COMPUTER SYSTEM UNIT
DEFINITION
The system
unit is the box-like case that contains the electronic components of a
computer. Many people erroneously refer to this as the CPU. Here you will find
devices like the power supply, different drives, the fan, the connectors, and
the motherboard. Note that in most cases, the monitor, keyboard, and mouse will
not be found inside the system unit layout.
Other names
for the system unit include the computer chassis, cabinet, box, tower,
enclosure, housing, or simply case.
COMPONENT
MOTHERBOARD
The
motherboard is sometimes called the system board or main board. It is the main
circuit board of a microcomputer. This component contains the connectors for
attaching additional boards. All other parts connect in one way or another to
the motherboard.
This part
typically contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and
parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control
standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, mouse, and
disk drive.
When you
are reading about motherboards, you won't fail to come across the term
motherboard form factors, which describes the general shape, the type of case,
and the power supply it can use. It also describes the physical organization of
the motherboard.
HARD DISK
DRIVE
A hard disk
drive is a high capacity, non-volatile, magnetic data storage device with a
volume (disk) that is usually non-removable.
Data is
magnetically read and written on the platter by read/write heads that float on
a cushion of air above the platters.
FLOPPY DISK
DRIVE
This is a
disk drive that can read and write floppy disks, although they are obsolete
nowadays.
These
drives have been replaced by the USB flash disk drives in modern machines.
POWER
SUPPLY UNIT
The power
supply unit (PSU) is used to convert AC currents from the main supply to the
different DC voltages required by various computer components.
Power
supplies are quoted as having a certain power output specified in watts, A
standard power supply would typically be able to deliver around 350 watts.
You will
need more power from the power supply if your PC has more operating components.
PROCESSOR
A computer
engine, its brain. CPU (central processing unit) manages most of computer
operations. Processors can be with pins or pin-less. It contains a control unit
and a logic unit.
RAM (random
access memory)
Primarily
memory. It storages all data processed by programs and apps on the computer.
There are dynamic and static RAMs.
VIDEO CARD
(graphics adapter)
With its
help the outputs from a computer are displayed on the screen. Modern video
cards support HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface), VGA (video graphics
array) and DVI (digital visual interface).
