Basics Of Computer Hardware

Components of a Computer System

Hardware Software Liveware

Computer Hardware

System Unit Central Processing Unit (CPU)

also called “The Chip”, “Microprocessor” or simply “The Processor”

Main Memory (RAM) Storage Devices Input Devices Output Devices

CPU (Central Processing Unit) CPU or microprocessor is often described as the

brain of a computer CPU is an integrated circuit or “chip” which processes

instructions and data. CPU speed or CPU performance is measured by the

completed Instruction Cycles Per Second (IPS). Currently, CPU speeds range from 600 megahertz (MHz or million cycles per second) to 4 gigahertz (GHz or billion cycles per second).

CPU (Central Processing Unit) Processing performance of computers is

increased by using multi-core processors, which essentially is plugging two or more individual processors (called cores in this sense) into one integrated circuit. (Eg: Intel Core i5, AMD Phenom II X4, …)

RAM (Main Memory)

RAM or Random Access Memory It is a volatile type of memory Holds instructions for processing data,

processed data, and raw data. Ram is measured by:

Capacity (in Megabytes or Gigabytes) Frequency (in MHz)

Memory (RAM)

Amount of RAM installed will determine.Which software applications will run (efficiently)?How many software applications can be open simultaneously? (multitasking ability)

Types of RAM:SRAM (Static RAM)DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

Storage Devices

Magnetic storage devices store data by magnetizing particles on a disk or tape.

Optical storage devices store data as light and dark spots on the disk surface.

Storage Devices

Hard Disk Drives Capacity is measured in gigabytes

(GB or billions of bytes). Typically permanently installed. Used to store operating system,

application software, utilities and data.

Magnetic storage device.

Storage Devices

Other Storage Devices : CD, DVD, BD… External Hard Drives USB Flash Drive (Pen drive or

Thumb drive)

Input Devices Input devices gather and translate

data into a form the computer understands.

Primary input device: Keyboard - Most common input device; used to

type in commands and data. Mouse or Trackball enhances user’s ability to

input commands, manipulate text, images. Touchpad or Touchscreen Joystick useful for Gaming

More Input Devices

Scanners

Webcams

Microphones

Output Devices

Monitors are the most commonly used output device.

Most monitors use a bitmap (Raster) display. Allows user to resize the display. Divides the screen into a matrix of tiny square

“dots” called pixels. The more “dots” a screen can display, the

higher the resolution of the monitor. For example: CRT(Cathode Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid

Crystal Display)…

Output Devices

Other output devices: Speakers Printers Projectors

The End.

Thank You!