Anatomy of a Computer

We hear computers and computer parts referred to as all sorts of things. Just to give you full disclosure, following are all the parts of a desktop-style computer that you will probably ever need to know (plus a few):

 

Monitor- Commonly known as a "screen," the monitor gives you a visual display of what your computer is up to. Monitor displays are divided into pixels. The higher the pixel count, the higher the "resolution." Resolutions are measured in Rows x Columns. Common resolution settings are 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024, etc. There are two basic types of monitors, the CRT and the LCD.
	CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Monitors are built very similarly to older (tube) television sets. They are heavy, bulky, take up a lot of desk space, and emit radiation that can be harmful to humans.
	LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) Monitors are thin and flat. They are light, compact, take up very little desk space (or you can get funky and mount them to a wall and save ALL your desk space), emit no known radiation, but are typically darker in aspect than their fatter cousins.

 

Mouse- The mouse is the most basic of input devices for a computer. You use it like you would your finger or hand to interact with objects on your display. A mouse can be wired or wireless, PS2 or USB, and be optical, laser, or have a ball that it rides on.

Keyboard- The keyboard allows you to input data into your computer. It too can be wired or wireless, PS2 or USB. The keyboard shown on the left is a "natural" keyboard that is split in the middle and curved to account for the shoulder width of the person using it.

Computer- The computer is a wondrous device that collates and processes information. There's not enough room on this entire website to list and describe all of the things a computer can do. Computers come in thousands of shapes and sizes. To the left is a "Desktop Tower" model.

Your Computer's Guts-

Rip open a computer and you will find a dazzling array of electronic parts and components. Look around all you want but please keep your hands to yourself. In addition to containing electricity that will hurt you and ruin your entire day, some computer components are static-sensitive, and you can blow them up by touching them.

 

CPU- CPU is short for Central Processing Unit, and (you guessed it) it does all (well, in some cases only most) of the processing in your computer. CPUs come in a wild variety of shapes, sizes, socket sets, and architectures. Shown on the left is an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (and it's like pornography to nerds). All you will probably ever need to know about CPUs is that GHz are better than MHz, and the higher the GHz the better (as long as you can cool the CPU adequately).

Motherboard- The Motherboard (or Mainboard) is actually even more central than the Central Processing Unit. It hosts the socket or connection with which every device in a computer is housed or controlled. Motherboards are like brains, in that if you have to fool around with one, you should have professional help.

Memory- Here's one that is commonly mistaken. You get an error message on your machine that basically tells you that you don't have enough memory to do whatever it is you asked it to do. This does not refer to hard drive space. Memory, also known as RAM, is what enables your computer to open files stored permanently on your hard drive. Lots of RAM is good. Lots of RAM is VERY good. What constitutes a lot of RAM changes every year. For Windows 2000, 256MB of RAM is required to operate comfortably. For Windows XP, 512MB (2 x 256MB) of RAM is required to operate comfortably. For Windows Vista, 1GB (2 x 512MB) of RAM is required to operate comfortably. Are you seeing a pattern developing here? Memory modules (called sticks, usually) plug into slots on your Motherboard.

 

Hard Drive- A Hard drive is a series of magnetic platters on an axle or spindle that stores tiny bits of magnetic metal in patterns that it can read later. It uses a series of tiny little arms that wave back and forth above, below, and between the platters, to read and write, using these magnetic metal bits. The platters, spindle, and arms are all contained in a small, hermetically sealed metal chamber. Hard drives are what hold all the information in your computer that does not go away when you turn it off and back on again. If your hard drive starts making strange grinding or tapping noises, please turn it off and get it to a REAL professional as soon as possible, as it is about to fail and probably take all your information with it. Hard drives are fickle, fragile, and prone to failure, which is why it is so darn important to backup your data often and well. Hard drives plug into IDE, SCSI, or SATA Cables, which plug into IDE, SCSI, or SATA slots on your Motherboard.

 

Optical Drive- An Optical Drive is a method for taking large amounts of information and storing it on shiny Disks, like CDs and DVDs. Optical drives use lasers to read from this media, and in some cases, to write to it. Optical drives plug into IDE, SCSI, or SATA Cables, which plug into IDE, SCSI, or SATA slots on your Motherboard.

 

Good luck finding a photo of one of these, nowadays.

Floppy Drive- Floppy Drives are rapidly becoming things of the past, sometimes even cruelly called "legacy devices." Because they are only capable of storing 1.44MB of information, they are not useful for much more than storing documents or spreadsheets, or other small files. Back in the "old days" they were very popular for making data portable. Floppy Drives are so rare now that I couldn't even find a decent picture of one to steal. Floppy drives plug into FDD Cables, which plug into FDD slots on your Motherboard (when available).

 

Expansion Cards- This is the part where I cheat a little bit and don't describe every type of expansion card that there is. Expansion cards include Video Cards, Sound Cards, Modems, Network Interface Cards, Wireless Network Interface Cards, SCSI Cards, IDE Device cards, and many more. Expansion cards plug into PCI, AGP, ISA, or PCIe slots on your Motherboard.

 

Power Supply- Power supplies take the nasty 110 Volts AC from your wall outlet and turn it into nice clean DC voltage that your computer likes to eat. Power supplies are neat, fan-cooled little boxes with tons of little tiny wires coming out. Power supplies plug into a special slot on your Motherboard (which also controls them and turns them on and off) and also into every power hungry device in your computer.

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