September 18, 2013

A device for storing and retrieving digital information It consists of one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating discs (platters) coated with magnetic material, with magnetic heads arranged to read and write data to the surfaces. Hard drives are classified as non-volatile, random access, digital, magnetic, data storage devices Introduced by IBM in 1956, they have been the dominant secondary storage device in general purpose computers since the early 1960s

Also called a video adapter, display card, video card, graphics board, display adapter or graphics adapter An expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors (multi-monitor).

Random Access Memory – a form of computer storage A random-access device allows stored data to be accessed in very nearly the same amount of time for any storage location, so data can be accessed quickly in any random order In contrast, other data storage media such as hard disks, CDs, DVDs and magnetic tape, as well as early primary memory types such as drum memory, read and write data only in a predetermined order, consecutively, because of mechanical design limitations. Therefore the time to access a given data location varies significantly depending on its physical location.

An internal computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs Typical uses of sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation, education and entertainment (games) and video projection.

A computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network The network controller implements the electronic circuitry required to communicate using a specific physical layer and data link layer standard such as Ethernet, Wi- Fi or Token Ring

A passive component that cools a device by dissipating heat into the surrounding air Heat sinks are used to cool electronic components, i.e. computer processors A heat sink is designed to increase the surface area in contact with the cooling medium surrounding it, such as the air

Converts main AC to low-voltage regulated DC power for the internal components of a computer Modern personal computers universally use a switched-mode power supply. Some power supplies have a manual selector for input voltage, while others automatically adapt to the supply voltage.

The hardware within a computer system which carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system

Known as the mainboard, system board A printed circuit board (PCB) found in all modern computers which holds many of the crucial components of the system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals, planar board or logic board