due to excessive Heat.

let us move on to the next Hardware component on our list that is power supply unit called smps the power supply unit is another important Hardware component mounted inside the computer case it is also called as switch mode power supply abbreviated as smps it is the most commonly used power supply unit that powers the computer the main function of the power supply unit is to provide stable electrical power supply to the various Hardware components present inside the computer case the smps unit provides multiple wire connectors to power different types of Hardware components installed inside the computer case let us move on to the next Hardware component that is main memory called random access memory RAM.

The computer system memory unit consists of different types of memories organized in a hierarchical order with different size and speed in order to optimize the system performance each of these memories performs a specific role during the program execution the random access memory RAM is the main memory of the computer the ram is considered as a temporary or volatile memory of the computer because it can store the data till the time the computer is powered onthe main system memory RAM a critical resource that is managed by the operating system the main memory is used to store the data and program instructions during the program execution the main memory is present in the computer in the form of ram modules installed on the computer motherboard the ram modules are installed and mounted into the memory slots provided on the system motherboard the ram modules are also commonly referred to as dim the next important Hardware component on our list is called a graphics card .

The graphics card is equipped with dedicated microprocessor which provides adequate processing power to independently handle the graphics processing function high-end computers are equipped with a separate graphics card with a dedicated processor called a graphics Processing Unit GPU high performance computers are mainly used for some high-end jobs such as video editing computer Graphics orsimply for playing any high-end video games the graphics card significantly improves the user experience and the quality of the graphics rendered by the computer system let us move on to the next Hardware component on our list that is secondary memory called the disk memory or a hard disk the hard drive or a disk memory is considered as permanent memory it is also called a secondary memory and it is managed by the operating system the hard disk is mounted into specific slots present in the computer case the computer case provides multiple mechanical slots where number of hard disks can be installed the hard disk is connected to the computer using SATA connection cable for data transfer the hard disk gets the power connection from smps power supplyunit the user can also connect the external hard disk through any USB port the hard disk runs on a mechanical moving Parts which consists of number of rotating storage disks and a mechanical head which reads and writes the data the moving Parts into the hard disks makes it prone for mechanical failure after prolonged usage the hard disk technology is being replaced by solid-state drive disks called SSD drives however .

SSD disks are very expensive options at the moment and therefore the hard disk is still being used extensively for data storage all right so far we have covered all the major Hardware components and it's functions let us now briefly cover a final note on the laptop Hardware component the hardware architecture for the laptops have gone through a major technological change in terms of motherboard design and integration of other Hardware components especially for slim range of laptops but in terms of functionality and the system architecture the laptop Hardware components also works are same okay so let us do a quick recap so far we have discussed what is computer hardware different types of Hardware components used in the computer and itsfunctions .

All right so that brings to the end of this tutorial on what is Computer hardware.