BASIC COMPUTER

HARDWARE By:

Emelyn S. Bulanadi

GRAPHICS CARD Converts image data to a form that

can be viewed by the monitor.

CMOS (COMPLEMENTARY METAL-OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR) Acts as an internal battery to ensure

information is still stored when the computer is turned off.

CPU (CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT) /PROCESSOR

Serves as the brain of the computer system, which oversees all of its functions.

FAN Cools the internal components

HARD DISK Primary storage medium for most

programs and documents.

IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS CONTROLLER) Cable that interfaces the hard drive,

floppy disk drive and CD-ROM.

MOTHERBOARD Main circuit board which all other

components are connected.

PORTS Interfaces for additional components.

POWER SUPPLY Supplies power to all components.

RAM (RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY) Allows quick access to recently viewed

data.

SOUND CARD Used to record and play audio

ROM (READ ONLY MEMORY) Non-volatile memory used in almost all

electronics.

BIOS (BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM) A set of computer instructions in

firmware that control input and output operations.

AGP (ACCELERATED GRAPHICS PORT) The AGP slot provides the fast

connection and bandwidth that your video card needs to communicate with your processor and your display