This book is devoted to the consideration of hardware - as the people call the material component of computers (or Hardware - hardware), in contrast to the software part of the functioning of computers (or Software - software). The standard configuration of a home personal computer is shown in the figure below.
What is the hardware of a personal computer? First of all, from the system unit, inside which are located internal devices And external devices connected to the system unit using information cables or communicating with it wirelessly information channels(using infrared radiation, radio waves, etc.).
TO external devices include those that are outside system block. These include: keyboard, mouse, display, there may be other devices: printer, external modem, scanner and other devices.
TO internal devices relate motherboard(popularly called the mother or simply "mother"), central processing unit, RAM, power supply, hard drive, previously installed floppy drive, CD-ROM drive and (or) DVD drive, sound card, video card, speaker, as well as some other additional devices inserted into the so-called expansion slots - network cards, TV cards etc. The figure below shows the standard arrangement internal devices in the system block.
The motherboard, processor, RAM, video card, sound card, expansion cards, hard drive and speaker are inside the system unit, they are not visible to the user, more precisely, they do not have access to the front panel of the system unit.
Internal devices.
The computer case used to install the main devices in it, protect them from dust and other external influences, and also protect the user to some extent from electromagnetic radiation the components it contains. Indicators and buttons are placed on the front panel, some internal devices (floppy drives, DVD-RW disks) also go to it with the front side.
Power Supply designed to convert alternating electric current with a voltage of 220 volts into D.C. lower voltage and power them to devices inside the system unit. As a rule, this unit is supplied with the system unit, but it can also be purchased separately. The system unit has connectors on the back for connecting to a power source (electrical outlet or surge protector), in some models - a connector for connecting power to a 220-volt monitor (if the monitor has cathode ray tube) and a switch for different input voltages - 110 or 220 volts. Inside system case there are wires that come out of the power supply and connect to internal devices.
Motherboard serves to interconnect information flows between various components of a computer. It has a central processor, RAM, a Bios chip, in some cases, its own fan for cooling the central processor, as well as various connectors (for connecting external fans for the board, connecting serial and parallel ports, expansion cards, and so on). In addition, recently motherboard they began to mount built-in network, sound and video subsystems, as well as their own speaker - a tweeter.
CPU. The processor, which can be called the brain of the computer, performs the basic operations. Processors can be: 86, 286, 386, 486 (x86 series), Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV, Atom, Pentium Dual 2 Core, Pentium i 3, Pentium i 5, Pentium i 7 - production by Intel, as well as other companies, for example, AMD - Athlon XP, Athlon 64, etc. The difference between them is in performance. The higher the clock speed of the processor, the higher the performance of your computer (although not always, for example, the size of the cache memory of the first and second levels, as well as the structure of information processing, for example, the second processor emulation technology Hyper-Threading, affects performance). Performance is also affected by the availability of cores; A dual or triple core processor is much faster than a single core processor.
The clock speed determines how many operations per second the processor can perform. For earlier types of processors (for example, 286), one instruction was executed in several cycles. In modern systems, several operations are performed in one cycle.
RAM. After turning on the computer, data from hard drive transferred to RAM, and the processor works with them. If this type of memory did not exist, then the processor would only work with hard drive and every datum would have to be written to and read from it. In this case, the speed of work would decrease sharply, since the system would be waiting for I / O operations. By having RAM that runs at a speed close to the processing speed of the processor, the performance of the computer is improved. The larger the memory size, the fewer disk accesses, the faster the computer will run.
The main characteristic of memory is its size, which is measured in gigabytes. Can be set to 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. gigabytes in the system. It is often cheaper to increase the size to improve performance random access memory than to change the processor to a higher frequency.
In order to speed up calculations and not wait until the data comes from the RAM or it is necessary to write data to it, the processor has a more efficient cache memory, which differs in volume. The presence of cache memory can significantly increase the performance of the computer.
The system unit also contains speaker, which is usually supplied with the case. The main function of the speaker is feed sound signals after turning on the computer and in the event of a malfunction. As a rule, in other cases it is used quite rarely. A sound card is designed to work with sound.
Sound board. This board processes the audio data that comes from the RAM. Data can also come from a DVD-ROM drive when playing music. After processing, the data is sent to the speakers, tape recorder or other devices.
Video card processes data for the display (monitor). For programs that work with two-dimensional or 3D images, processing of video data for the display can be taken over by a special processor located on the video card, which will offload the main processor. The quality of the image is usually dramatically improved.
One of the main characteristics is the size of the board's video memory. It can have 1, 2, 4, 8…. 64, 128, 256 512 1024 or more megabytes (usually 0.5 - 1 gigabyte). How more memory the faster the data is processed.
HDD. The data in the computer is stored on the hard disk. When the power is turned off, the information on the hard disk is saved. One of the main parameters is the capacity of the disk, which is measured in gigabytes (One gigabyte is equal to approximately one billion bytes. One character is stored in a byte). The disk can have a capacity from 8 gigabytes to 4 terabytes (1 terabyte is equal to 1024 gigabytes). Older discs have a capacity measured in megabytes (one megabyte equals approximately one million bytes).
Now consider the devices that go to the front surface of the system unit (see the figure below).
Floppy disk drives. On the front of the computer case, usually on older computers, the 3.5-inch floppy disk drive comes out on the front (figure on the right). 5 1/4 inch floppy disks have long been out of use and will not be practically considered by us, although many of the principles of their operation are the same as for 3.5 inch ones. Note that modern computers have long abandoned the use of 3.5-inch drives due to the insignificant amount of recorded information.
A 3.5-inch floppy disk (hereinafter simply floppy disk, floppy disk) has the appearance shown in the figure above. Data written by the user on a floppy disk can be moved from one computer to another, since almost every computer previously had the same floppy disk reader.
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The conditional view of the drive is shown in the figure above. Taking the floppy disk, insert it into the floppy disk slot until it stops so that the metal plate is in front and the arrow on the floppy disk case is up, and its point is directed into the device. After that, the protective cover of the reader will fall into its original place. To remove a floppy disk, press the button located on the front panel of the drive. In this case, the floppy disk will come out of the device by about 1/3 of its length, after which it can be removed by hand.
In the figure, the left corner of the diskette is beveled. This is done so that the system can determine which side of the floppy disk is inserted. If you try to insert a floppy disk reverse side, the floppy disk will not be inserted into the device. In this case, you do not need to use force, but turn the diskette over.
The disk has two windows. There is a switch on the back of the right window. If the switch closes the window, then information can be written to and read from the floppy disk. If the latch is open, then the data can only be read. Typically, the switch is used to ensure that when storing important data, other information is not accidentally written to them, which will lead to their destruction, or as protection against viruses.
The figure above shows the front panel of the floppy drive. The button is used, as already mentioned, to remove the floppy disk. The indicator lights up when I/O operations are being performed on the diskette, that is, data is being written to or read from the diskette.
Drive forCD (DVD) - discs works with CDs, DVDs different types. Appearance these discs, which are also called CDs, are the same and are shown in the figure on the right. CD-ROM (DVD-ROM) discs are manufactured industrially and recorded on them Additional information it is forbidden. CD -R (DVD -R, DVD +R) discs allow you to write information to them, but only once, although you can add information if the disc has free place. CD -RW ( DVD -RW , DVD + RW ) discs allow you not only to write information to them, but also to erase the previous one, which allows you to use them repeatedly.
After the disc has been placed in the tray, press the button again to eject the tray and the tray will slide into the unit. CD (DVD) - discs are usually in a box or in a paper bag. Open the box. To remove the disc, bring your index finger to the center of the disc and remove it with your thumb and middle fingers, then place it on the tray with the working surface down, respectively, the name will be at the top. In order to insert a CD (DVD) disc, you must press the button on the front panel of the drive while the computer is running (see figure above). This will automatically eject the tray on which you can place the disc. There are two recesses in the tray because there are two formats of discs. One of them, smaller, is rarely used, although it is sometimes shown in science fiction films. Discs of this format are inserted into a smaller recess. The disc of the second type, the most common, is placed in a large recess, with the working surface down, and the painted image on top. After the disc has been placed in the tray, press the button again to eject the tray and the tray will slide into the unit.
Sometimes when you press the button, the tray stays in place. To pull out the tray, you can use the hole to force open the tray. To do this, straighten the paperclip, insert its end into this hole and press a little. The tray will come out of the drive.
On the back of the disc is its name or other information. The opposite side is working and it is undesirable to touch it with your hands. When cleaning CD (DVD) discs from dust with a cloth, gently run perpendicular to the recording tracks from the inner hole to the outer edge.
CD (DVD) discs are of two types. The first is discs with textual, graphic and other information, usually with programs or text. The second type - music discs used in laser audio players and can also be used to play CD (DVD) discs (hereinafter referred to as CD drives) on a computer. The sound can be heard through headphones or speakers. The headphone plug is inserted into special hole on the front of the drive. To increase / decrease the headphone volume, use the knob, which is located near the plug hole. The indicator light works when reading information from the disk. Since the reading occurs in jumps, the indicator may flash.
The appearance of DVD drives is similar to that of a CD-ROM drive. The front panel of the CD-RW drive is shown in the figure above.
Buttons on the system unit. In addition to the above devices, on the front panel of the system unit, as a rule, there are Reset, Power keys, as shown in the figure above, on obsolete units there may be a Turbo key, a key lock and an indicator. Recently, there has been a transition to the ATX standard, which lacks a key lock, a Turbo button, and an indicator of the system frequency. Thus, on a modern system (and in a monoblock), as a rule, there is only a power button and, often, an indicator work hard disks.
power button designed to turn on the computer. When it is pressed, electric current is supplied to the main components inside the system unit, they are tested and then the operating system programs are loaded, depending on which one is installed on the computer: UNIX or Windows 9x. In older computers, this button was located on the back of the system case, then on the side, but for ten years now it has been installed on the front panel. Near the switch is usually an inscription like Power or On and Off. To shut down the computer normally when exiting operating system by clicking on the button Shutdown from the Start panel, the computer automatically shuts down. However, in some cases, for example, when the system freezes, it is required to turn off the computer forcibly. To do this, press the Power button and hold it down for a few seconds.
Reset button(in older computers) is used to restart the computer. When you press it, the operating system is restarted, as when you turn on the computer at the very beginning of work.
When is this button used? System crashes from time to time. The more complex and messed up the program, the more errors it has. Over time, with the release of more modern and, accordingly, more debugged versions, the number of errors decreases, but it is impossible to completely get rid of them due to the complexity of the programs. There are even standards that define the number of errors in large systems.
They say that the computer "freezes" when the system does not respond to pressing the keyboard keys, or the program starts displaying strange characters on the screen, or when you press one key, an action occurs that is characteristic of pressing another. In this case, it is advisable to restart the computer. However, if you turn off the power of the computer, and then press the Power key, thus turning on the computer, then all systems experience a kind of shock. At in large numbers switching on and off increases the probability of failure of microcircuits (the same principle as when turning on a light bulb). For these cases, the Reset key is provided, which allows you to restart the computer without turning off the electrical current.
If you still decide to turn off and turn on the computer using the Power key, then wait 40-50 seconds between turning it off and on. This way you will prolong the life of your system. In addition to errors in software, computer freezes can occur due to the actions of virus programs. In this case, it is advisable to reboot from the system floppy disk.
Not all system blocks have a Reset button. In some blocks, the Reset button may be located inside the Power button (its fixed part) or near it.
Turbo key currently in practice. If you have it, then it is best to turn it on (that is, a larger number or the word High will appear on the indicator) and do not touch it anymore. This key appeared in the computer when faster processors needed to reduce power so that old programs could run. Nowadays, programs determine the performance of the computer themselves and can slow down the computer (mostly used in game programs), so the Turbo key is not used.
Indicators. As a rule, on a computer they are of four types.
Frequency indicator(in older computers) the operation of the processor shows the numerical value of the frequency on the display. These values can be numeric or text. There are usually two numerical values, the first is the clock speed of your processor, the second is the reduced frequency of its operation. There are also two text values: High (increased) and Low (low), which means the processor is running at a normal (High) or low (Low) frequency. If your computer was modified or purchased from the company where the computer was assembled there, then the indicator may show a different value than the processor actually works. In order to determine the frequency of the processor, it is better to use test programs. When working with a computer, the indicator is now practically not used. This indicator is not used on modern computers.
Access indicator hard drive
lights up when performing I/O operations to the hard disk. It may have an icon next to it. 
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Power on indicator lights up when the computer is turned on. Near the indicator is the name Power or icon.
Turbo indicator(in older computers) lights up when Turbo mode, that is, increased power or the one for which the central processor is designed. Near it is the inscription Turbo or an icon 
. When working in modern computers, it is practically not used.
Additionally, there may be USB connectors and audio in/out connectors on or on the side of the front panel.
External devices .
In addition to the system unit, a personal computer includes display(also called monitor), which displays the text and graphic information. Outwardly, it resembles a TV, as can be seen from the figure earlier. There are two types of monitors: color and monochrome (black and white, almost no longer used). The main features are frequency output lines to the screen (the larger it is, the better for the eyes), permission, which can be 480x640, 600x800, 768x1024, etc. (the larger this value, the better), diagonal screen size in inches(can be 14, 15, 17, 19 and others).
The next component is keyboard(figure below), with the help of which text information is entered and the computer is controlled using function keys. In fact, it is very similar to a typewriter, but it has additional keys and, in addition, allows you to work with different character sets, such as Cyrillic (Russian) and Latin (English) characters.
Next to the keyboard is a device of type mouse, which allows you to control the cursor (figure on the right). It has become a standard pointing device, is used in almost all computers and looks really like a mouse - small, with a long tail, that is, a cable that connects to the system unit. Hereinafter, for convenience, we will simply refer to this device as a mouse or mouse.
At the bottom of the device is a ball (or LED device), which allows you to move the cursor on the display screen when you move the mouse on the pad. You can try to work without a pad, but since the grip between the pad and the mouse ball is higher than on the surface of the table, it is better to have a pad, especially since it is inexpensive. The mouse has two or three buttons, but two of them are used in practical work: the left and the right. IN latest models On the mouse, instead of the third button, there is a wheel that allows you to “scroll” the text displayed on the screen.
Computers often have a paper output device called printer. The main characteristics of the printer are its type (needle, inkjet, laser), the size of the paper it works with (A4, A3, etc.), the ability to output an image in color, the output speed of printed sheets, etc.
A computer that can handle sound has columns to play sound information. As a rule, there are two of them to provide stereo sound. Speakers can be built-in display.
In addition, in addition to the personal computer package, other external devices – scanner (picture below) , plotter, joystick, external hard disk etc. However, the specified equipment is basic, sufficient to perform standard sets programs called packages, such as Microsoft Office and solve some applied tasks, in particular, Multimedia- work with sound and image.
The computer has means of input, output, information processing and a device that controls the operation of computer components. To typical devices input information include keyboard, with which characters are entered and commands are given for the functioning of the computer, mouse, scanner, microphone, digital video camera And camera and others. To typical devices output information include display, which displays visual information on the screen, a printer, sound speakers etc.
There are also I/O devices that not only introduce information, but And take her out: floppy disk drives , drives on CD And DVD - discs , hard drives , tape recorders (or more correctly - streamers ), modems etc.
Today we will consider what a computer consists of and talk about the main devices that the system unit includes. So, the components of a PC are devices such as a monitor, mouse, keyboard and system unit.
The system block consists of many computer components. Main hardware: processor, motherboard, RAM, hard drive, video card, etc.
computer motherboard
The motherboard is a rather complex multilayer device in the form of a printed circuit board, which is the center computing system PC. All other microcircuits are connected to the motherboard through special connectors. Thus, it performs the life support of all other computer boards.
CPU
The central processing unit is the main processing unit that represents the computer hardware. He is integrated circuit that executes the instructions of complex programs.
The processor executes instructions given by the user. The performance of a computer directly depends on the power. The main characteristics of the device:
- performance;
- clock frequency;
- power usage.
Cooling system
A cooler is an air-cooling system made up of a heatsink and a fan that disperses the heat generated by the processor. normal operation is very important, because if the components overheat, they can break down and fail.
Winchester
Drive on hard drives computer (hard drive) - a device for storing information. It is characterized by the amount of data embedded in it. Information is recorded using reading heads on rigid plates - magnetic.
video card
A video card is a device that converts a graphic image into a form adapted for display on a monitor. looks like printed circuit board and connects with motherboard through the PCI-E port. It can be integrated (embedded) in the system board.
RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory) modules are part of the computer's memory system that stores data used by the processor. Volume determines the number of tasks a computer can run at the same time.
Sound and network cards
The computer also has a network card. Usually they are built into the motherboard, but in some cases you can purchase and connect these devices separately.
Additional devices
To expand the capabilities of the PC, various devices are used, such as a TV tuner, modem, etc. they are installed in connection with the need and at the request of the user.
In our time, it is no longer possible to imagine your life without a personal computer. He has infiltrated every corner of our existence. Up to the point that some users spend days on it.
Five years ago, it was impossible to think what opportunities would bring into our everyday life Personal Computer. Now you don’t even need to go to the Bank in order to make any payment. I think it will come to the point that you don’t even have to go to the store. We will order everything online. I think that against this background, every non-advanced user should know the device of his computer, so in this article I will tell you what it consists of.
I will not go deep, for an ordinary user it will be enough to know the main device. A deeper study requires separate big articles. If you still don’t know anything and can’t imagine what components your PC consists of, then this article is just for you, and then decide for yourself whether you need deeper knowledge about its device or do what you learn from this article.
So, the first thing to say about the device of a personal computer (I think everyone knows this already, but for the sake of completeness of the article, you still need to talk about it).
First, this is the system unit
And the first mistake inexperienced user, that's what they call it "Processor" (why, I don't know). Processor R12; this is completely different, and after reading the article to the end you will understand that the system unit is not a processor.
Second is the monitor.
What is a monitor, I think it is not necessary to explain, so everyone knows this.
Third, it's a mouse
With it, almost all manipulations in the operating system are performed. It even fits the expression R12; No mouse, no hands.
If anyone else doesn't know (which I highly doubt) there are two types of R12 mice; wired and wireless. Both types of mice have their advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages wireless mice is that they do not have a wire, but the disadvantage is that you often have to change the batteries very often (depending on their quality). With wired mice, everything is exactly the opposite.
Fourth is the keyboard
With the keyboard, everything is exactly the same as with the mouse, we can say they are inseparable friends and complement each other very well.
So, these were the main components of a personal computer without which work on it would not have been possible. There are also additional components, such as printers, scanners, webcams and other gadgets that, in principle, are not so important for the functioning of a PC and are installed as needed.
Now consider the device of the system unit. The main element of the computer.
To find out what the system unit consists of, you need to look inside it, which inexperienced users are often afraid to do.
The main parts of the system unit
The first thing we see when we open the side cover of a PC is the motherboard.
The main parts of the motherboard:
1. Connector where the processor with a cooler is installed.
2. Video card connector.
3. Connector for RAM.
4. SATA connectors for connecting hard disc or DVD ROM.
5. Connector for connecting the power supply.
The second is the power side. This is how it looks like
It is responsible for powering all devices of the computer system unit.
Third, it's a video card. This is how she looks like
looks like a more modern video card
The video card is responsible for displaying the image on the monitor. The more powerful your graphics card, the faster the video performance will be, especially when it comes to PC games.
Fourth is the hard drive.
The hard drive is responsible for storing information. This is a kind of warehouse for your photos, movies, music, etc. etc. In general, everything that you have on your computer is stored on your hard drive. (To make it completely clear, I will give an analogy to R12; principle of hard disk, like for example a video cassette, they recorded something on it, so it will remain on it until you erase it)
And fifth, it's a DVD-ROM
I think there is no need to explain anything. Everyone knows what a DVD-ROM is and what it is for.
And this is how the assembled system unit looks like.
1. The power supply is located here.
2. There is a cooler that cools the processor. Actually under it and the processor is located.
3. This is a video card
4 and 5. The hard drive is located here
6. This is where the DVD-ROM usually resides.
So, in principle, there is the main device of a personal computer, which, in my opinion, every non-advanced user should know. At least in order to have at least some idea of what it works on.
In this article, which was prepared for novice users, we will look at computer device. We will also learn the main characteristics of the devices and what functions they perform.
The typical personal computer that we use in our Everyday life consists of the following parts:
System block;
monitor;
Keyboards and mice;
Additional devices (printer, scanner, webcam, etc.)
Personal computer device. The content of the article:
System unit
The system unit is the central part of the computer, in which all the most important components are located. Everything that makes a computer work. A wide variety of system blocks are produced, which differ in size, design and assembly method.
The main elements of the system unit:
- RAM;
- Video card;
- HDD;
- Optical drive (DVD, Blu-ray);
- Power Supply
Let's look at each of them in more detail.
The motherboard is the largest board in the system unit. The main computer devices are installed on it: processor, RAM, video card, slots (connectors), BIOS, DVD-drive is connected to the motherboard using cables and cables, HDD, keyboard, mouse, etc. The main task of the motherboard is to connect all these devices and make them work as one. In addition, there are controllers on it. Controllers are electronic boards inserted into connectors (slots) on the motherboard, they control devices connected to the computer. Some controllers are included in the motherboard. Such controllers are called integrated or built-in. So mouse and keyboard controllers are always built-in. By adding and replacing controller boards, you can expand the capabilities of the computer and customize it to your requirements. For example, the user can add an additional sound card, which can work with new multi-channel speaker systems.
The central processing unit (CPU, CPU) is the main element of the computer, its “brain”. It is responsible for all calculations and information processing. In addition, it manages all computer devices. The speed of the computer and its capabilities depend on its power.
The main characteristics of the central processor:
- Number of Cores
- clock frequency
- socket
Let's look at them in more detail.
Number of Cores
The more cores a processor has, the more operations can be performed at the same time. In fact, multiple cores are multiple processors that are located on the same chip or in the same package. IN single core processor the commands received at its input sequentially pass through the blocks necessary for their execution, that is, while the processor is executing the next command, the rest are waiting for their turn. In a multi-core processor, several separate instruction and data streams enter the input and also exit separately without affecting each other. Due to the parallel processing of several instruction streams by the processor, the performance of the computer increases. Today, as a rule, 2-8 core processors are installed on personal computers. However, not all programs are designed to use multiple cores.
Clock frequency
This characteristic indicates the speed of execution of instructions by the central processor. A clock cycle is a period of time required for the processor to perform elementary operations.
In the recent past clock frequency The central processor was identified directly with its performance, that is, the higher the clock frequency of the processor, the more productive it is. In practice, we have a situation where processors with the same frequency have different performance, because in one cycle they can perform different amount commands (depending on the core design, bus bandwidth, cache memory). Modern processors operate at frequencies from 1 to 4 GHz (Giga Hertz)
Cache
The cache is used to significantly speed up calculations. It's built into the processor case superfast memory A that contains data that is frequently accessed by the processor. The cache memory can be the first (L1), second (L2) or third (L3) level.
socket
Socket (socket) is a connector (socket) on the motherboard where the processor is installed. But when we say "processor socket", we mean by this both the socket on the motherboard and the support given socket certain processor models. The socket is needed precisely so that you can easily replace a failed processor or upgrade your computer with a more powerful processor.
RAM
Next important element computer, which is located in the system unit - random access memory (RAM or RAM-random access memory). It is in it that the information processed by the processor and the programs launched by the user are stored. It is called operational because it provides the processor fast access to the data.
DDR2
DDR3
The main characteristics of RAM:
- volume- measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB), significantly affects the performance of the computer. Due to insufficient RAM, many programs will either not load or run very slowly. A typical modern computer uses at least 1 GB of memory, although convenient operation it is better to have 2 or 3 GB;
- bus frequency - measured in megahertz (MHz), also has a great impact on the speed of the computer. The more it is, the faster transmission data between the processor and the memory itself.
- memory type- indicates the generation to which the memory belongs. To date, you can find the following types of RAM (placed in chronology of appearance):
DDR SDRAM(100 - 267 MHz)
DDR2 SDRAM (400 - 1066 MHz)
DDR3 SDRAM(800 - 2400 MHz)
DDR4 SDRAM(1600 - 2400 MHz)
video card
Video card | Computer device
A video card is an electronic board that provides the formation of a video signal and thereby determines the image shown on the monitor. For existing video cards different possibilities. If the computer is using office programs, then special requirements to the video card is not presented. Another thing gaming computer, in which the video card takes on the main work, and the central processor is assigned a secondary role.
The main characteristics of the video card:
- the amount of video memory - measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB), affects maximum resolution monitor, number of colors and image processing speed. On the given time models of video cards with video memory capacity from 256 MB to 6 GB are produced. The optimal average volume is 512 MB or 1 GB;
- video memory bus width - measured in bits, determines the amount of data that can be simultaneously transferred from video memory (to memory). The standard bus width of modern video cards is 256 bits;
- video memory frequency - measured in megahertz (MHz), the higher, the greater the overall performance of the video card.
At present, video cards are produced on the basis of nVidia chipsets GeForce and ATI Radeon.
HDD
Hard drive | Computer device
hard drive without top cover| Computer device
A hard drive, also called a hard drive or HDD, is designed to long-term storage information. It is on the hard drive of your computer that all information is stored: the operating system, desired programs, documents, photos, movies, music and other files. He is the main atdevice storage information in the computer.
For the user hard drives differ from each other primarily in the following characteristics:
- capacity (volume) - measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB), determines how much information can be written to the hard drive. At the moment, the volume of a modern hard drive is measured from several hundred gigabytes to several terabytes;
- speed, which consists of the time of access to information and the speed of reading / writing information. Typical access time modern discs is 5-10 ms (milliseconds), the average read / write speed is 150 MB / s (megabytes per second);
- interface - the type of controller to which the hard disk should be connected (most often EIDE and various options SATA).
DVD drive
DVD drive | Computer device
The DVD drive is used to read DVDs and CDs. If the name contains the prefix “RW”, then the drive is able not only to read, but also to write to discs. The drive is characterized by its read/write speed and is indicated by a multiplier (1x, 2x, etc.). The unit of speed here is 1.385 megabytes per second (Mb/s). That is, when the speed is set to 8x on the drive, the actual speed will be 8 * 1.385 Mb/s=11.08 Mb/s.
Blu-ray (Blu-ray) drive
Blu-ray (Blu-ray) drive | Computer device
Blu-ray drives can be three types: reading, combo and writing. The Blu-ray Reader can read CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The combo can additionally burn CDs and DVDs. The Blu-ray writer can read and write all discs.
Power Supply
The power supply supplies power to the computer's devices, and is usually sold with the case. IN currently produce power supplies with a capacity of 450, 550 and 750 watts. More powerful power supplies (up to 1500 watts) may be needed for a computer with a powerful gaming graphics card.
Monitor
The monitor is designed to display images coming from a computer. It refers to the computer's output devices.
The main characteristics of monitors:
- Screen size- measured in inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm) diagonally. At the moment, the most popular are LCD monitors with a diagonal of 19 inches;
- screen format(aspect ratio vertically and horizontally), now almost all monitors are sold in widescreen format: 16:9 and 16:10;
- matrix type- the main part of the LCD monitor, on which its quality depends on 90%. IN modern monitors one of the three main types of matrices is used: TN-film (the simplest, cheapest and most common), S-IPS (they have the best color reproduction, used for professional work with images) and PVA / MVA (more expensive than TN-film and cheaper than IPS, we can say that these matrices are a compromise between TN + Film and IPS.);
- screen resolution- the number of dots (pixels) in width and height that make up the image. The most common 17 and 19-inch monitors have a resolution of 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 pixels. The higher the resolution, the naturally more detailed the image is;
- connector type used to connect to a computer, analog VGA(D-Sub) or DVI, HDMI digital connectors.
Hello dear visitors of the blog site. Today we will talk about computer devices, or, as they usually say, "pieces of iron" that can be found in the computer's system unit. Thus, you will understand what a computer consists of. The hardware device of a computer, or how it is fashionable to say "iron", remains a mystery even for many experienced users. In this article I will talk about hardware devices, thereby filling the gap, of course, if you have one, and if you are familiar with them, then we will refresh our memory a little.
First of all, we will divide what is commonly called a “computer” into two groups:
- System unit. This is the same large (or not very large) box to which everything is connected.
- Peripherals. ABOUT peripherals ah you can read in my article « » These are all other devices that help to work with a computer. Them main feature- they are outside the system unit and connected to it from the outside.
System unit device
The system unit is the main device of the computer. Only by looking inside a computer can we figure out what a computer is made of.
- Power Supply.
- RAM.
- Hard disk drive.
- Floppy disk reader.
- Reader optical discs.
- Additional devices.
Items from the 1st to the 5th are mandatory, you will find them in any system unit. The rest may not exist, or they may be in the form of peripheral devices, that is, connected from the outside.
What does computer consist of:
Now let's talk in more detail about each component. Power Supply
This computer device is an important component in a computer! The abbreviated name is BP. The main characteristic is the maximum output power. Measured in Watts (W), in English Watt (W). For home computer PSU power is usually 350-450W, for a powerful gaming 600W or more.
The importance of this component is often underestimated. When buying a computer, you may be offered to save money by installing a lower-quality power supply. This is highly discouraged, since the PSU is the source of energy for all other nodes of the system. A low-quality PSU in the event of a breakdown or any problem in the power supply network can disable other components of the system. In addition, on cheap and low-quality models, power values \u200b\u200bthat are far from reality are often indicated. That is why the computer power supply must be from a trusted manufacturer and have sufficient power.
Name options: motherboard, mother, main board, MotherBoard, MainBoard. It is to the motherboard that all devices that are inside the system unit are connected. She is main board in system. Let's take a closer look at its content:
- Socket (Socket) - connector for connecting the processor. Depending on which socket your motherboard contains, you can only use a certain group of processors.
- Slots for connecting a RAM module. In personal computers, their number varies from 2 to 4. By type they are: DDR, DDR2 and DDR3. On modern motherboards, two types of slots are possible at once.
- Connectors for connecting devices, data storage. For ordinary PCs, they are of two types: a wide oblong connector with 39 pins in two rows and a small almost rectangular connector with a “g” shaped middle. The first is a parallel interface called IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) and its second name is PATA (Parallel ATAttachment). The second one is sequential SATA interface(Serial ATAattachment).
- Expansion slots. These are the connectors that are used to connect additional devices. They are an oblong connector located horizontally on the bottom left of the motherboard. This is where the video card is inserted, Network Card and other devices. These connectors usually connect devices to the motherboard via PCI interface(Peripheral component tinterconnect - the relationship of peripheral components) or its derivatives PCI Express and etc.
- Chipset. This is a set of chips that provide communication between the components of the system. Usually it can be divided into the so-called north and south bridges. north bridge- This is a memory controller, that is, a part that provides data exchange between the central processor and RAM. On modern platforms, the memory controller can be integrated directly into the CPU. The south bridge is an I / O controller, a part that provides the processor with interfaces such as SATA, IDE, PCI, USB and others.
The required components of the motherboard are listed above, they are also combined by the fact that they are visible only from inside the system unit.
If you look at the back of the system unit, you can see a lot of connectors that are also physically located on the motherboard. They are located on the left side, approximately in the middle and enclosed in a metal "frame". Please note that your computer may not have many of them, it depends on specific model motherboard.
- Connector for mouse and keyboard. These are two round connectors, one purple (for the keyboard) and the second green (for the mouse). This interface is called PS/2 (colloquially PS in half).
- LPT port. This parallel interface was invented as a printer port and was actively used for other purposes. Today, in motherboards, it is less and less common to find it on board.
- COM port. Another outdated serial interface. This port actively used as an interface for configuring equipment.
- USB (Universal Serial Bus - universal parallel bus). This is the most popular way connecting peripherals to a modern PC. It is used to connect a variety of devices: mice, keyboards, scanners, printers, portable hard drives, flash drives, etc.
- Video VGA connector, DVI. These are interfaces for connecting a monitor. If your motherboard has such a connector, then it has a built-in video adapter. It will be quite enough for work, however, if you intend to play games at the computer, then you will need a discrete (separate) video card, which will be inserted into a special expansion slot.
- RJ-45 network connector. The interface is used to connect a computer to a local computer network Ethernet standard.
- Group of audio connectors Jack 3.5. Used to connect speaker system and microphone. Green connector for speakers and pink for microphone.
Now I propose to clarify one important point. If any connector is located in a vertical "frame" in the middle of the system unit, then the device to which it belongs is built into your motherboard. If you have a discrete video card, modem or anything else, then it is connected to the motherboard through an expansion slot and the connector of the device itself will be located horizontally below.
Central processing unit (CPU), in English CPU (Central processing unit). This is a chip that executes commands software, performs calculations, performs logical comparison operations, roughly speaking “thinks”. Therefore, the processor is often referred to as the "brain" of the computer.
The main characteristics of the device are: bit depth, clock frequency, power consumption, number of cores, architecture.
Bit depth indicates the amount of information transmitted per unit of time on the data bus. There are 8, 16, 32 and 64 bits. Accordingly, the higher the bit depth, the faster the processor works. The clock frequency shows how many cycles (elementary operations) the CPU performs per unit of time. Power consumption indicates how much heat the processor generates during operation.
Some time ago, the two main processor manufacturers - Intel and AMD - in their competition tried to increase the clock speed of their processors as much as possible. But faced with the fact that after overcoming a certain threshold, energy consumption and heat transfer begin to increase non-linearly. The solution was multi-core processors. This means that in one CPU there are several crystals that distribute the computational load among themselves. The most widespread now are 2-core devices, although this is not the limit, there are processors with 4 or more cores.
The architecture shows how work is organized inside the processor. Although given parameter does not add the desired gigahertz, but can have a very significant impact on performance. Explanatory organization of labor, as you know, is worth a lot.
RAM
Random access memory is random access memory (RAM), in English - RAM (Random Access Memory - memory with random access). This area of memory is volatile, that is, without "power" data is not stored in it. RAM contains information that the processor must process in real time. During operation, RAM contains data from the operating system and running user programs.
Relevant today are SDRAM DDR3 standard RAM modules, before them there were SDRAM DDR 2 and SDRAM DDR 1 (of course, they can also be found). Each new generation had a number of serious advantages over its predecessors: increased throughput, power consumption was reduced.
HDD
Drive on hard magnetic disks, in English HDD ( hard drive Drive is Read Only Memory (ROM). This device A computer is also called a hard drive or hard drive.
This type of memory is non-volatile, i.e. the data is retained in the memory after the power is turned off. It is this computer device that contains all the user's data: movies, music, documents and everything else.
A hard drive consists of several round platters that rotate on a spindle. These plates are covered with a ferromagnetic material, divided into many cells, each of which stores one bit. binary information. A special head reads and writes information, which moves to the right place above the disk surface.
They differ in the amount of stored information, connection method, form factor, spindle speed.
As mentioned earlier, there are two types of connection method: IDE and SATA. The first one is almost never used, because Serial SATA faster and more convenient. According to the HDD form factor, there are 5.25 (discontinued production); 3.5, 2.5 inches, 1.8 inches, 1.3 inches, 1 inches and 0.85 inches, these are the size of the plates that contain information. Desktop PCs usually use 3.5 HDDs, laptops 2.5. The faster the rotation speed, the higher the speed of writing and reading data. In 3.5 models, the speed is usually 7200 rpm, in 2.5 - 5400 rpm, although there are also faster models of hard drives for laptops.
Floppy disk drive
A floppy disk drive, in English FDD (Floppy Disk Driver), is also called Floppy or simply floppy. This is a diskette reader. Roughly speaking, a floppy disk is a miniature hard drive, but instead of metal plates flexible film base, and the drive head and motor are in the drive. 3.5" floppy disk size (5.25" floppy disks have been used for a long time). The volume of the floppy disk is 1.44 MB. In addition to a small volume, floppy disks have a serious drawback - they are not very reliable, the information on them may become unreadable due to magnetic fields or shock. Because of this, this type of media is almost never used today.
Optical drive
Optical media are plastic discs coated with special layer. The disk is illuminated by a laser, and information is read from the reflected light. Optical discs There are several types: CD ( compact disk), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc - digital multipurpose disc), Blu-ray Disc (from the English Blue Ray - blue beam). There are three types of CD and DVD discs: ROM (Read Only Memory - read only), R (Recordable - recordable), RW (Re-Writable - rewritable).
Drives (drives) for reading optical discs are called the same as media. Moreover, the drive is called the abbreviation of the last generation in turn, which it is able to read. That is, a DVD-ROM drive reads DVDs and CDs, while a CD drive only reads CDs. Also, drives are divided into those that can only read (CD / DVD ROM) and drives that can read and write discs (CD / DVD RAM).
The volume of the CD-disk is 700 MB. DVDs can be single-layer, double-layer and double-sided, the volume of the usual 4.7 GB, double-layer 8.5 GB, double-sided 9.4 GB, double-sided double-layer 17.08 GB (the latter is rare). Blu-ray Disc is capable of storing 25GB, dual layer 50GB.
So, we just looked at the main components that make up a computer. But do not forget about devices that are not always in the computer.
Optional Devices (Peripheral Devices)
Additional devices can be devices that are inserted into the motherboard. Discrete (on a separate board) can be a video adapter, sound adapter, network adapter, wi-fi, modem, USB controller and many other devices.
I hope this article has fully explained to you what a computer consists of. And after reading it, the world of hadware (the so-called computer hardware) will become a little closer and clearer for my readers.
