Basic Hardware Components of A Computer
Basic Hardware Components of A Computer
19124051
FY CSE
Hardware refers to the physical elements of a computer. Also referred to as the machinery
or the equipment of the computer. Examples of hardware in a computer are the keyboard,
the monitor, the mouse and the processing unit However, most of a computer's hardware
cannot be seen; it’s inside the computer
case.
1. Monitor: A monitor is an output device that is used to display the outputs of the
processed data and also helps the user in better communicating with the system.
2. Motherboard: A motherboard is an internal component of a computer system that
generally helps the processor to function as well as is used in controlling each and
every hardware component of a computer especially the clock cell!
3. CPU (Microprocessor): A microprocessor is nothing but the brain of a computer
that actually helps the system software to respond to the particular queries that user
has made or to initiate the command that user has ordered.
4. Main memory (RAM): It is the storage component of a computer that actually
comes into the picture when the PC is working and stores the data for a temporary
basis which helps the system to maintain its processing speed.
5. Expansion cards: In computing, the expansion card, expansion board, adapter card
or accessory card is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical
1|Page
SHREESH BHARDWAJ
19124051
FY CSE
connector, or expansion slot, on a computer motherboard, backplane or riser card
to add functionality to a computer system via the expansion bus.
6. Power supply unit: A power supply unit (or PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage
regulated DC power for the internal components of a computer. Modern
personal computers universally use switched-mode power supplies.
7. Optical disk drive: An optical drive is a type of computer disk drive that reads and
writes data from optical disks through laser beaming technology. This type
of drive allows a user to retrieve, edit and delete the content from optical disks such
as CDs, DVDs and Blue-ray disks.
8. Hard Disk Drive (HDD): A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-
volatile computer storage device containing magnetic disks or platters rotating at
high speeds. It is a secondary storage device used to store data permanently,
random access memory (RAM) being the primary memory device.
9. Keyboard: A keyboard is a main source of input to a computer that helps the user
in giving instructions / commands to the computer.
10. Mouse: A mouse is that kind of input source to a computer that helps in clicking,
selecting, dragging and scrolling.
2|Page