What is a computer made of? Cooler - a fan for cooling the processor. Design features of computing devices

According to its purpose, a computer is a universal device for working with information. According to the principles of its design, a computer is a model of a person working with information.

Personal Computer(PC) is a computer designed to serve one workstation. Its characteristics may differ from mainframe computers, but is functionally capable of performing similar operations. According to the method of operation, desktop (desktop), portable (laptop and notebook) and pocket (palmtop) PC models are distinguished.

Hardware. Since the computer provides all three classes of information methods for working with data (hardware, software and natural), it is customary to speak of a computer system as consisting of hardware and software working together. The components that make up the hardware of a computer are called hardware. They perform all the physical work with data: registration, storage, transportation and transformation, both in form and content, and also present them in a form convenient for interaction with natural human information methods.

The totality of a computer's hardware is called its hardware configuration.

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Software. Programs can be in two states: active and passive. In a passive state, the program does not work and looks like data, the content of which is information. In this state, the contents of the program can be “read” by other programs, like books are read, and changed. From it you can find out the purpose of the program and how it works. In the passive state, programs are created, edited, stored and transported. The process of creating and editing programs is called programming.

When a program is in an active state, the content of its data is considered as commands according to which the computer hardware operates. To change the order of their operation, it is enough to interrupt the execution of one program and start the execution of another, containing a different set of commands.

The set of programs stored on a computer forms its software. The set of programs prepared for work is called installed software. The set of programs running at one time or another is called a software configuration.

Computer device. Any computer (even the largest one) consists of four parts:

input devices

information processing devices

storage devices

information output devices.

Structurally, these parts can be combined in one case the size of a book, or each part can consist of several rather bulky devices

Basic PC hardware configuration. Basic hardware configuration personal computer They call the minimum set of hardware sufficient to start working with a computer. Over time, the concept of a basic configuration gradually changes.

Most often, a personal computer consists of the following devices:

System unit

Monitor

Keyboard

Mouse

Additionally, other input and output devices can be connected, for example sound speakers, printer, scanner...

System unit- main block computer system. It contains devices that are considered internal. Devices connected to the system unit externally are considered external. The term peripheral equipment is also used for external devices.
Monitor- a device for visual reproduction of symbolic and graphic information. Serves as an output device. For desktop PCs, the most common monitors today are those based on cathode ray tubes. They vaguely resemble household TVs.
Keyboard- a keyboard device designed to control the operation of a computer and enter information into it. Information is entered in the form of alphanumeric character data.
Mouse- graphical control device.

Internal devices of a personal computer.
Devices located in the system unit are considered internal. Some of them are accessible on the front panel, which is convenient for quickly changing storage media, such as floppy disks. The connectors of some devices are located on the rear wall - they are used to connect peripheral equipment. Access to some devices of the system unit is not provided - for regular work it is not required.

CPU. Microprocessor- the main microcircuit of a personal computer. All calculations are performed in it. The main characteristic of the processor is the clock frequency (measured in megahertz, MHz). The higher the clock speed, the higher the processor performance. So, for example, when clock frequency A 500 MHz processor can change its
state 500 million times. For most operations, one clock cycle is not enough, so the number of operations a processor can perform per second depends not only on the clock speed, but also on the complexity of the operations.

The only device the existence of which the processor “knows from birth” is RAM - it works together with it. This is where data and commands come from. Data is copied into processor cells (called registers) and then converted according to the contents of the instructions. You'll get a more complete picture of how the processor interacts with RAM in the chapters on programming fundamentals.

RAM. RAM can be thought of as a vast array of cells that store numeric data and commands while the computer is turned on. Volume random access memory measured in millions of bytes - megabytes (MB).

The processor can access any RAM cell (byte) because it has a unique numeric address. The processor cannot access an individual bit of RAM, since the bit does not have an address. At the same time, the processor can change the state of any bit, but this requires several actions.

Motherboard. The motherboard is the largest circuit board of a personal computer. It contains highways that connect the processor with RAM - the so-called buses. There is a data bus through which the processor copies data from memory cells, an address bus through which it connects to specific memory cells, and a command bus through which the processor receives commands from programs. All other buses are also connected to the motherboard buses. internal devices computer. The operation of the motherboard is controlled by a microprocessor chipset - the so-called chipset.

Video adapter. A video adapter is an internal device installed in one of the connectors on the motherboard. The first personal computers did not have video adapters. Instead, a small area was allocated in RAM for storing video data. A special chip (video controller) read data from video memory cells and controlled the monitor in accordance with them.

As you improve graphic capabilities In computers, the video memory area was separated from the main RAM and, together with the video controller, was separated into a separate device, which was called a video adapter. Modern video adapters have their own computing processor (video processor), which has reduced the load on the main processor when constructing complex images. The video processor plays a particularly important role when constructing three-dimensional images on a flat screen. During such operations, he has to perform a particularly large number of mathematical calculations.

In some motherboard models, the functions of the video adapter are performed by chipset chips - in this case they say that the video adapter is integrated with motherboard. If the video adapter is made as a separate device, it is called a video card. The video card connector is located on the rear wall. A monitor is connected to it.

Sound adapter. For IBM computers PC work with sound was not initially provided. For the first ten years of its existence, computers of this platform were considered office equipment and did without sound devices. Currently, audio tools are considered standard. To do this, a sound adapter is installed on the motherboard. It can be integrated into the motherboard chipset or implemented as a separate plug-in card called a sound card.
The sound card connectors are located on the back wall of the computer. To play sound, speakers or headphones are connected to them. A separate connector is intended for connecting a microphone. If you have a special program, this allows you to record sound. There is also a connector (line output) for connecting to external sound recording or sound reproducing equipment (tape recorders, amplifiers, etc.).

HDD. Since the computer's RAM is cleared when the power is turned off, a device is needed to store data and programs for a long time. Currently, so-called hard drives are widely used for these purposes.
Operating principle hard drive is based on recording changes in the magnetic field near the recording head.

Main hard parameter disk capacity is measured in gigabytes (billions of bytes), GB. The average size The size of a modern hard drive is 80 - 160 GB, and this parameter is steadily growing.

Floppy drive. To transport data between remote computers They use so-called floppy disks. A standard floppy disk (floppy disk) has a relatively small capacity of 1.44 MB. By modern standards, this is completely insufficient for most data storage and transportation tasks, but the low cost of media and high availability have made floppy disks the most common storage media.

To write and read data stored on floppy disks, a special device is used - a disk drive. The drive receiving hole is located on the front panel of the system unit.

CD-ROM drive. To transport large amounts of data, it is convenient to use CD-ROMs. These discs can only read previously written data; they cannot be written to. The capacity of one disk is about 650-700 MB.

CD-ROM drives are used to read CDs. The main parameter of a CD-ROM drive is the reading speed. It is measured in multiple units. The reading speed approved in the mid-80s is taken as one. for music CDs (audio CDs). Modern CD-ROM drives provide reading speeds of 40x - 52x.
Main disadvantage CD-ROM drives- impossibility of recording discs - overcome in modern devices write-once - CD-R. There are also CD-RW devices that allow multiple recordings.

The principle of data storage on CDs is not magnetic, like floppy disks, but optical.

Communication ports. To communicate with other devices, such as a printer, scanner, keyboard, mouse, etc., the computer is equipped with so-called ports. A port is not just a connector for connecting external equipment, although a port ends in a connector. A port is a more complex device than just a connector, having its own chips and controlled by software.

Network adapter. Network adapters are necessary for computers to be able to communicate with each other. This device ensures that the processor does not send a new portion of data to the external port until the network adapter of a neighboring computer has copied the previous portion to itself. After this, the processor is given a signal that the data has been collected and new ones can be submitted. This is how the transfer takes place.

When a network adapter “learns” from a neighboring adapter that it has a piece of data, it copies it to itself, and then checks whether it is addressed to it. If yes, it passes them to the processor. If not, it puts them on the output port, from where the network adapter of the next neighboring computer will pick them up. This is how data moves between computers until it reaches the recipient.

Network adapters can be built into the motherboard, but are more often installed separately, in the form of additional cards called network cards.

What is a computer. A computer, as its name suggests (in English the word computer came from the word compute– count, calculate) – this is a computing device. In fact, the computer can’t do anything else except count, count a lot and quickly. Various peripheral output devices, such as a monitor, printer, audio equipment, webcam, etc. they are simply capable of converting the results of these calculations in different ways into signals we can understand. Various input devices (keyboards, pointing devices, tablets, etc.) are engaged in the inverse task: converting external influences into computer understandable sets of commands and data. Something a computer simply cannot exist without is CPU and a storage device (computer memory). The first one can count, and the second one can store source data and calculation results. The computer performs calculations according to a program pre-installed in it. People write programs, but the computer's job is to execute them. We’ll talk about this in a little more detail at the end of the material, but now briefly about the form in which a computer perceives information.

Part 1. Features of presenting information on a computer

The minimum unit of information for a computer is one bit., which can take two values. One of the values ​​is considered equal to 1, and the other 0. At the hardware level (computer hardware), a unit of information is represented by triggers - a class of electronic devices that have the ability to remain in one of two states for a long time. The output voltage of such electronic devices can have two values, one of which is associated with zero and the other with one. If only semiconductors could be used to easily and efficiently create electronic devices, capable of being, for example, in three or four states for a long time, then a bit would then be considered a unit of information that takes three or more different meanings. Since modern computers are built on the basis of triggers, they use a binary number system.

What is a number system. A number system is a way of representing numerical information, defined by a character set. We are familiar with the decimal number system, represented by a set of numbers from 0 to 9. A computer needs two characters to represent information: 0 and 1. Why this is so - I tried to answer a little higher when I described the nature of triggers - the hardware basis of modern computers. How are numbers represented in various systems I will show numbers using the example of decimal, binary and hexadecimal systems. The latter is widely used in low-level programming because it is more compact than binary, and numbers presented in hexadecimal can be easily converted to 2nd and vice versa.

Decimal number system “SI10”: (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). Binary number system “SI2”: (0,1) Hexadecimal number system “SI16”: (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E, F) (symbols A, B, C, D, E and F are used to represent the numbers 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15)

So, an example: let's look at how the number 100 is represented using these systems.

“SI10”: 100= 1*100 +0*10+0*1 “SI2” : 01100100=0*128+ 1*64 +1*32 +0*16+0*8+1*4 +0*2+0*1 “SI16”: 64=6*16+4*1

It's all different positional number systems with different basis. Positional number systems are those systems in which the contribution to total amount from each digit is determined not only by the value of this digit, but also by its position. Example Not The positional number system is the Roman system with its L,X,V,I. We find that the value of the number, which is denoted in positional system notation with a specific base is calculated as follows:

N=D 0 *B 0 +D 1 *B 1 +…+D n-1 *B n-1 +D n *B n, where D i is the value of the digit on i-th place, starting from 0, and B is the base of the number system. Don't forget that B 0 =1.

How to convert a number from hexadecimal to binary and vice versa. It’s simple, convert each digit in the hexadecimal system into 4 digits of the binary system and write the result sequentially, either from left to right or from right to left. On the contrary: you break binary number on tetrads(4 digits strictly from right to left) and replace each tetrad separately with one of the symbols of the hexadecimal number system. If the last tetrad turns out to be incomplete, complete it with zeros on the left. Example:

1010111100110 -> 0001(1).0101(5).1110(14).0110(6) -> 15E6

In order to quickly multiply or divide a number by the base of the number system, simply shift all the digits to the left (multiplication) and to the right (division). Multiply by 2 in binary system numbers are called shift left(0 is added at the end), and integer division by 2 is shift to the right(the last character is removed). Example:

11011(27) > 1101(13)

Computer Information Units. WITH minimum unit information in computer technology figured it out - it's a beat. But the minimum addressable set of information is not a beat, but byte– a set of information represented by 8 bits and, as a result, capable of storing 256 (2 8) different values. What means minimum addressable set of information? This means that the entire computer memory is divided into sections, each of which has its own address (sequence number). Minimum size such a section is a byte. Of course, I'm simplifying the picture, but this moment such a representation is sufficient. Why 8 bits? This happened historically, and for the first time 8-bit (byte) addressing was used in computers IBM company. They probably found it convenient that a unit of information can be easily represented by exactly two characters of the hexadecimal number system. Now let’s dispel the myths about the amount of data denoted by almost everyone with familiar words. kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte etc.

1 kilobyte (kb) = 2 10 bytes = 1024, not 1000 bytes. 1 megabyte (MB) = 2 20 bytes = 1048576 bytes = 1024 kilobytes, not 1000,000 bytes. 1 gigabyte (GB) = 2 30 bytes, 1 terabyte (TB) = 2 40 bytes, etc.

Part 2. Computer structure

How does a computer work?. Or What does computer consist of. The further narrative will be structured as follows. A description of the computer device will be presented on various levels. At the first level I will outline the main components modern computer, at the second and subsequent levels I will describe each part of it in more detail. To quickly find the information you need, use the following navigation.

Level 1. General computer structure

System unit

The computer system unit is the same box from which the power cord sticks out, to which the monitor, keyboard, mouse and printer are connected, and into which CDs, flash drives and other external devices are inserted. We can say that all devices that are connected to the system unit externally are peripheral devices– performing secondary computer tasks. Well, the system unit itself contains all the most valuable and necessary things: the power supply, the system motherboard and the central processing unit (CPU) - the “brains” of the computer. And also, modules for controlling peripheral devices (controllers), video and sound cards, a network card and modem, transport routes for transmitting information (buses) and much more useful. However, all this is primarily true for domestic and office computers. For example, looking at a laptop, it is difficult to say where it ends system unit, and begin peripherals. All this division is arbitrary, especially since there are also communicators, tablet computers and other portable computing devices.

This category includes all devices that allow you to enter information into a computer. For example, keyboard, mouse, joystick, web camera and touch screen allow a person to do this, and a CD reader or memory card reader simply reads information from external media automatically. Input devices often include only means for human input of information, while all others are called drives external media data.

These are devices that are designed to display the results of computer calculations. The monitor displays information graphically in electronic format, the printer does almost the same thing, but on paper, and the audio system reproduces information in the form of sounds. All these are means feedback with a person in response to their input of information through input devices.

Other devices

This category includes any devices connected to a computer, from flash cards and portable hard drives, to modems (including wi-fi), routers, etc. Classifying devices is a thankless task, since it can be done in completely different ways, and you can always be right. For example, a built-in modem can hardly be classified as a peripheral device, although an external modem performs exactly the same functions. A modem is a device for organizing communication between computers, and it does not matter where it is located. The same can be said about the network card. A hard drive is, first of all, a non-volatile storage device that can be either internal or external. The above classification of computer equipment is based primarily on the physical location of a particular device in a classic personal computer and only then on its purpose. This is just one way of classification and nothing more.

Level 2. The filling of the system unit of a modern computer

First, a few words about computer speed. This property is characterized by the clock speed and performance of the system. The higher they are, the faster the computer works, but these are not synonyms. Performance of any system component is the number of elementary operations it performs per second. Clock frequency– this is the frequency of synchronizing pulses supplied to the system input by the clock pulse generator, which, in turn, determines the number of executions sequentially operations per unit of time. But productivity can be increased by providing the ability to perform basic operations parallel at the same clock speed, as exemplified by multi-core CPU architectures. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate not only the clock speed at which the processor operates, but also its architecture.

Now about the computer components. With the case and power supply, I think everything is clear and without comment. System motherboard and central processor- This is the heart of the computer and they are the ones who manage the computing processes. A more detailed story about them below. Tires is a means of transmitting information between various computer devices. Tires are divided into control bus, which transmit command codes; address buses, which, as their name suggests, serve to pass the address of a set of arguments defined by the command context or the address where the result should be placed; And data buses, which directly transmit the data itself - arguments and results of command execution. Controllers are microprocessor devices designed for managing tough disks, external storage media drives and other types of devices. Controllers are intermediaries between the central processor infrastructure and specific device connected to the computer. HDD is a non-volatile information storage device. Non-volatility of a storage device is its ability not to lose information after a power outage. In addition to user data, the hard drive contains program code operating system, including drivers various devices. Device Driver is a program that controls its controller. Operating system, for example Microsoft Windows, controls all devices through drivers that have an understandable software interface. Drivers are usually developed by computer component suppliers separately for each type of operating system. Also, the system unit cannot do without a cooling system and a control panel that allows you to turn the computer on and off.

Level 3. How a computer works

How data is represented on a computer. All data for a computer is a set of numbers. How are positive ones stored? whole numbers, I told you at the very beginning. Data, which can be either positive or negative, stores the sign (0-plus, 1-minus) in the first bit (1st bit). About storage features real numbers I won’t go into detail, but you should know that real numbers are represented on the computer using mantissa And exhibitors. The mantissa is a proper fraction (the numerator is less than the denominator) in which the first decimal place is greater than zero (in the binary system, this means that the first decimal place is 1). The value of real numbers is calculated by the formula D=m*2 q, where m is the mantissa, and q is the exponent equal to log 2 (D/m). In memory, the computer stores not the mantissa itself, but its significant part - the decimal places. The more digits (bits) allocated for the mantissa, the higher the accuracy of the representation of real data. Example:

Number of PI in decimal system notation looks something like this: PI=3.1415926535... Let’s reduce the number to the form proper fraction, multiplied by 10 to the appropriate power: PI=3.1415926535 = 0.31415926535*10 1 =m*10 q, where m=0.31415926535, q=1.

Thus, we represented a real number as two integers, since to store the mantissa it is enough to store only the decimal places (31415926535). It must be taken into account that both the mantissa and the exponent can be either positive or negative numbers. If the number is negative, then the mantissa is negative. If the number is less than one tenth, then the exponent is negative (in the decimal system). In the binary number system, the exponent is negative if the number is less than 0.5. Now let's try to do the same in the binary number system.

Let's round the original number a little: PI 10 = 3.1415 = 3 + 0.1415 So, 3 in the binary system is 11. Now let's deal with the fractional part. 0.1415= 0 *0.5+0 *0.25+1 *0.125+…= 0 *2 -1 +0 *2 -2 +1 *2 -3 +... As a result, we get approximately the following: PI 2 =11.001001000011=0.11001001000011*2 2 =m*2 q, where m=0.11001001000011, and q=2.

Now it should become clear what I meant by the accuracy of the representation of real numbers. 14 digits were spent on the mantissa, and for the number PI it was possible to save only a few decimal places (in the decimal number system). Also, when working on a computer, you may encounter the following form of writing a number:

6.6725E-11 This is nothing more than 6.6725*10 -11 Text is a sequence of characters, and each character has its own numeric code. There are several text encodings. The most well-known and widely used text encodings are ASCII and UNICODE. Graphic arts is a sequence of points, each of which corresponds a certain color. Each color is represented by 3 integers: the components of red (red), green (green) and blue (blue) colors RGB palettes. The more digits allocated for color storage, the greater the range of colors you can operate. Video is just a sequence of static frames. There are video compression technologies that, for example, separate areas the video is stored as one frame and a sequence of deltas - the differences between subsequent frames and the previous one. Provided that neighboring frames do not differ in absolutely all points (for example, animation), this approach allows you to save on total volumes material. Sound is a signal that can be converted from analog representation to digital way sampling and quantization (digitization). Naturally, digitization will lead to a loss of quality, but that is the price of digital sound.

How the calculation process is organized. Motherboard- This printed circuit board, on which it is installed CPU (CPU). Also, through special connectors, RAM modules, a video card, sound card and other devices. The motherboard is an aggregating link in the architecture of a modern computer. The motherboard is equipped system controller (north bridge ), providing communication between the central processor and RAM and graphics controller, as well as peripheral controller (south bridge), responsible for communication with peripheral device controllers and read-only storage. Northern and South Bridge together form motherboard chipset- her basic set microcircuits RAM or random access memory ( RAM) is a volatile computer memory that stores the executable program and the program data itself. The amount of RAM affects the performance of the computer, since it is the RAM that determines the amount of information processed at any given time. Read Only Memory (ROM) is energy Not dependent computer memory that stores the most important information for it, including the program initial download computer (before loading the operating system) – BIOS(basic input/output system - basic system input/output). ROM data is usually written by the motherboard manufacturer. Video card- This self-pay with its own processor and its own RAM (video memory), designed to quickly convert graphic information into a form that can be directly displayed on the screen. The video card processor is optimized for working with graphics, including processing 3D graphics. Thus, the video card processor relieves the central processor from this type of work. The higher the amount of video memory, the faster and more often the computer is able to update data on the screen, and the wider the range of colors that can be used. A central processing unit (CPU) may consist of several processors, each of which is capable of executing its own program in parallel with the others. Previously, processor and processor core were synonymous. Nowadays, a CPU can consist of several processors, and each processor can consist of several cores. Core microprocessor is arithmetic logic unit (ALU), core controller and set system registers. The ALU, as its name suggests, can perform operations on numbers loaded into registers. A set of registers is used to store the address of the current command (commands are stored in RAM, and the IP (Instruction Pointer) register points to the current command), addresses of the data loaded to execute the command, and the data itself, including the result of the command. The kernel, in fact, controls this entire process, executing low-level processor commands. Such commands include loading data into registers, executing arithmetic operations, comparing the values ​​of two registers, moving to the next instruction, etc. The microprocessor itself communicates with the RAM through the RAM controller. Although the access time to RAM is much shorter than, for example, the time to access information on a hard drive, this time still becomes noticeable during intensive calculations. To organize the storage of data, the access time of which should be minimal, ultra-random access memory (cache memory) is used.

Who or what controls the calculation process. The calculation process, as I said at the beginning, is controlled by a computer program. Programs are written in various languages programming and most often in . Main high level are: declaration of variables various types, performing arithmetic and logical operations, conditional statements and cycles. A person programming in a high-level language does not need to think about how the information he processes is represented in the computer. All calculations are mainly described in the decimal number system familiar to him. The programmer defines it in the form in which it is convenient for him. He has at his disposal a serious arsenal of ready-made software components, solutions and programming technologies: , organizational tools, services for working with, etc. and so on. Further, special programs, called compilers, translate program text into machine code– in a command language understandable to the computer’s central processor. You can, for example, see what a program looks like in a high-level programming language on the pages of this site, and what a program looks like in a language low level, close to machine code (), see below (this program just displays the message “Hello, world”).

386 .model flat, stdcall option casemap:none include \masm32\include\windows.inc include \masm32\include\kernel32.inc includelib \masm32\lib\kernel32.lib .data msg db "Hello, world", 13, 10 len equ $-msg .data? written dd? .code start: push -11 call GetStdHandle push 0 push OFFSET written push len push OFFSET msg push eax call WriteFile push 0 call ExitProcess end start

One statement in a high-level language is transformed into tens or even hundreds of lines of machine code, but since this happens automatically, there is no need to worry about this. When the program starts, operating system allocates a separate one for it, loads the machine code into RAM, initializes the registers (the address of the very first instruction is placed in the IP register), and the computing process begins.

I believe that within the framework of this material, the story about how a modern computer works can be completed. Now you know in general outline, what it consists of and how it works, and you can easily find the details on the Internet.

A personal computer has long been present in almost every family. Thanks to rapid development technology and electronics, computers that occupied entire rooms just 40-50 years ago now fit quite well on a desk. Modern man no longer perceives having a personal computer in the home as a luxury; today it is a tool for work, an entertainment center, and a means for searching necessary information. Every user should know what parts a computer consists of, so that when upgrading or handing it over for repairs, they do not become a victim. unscrupulous sellers or repairmen, and spend the invested funds as efficiently as possible.

General computer structure

Any modern computer consists of connected external devices (peripherals) and internal modules located in the system unit. Peripherals include printers, monitors, mice, keyboards and many other devices that are connected to the computer system unit and are structurally separated from it. What are the main parts of a computer?

It depends on the purpose for which a particular personal computer is used. Conventionally, they can be divided according to the tasks they solve into office, multimedia, workstations and gaming. The presence or absence of some components inside the system unit depends on the purpose for which the PC is used. Below we will look in more detail at what parts a computer consists of. This is very important to know, because there are basic components that you cannot do without, as well as those that are not present in every personal computer.

What parts does a computer consist of?

The first thing we see when looking at a personal computer is the case, inside of which, in fact, the remaining internal parts are fixed. Computer cases vary in size and, accordingly, the standard size of supported motherboards. Next, we will take a closer look at the elements that are hidden inside the PC case.

Motherboard

The basis of the entire computer, without which no PC can function, is the motherboard. She happens to be link between the rest of the computer. She plays the role nervous system, transmitting signals from the brain - the processor to the rest of the PC. Motherboards differ in size (mATX, ATX, E-ATX, ITX, etc.), socket (socket into which the processor is inserted), type of supported memory (DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4), presence and number of slots (interfaces or buses) for connecting all kinds of expansion cards (video cards, network, sound, etc.).

CPU

The central processing unit is the heart and brain of any computer. It processes all data that comes from running programs and manages the flow of this data. Processors, in addition to the manufacturer (the largest - Intel and AMD), differ in clock frequency - the most important parameter showing the number of operations performed per second, the number of cores (the number of processors engaged in parallel data processing located in one physical case), the type of supported RAM and design(socket). Any processor needs cooling, therefore, looking inside the system unit, you will see a radiator with a fan, which is completely pressed with special latches to the motherboard and does not allow the processor to overheat.

RAM

Designed to store information that the processor may need to as soon as possible(data of running programs, operating system services, etc. are placed here). Unlike hard drives, they require a power source to store information, i.e. when the computer is turned off, all information from the RAM is deleted (which is why, if the PC is powered down unplanned, the data open source software are not saved).

RAM differs in type (DDR,SO-DIMM DDR3, etc.), frequency, register (for servers) or not.

HDD

Hard drive is a device for storing information. Unlike RAM, hard memory The disk is non-volatile, which allows you to save data even when you turn off the computer. There are currently 2 in use various types solid state drives: HDD (Hard Disc Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive). The main ones are volume ( maximum amount information that can be written to the disk) and read/write speed.

Video card

A video card is a device for displaying images from a computer on a monitor screen. Video cards can be built-in (the video core is built into the motherboard chipset or central processor) and external, which are connected to the computer motherboard via a special PCI-Express connector. As a rule, built-in video cards have rather mediocre characteristics and are designed for working with office applications, watching videos and undemanding games. The main characteristics of the video card are the frequency GPU and memory, bus width and video memory size.

Sound card

A sound card is a device designed to output sound signal to external devices (headphones, microphone, acoustic speakers etc.) In the vast majority of computers, the sound card is soldered to the motherboard. But there are also external sound cards that differ from the built-in ones more high quality reproduced sound.

LAN card

A network card is a device that is necessary to connect a computer into a network with other computers, making it possible to exchange information with high speed between them. Just like the sound card, in modern computers the network card is soldered to the motherboard.

power unit

Power supply - a device that converts energy from a household electrical network into electrical energy with given parameters necessary for the operation of all parts of the computer. The main characteristics of a power supply are its power and efficiency. It is important that the power is sufficient to operate all plug-in modules, otherwise peak loads the computer will simply turn off.

Above we looked at what parts the computer system unit consists of. Without these devices, no computer can function fully. But besides them, many other devices can be connected inside the system unit through various interfaces, such as additional ports for connecting external devices (USB, LPT, etc.), TV tuners, sound and network cards. But they are not mandatory and are used only if necessary.

External computer parts

When answering the question of what parts a computer consists of, we should also mention external devices. These include a monitor, keyboard, mouse, video camera and sound system. Monitors differ in diagonal, matrix type and backlight used ( we're talking about about liquid crystal monitors, since monitors with cathode ray tubes are no longer produced and are almost universally replaced by more technologically advanced TFT monitors), image refresh rate. Also to external devices computer includes numerous means for input and output various information: printers, scanners, MFPs, projectors, joysticks, etc.

Conclusion

In this article we looked at what a personal computer consists of. Computer science at school provides more detailed and comprehensive knowledge. By studying it, you will be able to understand the basic principles of assembling a PC with your own hands. But in order to delve deeper into the essence of work and operation, for example, to understand what parts the computer bus consists of, it is recommended to study specifications equipment, which is beyond the scope of this article.

In this article we will take a detailed look at what elements a personal computer consists of, what it all looks like, and what function it performs. This article is more suitable for beginner users, but also more experienced users Surely they will be able to find something for themselves.

First of all, let's define a computer:

Personal computer, PC (from the English personal computer, PC) or PC (personal electronic Calculating machine) - desktop microcomputer with operational characteristics household appliance and universal functionality.

The computer was originally created as a computing machine, but the PC is also used for other purposes - as a means of accessing information networks and as a platform for multimedia and computer games.

An ordinary personal computer that is in your home or work consists of the following parts:

• System unit;
• Monitor;
• Information input devices;
• Additional or peripheral devices (printer, scanner, webcam, etc.);

System unit

The main component of any computer is the system unit. System units are different types, both in design and size. Horizontal and vertical.

The system unit contains all the components of a modern computer, which is what makes the computer work.

Main elements of the system unit:

• Frame;
• Power unit;
• Motherboard;
• CPU;
• RAM;
• Video card;
• Sound card;
• HDD;
• Disk drive ( optical drive);
• Cooling system;

All elements are closely connected to each other and work as a whole.

Let's look at each element in more detail.

Frame

System unit case - outer shell system unit of a personal computer, which protects internal elements from physical impact. The housing has great importance For stable operation computer. For example, a well-designed cooling system inside the case is the key to stable operation of the computer and a guarantee against overheating.

power unit

In order for all the elements of the system unit to work, we need a power supply. As the name implies, the power supply supplies electricity to all components of the system unit. At the moment, the most popular power supplies in terms of power are: 450, 500 and 600 W. On powerful computers, which include gaming ones, are installed more powerful blocks nutrition.

Motherboard

The motherboard is a complex multi-layer printed circuit board and the largest board of the system unit. the main task motherboard is to connect all the elements into one computing system.

CPU

The processor, on the motherboard, is responsible for performing all computing operations and processing information. No matter how trivial it may sound, the better and newer (and therefore more expensive) the processor, the faster and more volume of operations it will perform. However, the most powerful processor does not guarantee fast work computer, while the remaining components of the system unit are very outdated.

RAM

Random access memory or RAM is a random access memory device. It is intended to be temporary and quick accessible storage data for transmission to the processor for processing. For example, running programs in the background or hidden mode, clipboard, etc. The more RAM installed on your computer, the faster you can count on it.

Video card

A video card, just like a motherboard, is a complex multi-layer printed circuit board that is inserted into a connector on the motherboard. The video card can be either built-in (integrated) or external, in the form of a separate board. The main function of a video card is to generate and display an image on a computer screen. The power of the integrated video card is often only enough for use office applications and surfing the Internet.

Sound card

Sound card – processing and outputting sound to computer speakers. There are times when the built-in sound card fails or the user is not satisfied with the sound quality of the compositions, then an external sound card is installed.

HDD

Hard drive or storage device hard magnetic disks are a storage device designed to store information. It is on the hard drive that all your data is stored and the operating system is installed. Windows system(Linux). Currently, SSD drives are gaining popularity.

Drive

Nowadays discs are becoming less and less popular; they have been replaced by USB flash drives. But there are times when a disk drive or, as it is also called, an “optical drive” is simply necessary. When you need to read something from a disk, install Windows or drivers on your computer.

Cooling system

The cooling system is a system of fans that serves to remove warm air from the components of the system unit and supply cool air from the external environment.

Continuation of the article:

Computer device. What does computer consist of. Part 2. Peripherals.

Every kid knows the word computer!

Here is the computer: monitor, mouse, keyboard, and system unit:

The main parts of the computer - the processor and memory - are contained inside the system unit. And the monitor, keyboard and mouse are the input and output devices of the computer.

From keyboard and mouse computer enters text and commands. On a computer monitor displays text and drawings. This is why these devices are called computer input and output devices.

	This is a monitor. It looks like a TV. Computer displays texts and drawings on his screen. A monitor is an output device. The letter “K” in the figure conventionally designates a computer, and the arrow shows that the information is displayed from computer to monitor.
	This is a keyboard. It is used to set ( input) text: From the keyboard you can enter commands, for example, use the arrow keys to control the hero on the screen: The keyboard is an input device. The arrow in the figure on the left indicates that the information from the keyboard introduced to the computer.
	This is a computer mouse. The movement of the mouse is repeated by an arrow on the monitor screen. This arrow is the cursor. The mouse has buttons that you can click - set ( enter) commands. A mouse is an input device.
	This is a system unit. It contains: processor (“brain” of the computer); storage devices(“memory” of the computer).
	If you open the system unit, you can see the processor and computer memory.
	The figure roughly shows that information from the keyboard and mouse introduced to the computer, and from the computer - is displayed to the monitor. The keyboard and mouse are the computer's input devices. Monitor is an output device.
	We are talking about inputting information into a computer and outputting it from a computer. The question arises: where exactly is information entered and where is it output? What device on a computer stores information? Of course it is computer memory! Information enters the computer's memory from the keyboard and mouse. From it it is displayed on the monitor.