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Hardware comprises all of the physical parts of a computer, as distinguished from the data it contains or operates on, and the software that provides instructions for the hardware to accomplish tasks.
The boundary between hardware and software is slightly blurry—firmware is software that is "built-in" to the hardware, but such firmware is usually the province of computer programmers and computer engineers in any case and not an issue that computer users need to concern themselves with.
A typical computer (personal computer, PC) contains in a desktop or tower case (chassis) the following parts:
System board/Motherboard which holds the CPU, Random Access Memory and other parts, and has slots for expansion cards
RAM (Random Access Memory)- for short term data-storage, so the computer doesn't have to fish through the hard drive to find something. More RAM can contibute to a faster PC
Buses:
* PCI bus
* ISA bus
* USB
* AGP
power supply - a case that holds a transformer, voltage control and fan
storage controllers, of IDE, SCSI or other type, that control hard disk, floppy disk, CD-ROM and other drives; the controllers sit directly on the motherboard (on-board) or on expansion cards
video display controller that produces the output for the computer display
computer bus controllers (parallel, serial, USB, Firewire) to connect the computer to external peripheral devices such as printers or scanners
Some type of a removable media writer:
CD - the most common type of removable media, cheap but fragile.
* CD-ROM
* CD-RW
* CD-R
DVD
* DVD-ROM
* DVD-RW
* DVD-R
Floppy disk
Internal storage - keeps data inside the computer for its later use.
Hard disk - for long-term storage of data.
Disk array controller
Sound card - translates signals from the system board into a language that the speakers can read, and has terminals to plug in speakers.
Networking - to connect the computer to the Internet and/or other computers
Modem - for dial-up connections
Network card - for DSL/Cable internet, and/or connecting to other computers.
Other peripherals
In addition, hardware can include external components of a computer system. The following are either standard or very common.
Input
Keyboard
Pointing devices
* Mouse
* Trackball
Joystick
Gamepad
Image scanner
Webcam
Output
Printer
Speakers
Monitor
Networking
Modem
Network card
See also
Computer architecture
legacy system
Open hardware
optical computer
DNA computer
History of computing hardware
Origins of computer terms
External links
*Comp
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