What is a computer and what is inside?

Computers are used in everyday life; they assist us with our daily activities and are here to make life easier. So what is a computer?

A computer is a form of an electronic device just like your telephone, washing machine, and TV. A computer has pretty much the same core components as each of these devices, but unlike your telephone, washing machine and TV that just receives information and outputs it into some sort of a signal either by sound, movement or a picture, a computer is able to receive data, store it and change the data into how we need it. It put it in simple term a computer is a smart signal converter. It is something that allows the human race to record information (data), store information, and convert information that helps us do what we need in our daily life. Storing of data is the main reason why computers are used everywhere, it helps us remember the things we need, and with this information, we are able to convert it into something useful.

What is inside a computer?

Many different materials are used to make a computer, some materials used are Plastic to make part of cases, silicon for chips and chipsets, fibre glass and copper for PCB boards. There are 7 different hardware that makes up the guts of the computer, these are

Motherboard: (also known as the main board), a printed circuit board that connects all the devices in a computer together. The motherboard is the core of the computer system, it is the hardware that contains connections to each device and connects these hardware’s together so they are able to communicate with each other.

CPU: Central processing unit, the brain of the computer, this small device is the device that performs instructions to processes the computer command (programs). Computers are able to have more than 1 CPU each, just like a group of people working together to fix a problem, a computer is able to have multiple “brains” to help complete the task, this will depend if your motherboard allows it.

RAM: Random access memory, a form of memory for the computer. RAM allows stored data to be accessed quickly, a computer writes information to this storage to allow quicker access to the information rather than searching through multiple storage to find the information. Only programs that are constantly changed and used are stored in the RAM. Like files on your Windows Operating system, something that is constantly used to read. . Very similar to Muscle Memory for us humans, something that your body remembers the routine for and does it quickly.

HDD: Hard drive is the data storage centre of the computer. It stores all the software and information for long term use. When you run a program or open a file from a computer it stores this information onto the RAM, this allows the computer to open quickly gain access to all information needed from the RAM. USB flash drives are a form of HDD.

GPU: Graphics processing unit (Graphics card), this peripheral changes data into pictures so you are able to view the computer in an easier way. Graphics card can be prebuilt into the motherboard to save space. Computers runs in 1and 0, just like the Show “The Matrix” to view what you see on the computer screen you will need a GPU to convert the 1 and 0 into a picture.

PSU: Power Supply, every electronic device requires energy and this PSU convert the energy for your computer. Just like a human eating food, it requires energy to sustain the computer.

Network Card: This is normally built into the motherboard but can be bought separately, it’s an extremely important device that connects your computer to a network or the Internet. A human uses our mouth to communicate to each other, but computers require a network card to transfer data between each other. The speed on the network card allows that much data to be transferred per second. Normally connecting a computer to the internet will slow your computer down to the same speed as your internet. Just like a busy highway when you have hundreds of cars (data) going over a single lane road (Internet Speed), congestion builds up and it takes time to transfer what is required.

Many other devices are able to connect to a computer, the programming done on a computer allow hundreds of hardware to be able to connect to a computer but these are the 6-7 main hardware required to run a basic computer. Now you know what’s inside a computer!

Next time we have an interesting article about social media and how it may be affecting your resume and workplace.