Annas computers blog

1. BIOS Basic Input/Output System
The BIOS setup program above is used to setup a computer's hardware. Without any disks, or even a hard drive, the BIOS program is always available, written permanently on the BIOS chip. The BIOS chip contains enough information to operate the computer all by itself. When the computer is first turned on, the BIOS program is in control. After performing a few system checks, the BIOS program turns the computer over to an operating system like Windows XP.

2.The Chipset
In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components in an integrated circuit that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and pheripherals. It is usually found on the motherboard. Chipsets are usually designed to work with a specific family of microprocessors. Because it controls communications between the processor and external devices, the chipset plays a crucial role in determining system performance.

3. Microprocessor
Is a computer processor which incorporates the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit (IC),or at most a few integrated circuits. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock driven, register based, digital-integrated circuit which accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic. Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system.

4. Drive Bays

A drive bay is a standard-sized area for adding, hardware to a computer. Most drive bays are fixed to the inside of a case, but some can be removed.

Over the years since the introduction of the IBM PC, it and its compatibles have had many form factors of drive bays. Four form factors are in common use today, the 5.25", 3.5", 2.5" or 1.8" drive bays. These names do not refer to the width of the bay itself, but rather to the width of the disks used by the drives mounted in these bays.

5. Case Fan

Computer's can build up quite a bit of heat. Heat is bad for computers. They need to be kept as cool as possible. The case fan is in charge of keeping the computer cool. Many people do not think the fan is that important, but it is the key to the life of a computer. Most computer cases have places to install extra fans.

6. Motherboard
A motherboard (sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, baseboard, planar board or logic board, or colloquially, a mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) found in general purpose microcomputers and other expandable systems. It holds and allows communication between many of the crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a backplane, a motherboard usually contains significant sub-systems such as the central processor, the chipset's input/output and memory controllers, interface connectors, and other components integrated for general purpose use.

7. Memory
memory refers to the computer hardware integrated circuits that store information for immediate use in a computer; it is synonymous with the term "primary storage". Computer memory operates at a high speed, for example random-access memory (RAM), as a distinction from storage that provides slow-to-access information but offers higher capacities. If needed, contents of the computer memory can be transferred to secondary storage, through a memory management technique called "virtual memory". An archaic synonym for memory is store.

8. Modem
A modem a network hardware device that modulates one or more carrier wave signals to encode digital information for transmission and demodulates signals to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data. Modems can be used with any means of transmitting analog signals, from light-emitting diodes to radio. A common type of modem is one that turns the digital data of a computer into modulated electrical signal for transmission over telephone lines and demodulated by another modem at the receiver side to recover the digital data.

9. Power Supply
The power supply supplies the electrical power for a computer. It supplies power to the motherboard, drives, and some expansion cards. It normally has at least one fan that helps to cool the power supply and also helps to cool the computer. Some power supplies have an additional outlet on the back that can be used to provide power to the monitor.

10. Sound card
The sound card is what handles the computer's sound. It has its own processor. When you hear music coming from your computer's speakers, the sound card's processor is at work along with its digital-to-analog converter, processing and changing digital information into analog information that can be played through the speakers. When you talk into your computer's microphone, the sound card's processor is working along with its analog-to-digital converter to process and change the analog information received from the microphone into digital information. Better sound cards have better sound.

11. Video card
Video cards, like the one shown above, plug into a slot on the motherboard and connect a monitor or other video display device to a computer. The video card and the monitor are what determine the quality of a computer's video display. The video card has its own processor, responsible for making the computer's video decisions. It is hidden under a fan and heatsink in the picture above, so that it will stay cool and not overheat.