Computer hardware and software interconnect to bring computing capability on a computer. Hardware in a computer system includes internal components such as the CPU and random access memory (RAM) and external components such as mice and keyboards.
Computer components are of three major parts – motherboard, CPU and RAM. These components reside on a flat motherboard about the size of an 8.5×11-sheet of paper and talk to each other.
CPU.
The CPU (central processing unit) is the brain of a computer system, which handles all sorts of data processing, and enables input/output devices to communicate.
: It can be used to fetch, decode, execute and write back. The instruction memory is called by a CPU and the address on the program counter will have the next instructions that are to be called; after these instructions have been encoded into electrical signals by its decoder circuitry, they’re then read out.
These signals tell the rest of the CPU to do sophisticated mathematical, logic and control work. Tests are written to its registers, and output to an output device. One CPU package can even be set up to do hyperthreading and execute several threads at once – you have 2 CPUs running at the same time!
Memories are different.
Computer memory is where programs and data for computers reside. An on (1) and off (0) number called bits, that encodes the information in computer memory, is an analogous binary number.
The CPU and RAM share data in quick access. It downloads, decrypts, and executes instructions from applications and operating systems to do the job; its clock speed determines its efficiency; faster versions get higher GHz rating.
Motherboards represent the hub of everything that’s involved in a computer. They contain the CPU and other critical internal components like video cards and hard drives. A CPU of the size of a fingernail, sits snugly under a copper “heatsink” to wick away heat and make the machinery work.
Motherboard: (Avg.
: A motherboard is the central controller that contains everything connected to your computer. It includes holes for CPU slots, random access memory (RAM) and expansion slots – not to mention that it’s directly interconnectable via cables or wires with hard drives, disc drives and front-panel ports.
A motherboard is the foundation for everything else – it pumps blood, breathes air, and regulates. It’s possible to add audio and video via expansion cards; split power and data across all of the elements with dedicated circuits; chill CPU using heat sinks; even expose your power source box with its plug connector plug, which breaks down the electrical current into optimally distributed forms.
Graphics Card 1.
A graphics card (GPU – Graphics Processing Unit) is hardware that enables you to create and render pictures, videos, and animations more efficiently than their CPU cousins. GPUs are great for parallel processing – great for things such as graphics rendering, which uses lots of parallelism.
Once software has data that has to be seen, its CPU sends it directly to a graphics card for interpretation. At the GPU, it processes this data by recognising geometric objects and their position in 3D space and figuring out how each pixel should be colored using advanced algorithms like shading, texture mapping, and lighting.
To read and interpret this data quickly, GPUs use dedicated VRAM buffers that are massively large and frequent – this can lead to cache coherency problems with elaborate protocols to keep track of shared data between cores.
Hard Drive: It’s Easy!
Hard Disk Drives, commonly known as HDDs, hold and access digital data via magnetic storage. They are stiff fast spinning platters with magnetic coating; an actuator arm; read/write heads connected to the platters; spindle motor; firmware that governs this electro-mechanical machine.
By magnetically aligning areas of a platter, containing bits, Read/Write Heads enter digital data as an order of ones and zeros. The heads approaching the detect those bits read or update data.
A slider lifts the read/write head as it passes over the platter; sensors detect any mechanical impacts to determine whether it might result in irreparable physical harm or information loss.
