PC Hardware Basics

From the outside, computers look complex and challenging to put together, they're not! We just need to walk though the basics of each computer component. While It may all seem difficult at first, just try and absorb one component at a time. Learn what each piece of hardware does and why a computer can't run without it.

Once you get an understanding of one component, it gets easier to learn each sequential component. After learning the basics, you can move on to more advanced topics and start building and fixing computers like a pro.

The Computer Case

Your computer case acts as the "house" for your computer's internal components. Cases can range from cheap and plain to ridiculously expensive and jaw dropping. Cases can also range from small and lightweight to large and customizable.

Find out more by visiting the buying a computer case guide.

The Motherboard

The motherboard is one of the most important components of a computer. While some other components are optional, each and every personal computer requires a motherboard. You can think of the motherboard as the glue between all the other components. The motherboard acts as a bridge for all the other components to connect to and transfer information back and forth.

The motherboard also "houses" some of the most important components that are required for a computer to run: Central Processing Unit's (CPU), memory, chip set's, etc...

Find out more by visiting the buying a Motherboard guide.

The Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The central processing unit acts as the "brain" of the computer. The CPU is the component that is doing the majority of the "thinking". It handles all the calculations within a computer. The two major CPU manufactures are Intel and AMD. Technology about CPU's changes so fast that writing anything here of lasting importance would be almost futile. The best course of action is to learn about what is important about shopping for a CPU and just stay "up-to-date" on any major CPU events.

Find out more by visiting the buying a CPU guide.

Computer Memory

Computer memory (often called RAM for Random Access Memory) acts as a storage compartment for important and frequently used data used by the CPU. While data can be stored on hard drives and CD's, the CPU will often process this data slower than using the RAM itself. RAM has a "fast lane" to the CPU, this allows RAM to store data that the CPU can access much faster than using other means. While RAM is much faster than other methods of storing data it does have limitations. One of the most important limitation is it can't store data while the computer is not powered. If the computer is shut off, any data gets wiped clean on the next reboot.

Find out more by visiting the Computer Memory guide.

Hard Drives

Hard drives are used to store data in a more permanent manner than using computer memory. While computer memory gets wiped out, data stored on a hard drive can be stored regardless of it's powered on of off. The downfall of hard drives are they can fail. If a hard drive fails, you could potentially loose every piece of data stored on it. This is why backups are so important.

Find out more by visiting the Hard Drive guide.

Optical Disks

Any device that requires light to read and write data to it is called an optical disk. Such examples would be: CDROM drives, DVD burners, BluRay players, etc... These devices act as a way to easily add and remove data from a computer. You can use these devices to install new software, watch movies or to backup your music collection.

Find out more by visiting the CD/DVD/BluRay guide.

Video Card

Depending on your computer needs, video cards can either be amazingly cheap or absurdly expensive. Some computers don't even require you to purchase a video card since the video chipset is built directly into the motherboard. The two most popular video card chip sets are from Nvidia and ATI.

Find out more by visiting the Video Card guide.

Network Card

Also called NIC's (Network Interface Cards). These cards allow you to connect your computer to a computer network, or in most users cases the network (i.e The Internet). Without this card, most cable and DSL modems will not be able to connect to your computer. NIC's are also known to be built-in with certain motherboards which keeps one of your expansion slots free for something else.. Unless your still using dial-up (i.e 56K modem), you sould have at least one NIC per computer.

Find out more by visiting the Network Card guide.

Sound Card

Just as the name implies, a sound card delivers sound from your computer to your speakers. In today's world, unless your a musician or work in an audio industry most PC's can work well with a motherboard with a built-in sound card. While not really a needed piece of hardware (i.e your computer will run without one), without a sound card you won't be able to listen to anything coming from your computer.

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