HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

PARTS OF COMPUTER

HARDWARE

SOFTWARE

DEFINITION

SOFTWARE

THE PHYSICAL PART OF THE COMPUTER AND THE ELEMENTS CONNECTED TO IT

HARDWARE

PROGRAMS,INSTRUCTIONS, APPS...

MOTHERBOARD

Is the largest card with a printed circuit you see when you open a computer.

All the other computer com-
ponents are inserted

Includes connectors or communication ports with peripherals and can also incor-
porate video, audio and network devices, among others, depending on the characteristics of the computer.

PARTS

PCI SLOTS

PCI-E SLOTS

SATA CONNECTIONS

EXTERNAL COPNNECTIONS

BIOS BATTERY

MICROPROCESSOR SOCKET

CHIPSET

MEMORY SLOTS

POWER SUPPLY CONNECTION

IDE CONNECTION

MICROPROCESOR

The most important part of the computer

It is responsible for
processing data, performing arithmetical-logical operations and controlling all the
other devices

Is characterised by its working frequency, measured in hertz, which
determines its operating speed.

A modern computer may have a 5 GHz processor, which means it can perform
5 billion basic operations every second

The main microprocessor manufacturers are Intel and AMD.

THE MAIN COMPONENTS OF THE MOTHERBOARD

Microprocessor
socket

Is plugged in here. When you open the com-
puter, what you normally see is a large fan with an aluminium heat


sink below it. A thermal paste is added under the sink to improve

heat dispersal and, finally, the microprocessor is located above the

socket.

Chipset

This is a set of chips on the motherboard that carries out communi-
cations between the microprocessor and the different components


connected to the motherboard. It controls the operating mode of

the board and determines its performance and characteristics. The

most important chip normally has an aluminium heat sink above

it, smaller than the microprocessor.

RAM memory slots

RAM memory modules are plugged into these. These differ from
other slots in that they include clips to hold the module in place
and in that there may be empty slots but there will always be a

RAM module inserted.

ATX connector

This connector joins the power supply to the motherboard through
cables, as shown in the picture. It requires sufficient power to work.

IDE and SATA connections

These are the connections for the storage units: the hard disk, the
DVD-ROM, the DVD recorder, etc. The boards can have two types
of connection, IDE or SATA, or just one, depending on the age of

the computer. SATA connections are the more modern ones. The

picture shows the SATA (red) and IDE (blue) cables that connect the

motherboard to the storage units.

Expansion slots

These are for inserting expansion cards, such as the graphics card,

sound card, network card, etc. These cards are sometimes integrat-

ed into the motherboard so the slots might be empty. There are



various types: PCI, AGP and PCI Express (PCI-E).

External
connections

These are ports for connecting to the network (RJ45) and external
devices, such as the keyboard (purple PS2), the mouse (green PS2),
headphones (audio jacks), USB memory cards, etc.

Chip and battery
for BIOS

The BIOS is an integrated circuit that stores the computer booting

program. It can normally be distinguished from others as it gen-

erally has the word BIOS written on it, as shown in the picture. To



prevent specific setup parameters from being deleted, the BIOS

requires a battery.