Computers are fascinating machines that can be used for a variety of purposes. Some people use them to play games, others use them for business or schoolwork. But do you know what all the different parts of a computer are and what they do? In this blog post, we will take a look at the different parts and explain what each one does.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The Central Processing Unit, or CPU as it is commonly referred to as processes all of the instructions that control your computer. It is divided into two parts:
- The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) processes calculations and comparisons such as addition or multiplication.
- The Control Unit (CU) controls the process of instructions by sending signals to other parts of the computer, such as read or write signals.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
Random Access Memory, or RAM, is an area of your computer’s memory that temporarily stores information and instructions from the CPU. For example, if you play a game on your computer while opening the game’s instruction manual, once you close out of the game, the information in its instruction guide will be stored in RAM.
You can think of it as your computer’s short-term memory. It is where information and instructions are stored while the CPU is processing them. When you turn off your computer after using it, all of the information stored in RAM is lost.
RAM usually comes in 4, 8, or 16 gigabytes (GB) sticks.
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
The Graphics Processing Unit, or GPU, is responsible for processing the images that appear on your monitor. It is connected to the CPU and works with it to process instructions. The GPU also has its own memory, typically called video memory.
The GPU shares the responsibility of managing your computer’s display with the CPU and monitor. The GPU transfers information about images, colors, and pixels to the monitor so that your computer’s CPU doesn’t have to.
Motherboard
The motherboard is a circuit board that all of the other components connect to. It controls communication between them but doesn’t do any of the processing or memory work.
The motherboard is the foundation of your computer, all other components are built upon it. The motherboard stores information about each of its components, such as how much memory is in your computer or what kind of video card you have. It also contains various ports that allow you to communicate with different devices.
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Read-Only Memory (ROM)
Read-Only Memory, or ROM, is a small amount of memory built into your computer that stores information about how it should boot up. It also gets the CPU to where it should start running an operating system.
Once your computer is turned on, the CPU will access information stored in ROM to understand how it should startup. If there is any incorrect or missing information in the ROM, your computer will not start up correctly and you might end up with a black screen.
The information stored in ROM is typically permanent, or read-only. Therefore, you cannot write anything to it once it is created.
There are plenty more parts that make up a computer, however, these 5 are the most important ones. We hope that you found this blog post helpful!
