TYPES OF HARDWARE IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - TECHNOLOGY - 2025

The types of hardware that a basic computer system includes are the monitor, motherboard, power supply unit, keyboard and mouse, among others. Hardware is known as all the electronic or electromechanical components from which a computer is built.

Through the screen, the keyboard and the mouse we can interact with the computer. In this sense, we provide information to the machine and observe the results of the computational process through the screen.

The different types of hardware allow us to interact quickly and effectively with the computer. The microprocessor (CPU) executes instructions and controls all the activities that take place within the machine while memory devices store instructions and data during operation.

A computer consists of a set of electronic or electromechanical components capable of accepting some form of input, processing this input in a way that we can specify, and producing some form of output. The two fundamental elements of any computer are the hardware and the software.

The hardware serves as the software solution delivery system. Computer hardware is infrequently changed compared to software and data, which are "soft" in the sense that they are easily created, modified, or erased on the computer.

Most prominent hardware types

1- CPU or microprocessor

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The central processing unit (CPU) is responsible for processing most of the computer's data. People often refer to the CPU as the "brain" of a computer, as it is responsible for performing calculations, doing calculator math, and comparing the size of numbers, among other functions.

A CPU is a very small and thin silicon "wafer" that is encased in a ceramic chip and then mounted on a circuit board. The speed and performance of the CPU is one of the most important factors that determines how well a computer performs.

CPU speed is measured in gigahertz (GHz). The higher this measurement, the faster the CPU can run.

However, the speed of the CPU is not the only measure of its performance, different CPUs have built-in efficiency boosting technologies that can increase data throughput in various ways. A fairer comparison between two different CPUs is the number of instructions per second they can perform.

2- Memory

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One type of memory, called random access memory (RAM), forms the central pool of memory that a computer uses to operate. The more RAM a computer has, the more applications it can open at once without the computer's performance starting to bog down.

More RAM can also make some apps work better overall. Memory capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB). Today the most basic computers are at least 4GB, while more complex computer systems are 16GB or more.

Like the CPU, memory consists of tiny, thin "wafers" of silicon, encased in ceramic chips and mounted on circuit boards.

Read-only memory (ROM) is the long-term, permanent memory of the computer. It does not disappear when the computer is turned off, it cannot be deleted or changed in any way.

However, there are types of ROMs called PROMs that can be altered, since the P is programmable. The ROM memory is intended to store the basic input and output system that controls the boot or boot process.

The cache is a buffer (made of a small number of very fast memory chips) between the main memory and the processor. Temporarily stores recently accessed or frequently used data allowing access to data more quickly.

Whenever the processor needs to read data, it first looks at this cache area. If the data is in the cache, then the processor does not need to spend any more time reading the data from main memory.

3- Motherboard

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The motherboard is considered the most important piece of hardware in a computer, as it makes connections in the correct places between all the other components of a computer so it "tells the data where it should go."

The motherboard houses the microprocessor, providing the necessary sockets and slots that connect to all other types of computer hardware. Therefore, the motherboard serves as the "mediator," a channel that allows the components to work together. It is considered a complete unit of work.

4- Hard disk

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When the computer is off, what's on the hard drive stays there, so the software doesn't have to be reloaded every time the computer is turned on. The operating system and its applications are loaded from the hard drive into memory, where they run.

Hard drive capacity is also measured in gigabytes (GB). A typical hard drive could be 500GB or even 1TB (1 terabyte = 1,000GB) or more. Most of the hard drives sold today are of the traditional mechanical type that use metal drives to store data with magnetic polarity.

A newer type of hard drive, called a solid-state hard drive (SSHD), uses one type of memory, resulting in a fast, quiet, and reliable (but expensive) storage alternative.

5- Input devices

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Input devices include:

• Keyboards: input device used to enter text and characters by pressing keys.
• Mouse: pointing device that detects two-dimensional movement to the surface. Other pointing devices include the track ball, touch pad, and touch screen.
• Joystick: it is a game device with a hand stick that rotates from left to right and from top to bottom, detecting angles in two and three dimensions.

6- Display

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Depending on the type of computer, the display may be built-in or it may be a separate unit called a monitor with its own power cord. Some displays are touch screen, so you can use your finger on the screen to provide input to the computer.

Screen quality is measured in resolution, that is, the number of pixels (individual colored dots) that make up the screen at its highest resolution. A typical resolution for a notebook PC is 1920 x 1080. The first number is the horizontal resolution and the second is the vertical resolution.

The aspect ratio of a screen is the ratio of its width to its height, expressed in pixels. Displays can have a standard aspect ratio (4: 3) or a widescreen (16: 9).

7- Optical drive

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Optical drives get their name from the way data is written and read on the disk. A laser light shines on the surface and a sensor measures the amount of light that is recovered from a certain point.

Some laptops come without DVD reading capability because today you can easily download and install various softwares or play videos and music over the Internet. However, most desktop computers still come with a DVD drive.

8- Network adapter

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It is used to connect to the Internet. That capability can be built into the computer or it can be added to the computer through an expansion card or a device that connects to a port.

Internet connectivity can be wired or wireless. A wired connection requires that you connect a cable from your computer to the device that supplies your Internet connection (such as a cable modem). That type of cable and connection is known as Ethernet.

A wireless connection allows the computer to communicate with the Internet connection device through radio waves. The type of wireless connection used for Internet connectivity is called Wi-Fi or Wireless Ethernet.

If high-speed Internet service is not available in your area, you may need to use a dial-up modem to connect using your home phone line. Dial-up modems aren't anyone's first choice - they're old and slow in technology and tie Internet service to the phone line.

References

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