Modern PC Hardware

Question 0

Output Device

Answer 0

• Anything that the PC uses to show you what you did
• Monitor/ Display
• Printer
• Speakers

Question 1

Input Device

Answer 1

• Anything that lets you interact with the PC
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Microphone

Question 2

Peripheral

Answer 2

• Anything connected to the computer, but not inside the case
• Keyboard
• Monitor
• Printer

Question 3

Hard Disk Drive

Answer 3

• stores info for a computer using a series of magnetic plates
• a magnetic arm can read and write the information on the plates, while the plates spin
• Don’t put a magnet close to one
• .5% - .9% chance of a hard drive failing per year
• A hard drive could die out of the box or last a decade. Predicting hard drive failure is extremely difficult.
• Always backup important info!
• modern hard drive capacity (2011): 250 GB – 2 TB

Question 4

Optical Disc Drive

Answer 4

• Bounces a laser beam off the shiny surface of a disc to read it
• the reflective surface actually has microscopic pits and grooves in it to store bits
• The only major difference between CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray, is their ability to fit more pits and grooves into less space using smaller wavelength lasers (Physics!)

Question 5

Storage Devices

Answer 5

• Anything that stores information for the computer
• read & write- to getting data from/putting data on a storage device
• capacity measured in megabytes
• Hard Disk Drive
• Optical Disc Drive
• USB Flash Drive / Memory Stick

Question 6

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Answer 6

• fast, temporary storage that the PC uses for what it’s doing at that moment
• open documents
• running programs
• mouse pointer location
• Physically, modern RAM comes in “sticks”
• Capacity of single stick of RAM: 1 – 4 GB

Question 7

Expansion Cards

Answer 7

• Add some kind of functionality to a PC
• Cards are getting rarer since lots of other functions (networks, graphics, and sound) are built into the motherboards now (this is called on-board)

Question 8

Network Card

Answer 8

• type of expansion card

* allows a PC to go on a network

Question 9

Graphics Card

Answer 9

• type of expansion card

* processes graphical info (usually 3D) for the PC

Question 10

Power Supply Unit (PSU)

Answer 10

• Provides power to the internal components of the computer
• Different things might require different types of connections
• PSUs also have wattages – some things might require more watts than others (usually a high-end graphics card)

Question 11

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Answer 11

• the part that actually performs the instructions and calculations given by programs
• connected to all the other parts of the computer via the bus on the motherboard

Question 12

Motherboard (Mobo)

Answer 12

• connects everything together and lets the other parts communicate
• come in different sizes, called form factors
• lots of different places for plugging things in: slots, ports, sockets, connectors
• physical connections (wires) and protocols that allow devices to communicate is called a bus, also on the Motherboard