Your Computer and its Parts!
While the majority of people, who own or use a computer on a regular basis, know the names of the basic exterior parts of their computer, few can actually place a visual image on the internal parts and their functions. Hopefully, this page will help users understand the functions of, and visualize the internal parts of their computers.
The Hard Drive
Your computer's hard drive is the main storage unit of your computer. The Hard Drive is usually referred to as the C:/ drive. All of the programs which your computer runs, without having to insert a disk or cd-rom in order to run the program, are stored on the hard drive. Hard Drives, just like a floppy disk or cd-rom, can only hold up to a certain amount of information.
The Floppy Drives
3.55.25
The 3.5 inch floppy drive allows you to store up to 1.44 megs of information on the floppy disk.
The 5.25 inch floppy drive allows you to store up to 1.2 megs of information on the floppy disk. You can also download files to either of these drives as well as upload files onto your hard drive or the c:\ drive.
The CD-Rom
Your computer's CD-Rom drive, very much like the floppy drives, allows you to install programs and files onto your computer's hard drive, play music cd's, games, etc.... The CD-Rom drive is much quicker than either of the floppy drives and can hold more information than the floppy disks. There are different speeds associated with CD-Rom drives. Make sure that programs purchased on CD-Roms are compatible with your computer's CD-Rom speed.
The Modem
The modem allows you to communicate with other computers and access the internet or world wide web. Modems are manufactured with different baud rates (the number of bits it can send or receive per second). Originally, modems were much slower than they are today (56k and climbing).
The Ethernet Adaptor Card
The Ethernet Card functions much like your modem except instead of using a phone line to dial out and connect to the internet or another computer, the card connects your computer directly to your company's server. This allows for a much quicker connection.
The Memory or RAM
30-pin SIMMS
72-pin SIMMS
The memory, or ram of your computer is what allows it to remember the files of a program and process them at a certain rate. Generally, the more memory your computer has, the faster it will process information. If a program requires a certain amount of memory, it is because certain files must be running constantly for the program to actually work. Memory chips, or SIMMS, come in different sizes and megs. Older computers tend to use 30-pin SIMMS and the more modern computers usually use 72-pin SIMMS.
The Processor: 400 MHz, 233 MHz, etc...
Whenever you see 75 MHz, 100 MHz, 200MHz, 233 MHz, 400 MHz etc... the reference is being made to your computer's processor speed. The larger the MHz, the quicker your computer is capable of processing information. Very much like memory, the processor helps to determing how fast your computer will run.
The Video Card
The video card allows your computer to process different numbers of colors. Video cards come as low as 16 colors and can go up to millions of colors. The more colors your video card can process, the clearer the image on your computer's monitor. Note: Some monitors may not support more than 256 colors.
The Sound Card
The sound card is just what it says. This card allows your computer to generate sounds, noise, and music. There are many different types of sound cards. These range in quality and price. If you want stereo sound, buy a sound card capable of stereo sound.
The MotherBoard
The MotherBoard is where all of these previously mentioned cards and devices are connected.
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