COMPUTER HARDWARE
(System Unit and Motherboard Parts)
COMPUTER HARDWARE is the physical parts of
the computer. They can be seen and touch
(tangible). Computer hardware are compose of
the basic parts of the computer such as system
unit, computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
COMPUTER MONITOR known as the window of
the computer system. It displays images,
videos, and texts.
SYSTEM UNIT known as the computer chassis
or the enclosure of all the computer parts. It
holds the optical disc drive, hard disc drive,
floppy disc drive, and the mother board.
KEYBOARD is an input device used to enter
texts, letters, and symbols to the computer.
MOUSE is known as the pointing device. It is a
small device that is connected to a computer
and that you move with your hand to control
the movement of a pointer on the computer
screen.
OPTICAL DISC DRIVE (DVD-ROM or CD-ROM)
commonly used for storing large software
applications. It is similar to a compact disc-
read only memory but has a large capacity. A
DVD-ROM stores around 4.38 GB of data. A
CD-ROM usually stores 650 MB of data.
HARD DISC DRIVE (HDD) is a device that is
used for storing computer data and that
contains one or more hard disks. Also known
as the primary storage device.
FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (FDD) is a small disk drive
used in computers for data transfer, storage
and backup of small amounts of data, as well
as installation of programs and driver updates.
A floppy disk drive accesses data recorded on
small, removable diskettes known as floppy
disks.
MOTHERBOARD is known as the main circuit
board of the computer. It holds the central
processing unit, basic input/output system,
expansion slots, random access memory, and
input/output ports.
POWER SUPPLY UNIT distributes power or
electricity to all parts of the motherboard.
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) known as
the brain of the computer. It performs the
basic operations of the system, that exchange
data with the system’s memory or peripherals,
and that manages the system’s other
components. Also called as the processor.
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) is the part
of the computer in which information is stored
temporarily when a program is being used.
DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE (DIMM)
holds the random access memory.
ACCELERATED GRAPHICS PORT (AGP) it holds
the video card.
PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT
(PCI) a socket on the motherboard of a
computer into which an expansion card may be
inserted.
ZIF SOCKET (ZERO INSERTION FORCE) it hold to connect ATA hard drives to a computers
the central processing unit. motherboard.

CAPACITORS a device used to store electrical IDE CABLE & TERMINAL (Integrated Drive
energy. Electronics) one of the most widely-used hard
BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM (BIOS) set up drive interfaces on the market. It supports
the computer and boot the operating system. hard drives with over 250 GB of data transfer.
The BIOS primary function is to handle the
system setup process including driver loading FDD TERMINAL (Floppy Disk Drive) port for
and operating system booting. FDD cable use to transfer or sends data to
Floppy Disk.
COMPLEMENTARY METAL OXIDE SEMI-
CONDUCTOR (CMOS) controls the date and
time. It handles and stores the BIOS
configuration setting. And the CMOS socket is
the one that holds the CMOS battery.

VIDEO CARD a device in a computer system

that controls the images that are shown on the
computer’s screen.

NORTHBRIDGE CONTROLLER is a chip inside a

computer that connects the central processing
unit to other primary components in the
system. These components include RAM, the
front side bus, PCI express cards, and the AGP
cards. The north bridge also connects to the
Southbridge, which controls the remaining
components of the computer.

SOUTHBRIGDE CONTROLLER is a chip that

connects the Northbridge to other components
inside the computer, including hard drives,
network connections, USB devices, the system
clock and standard PCI cards. The Southbridge
sends and receives data from the CPU through
the Northbridge chip, which is connected
directly to the computer’s processor.

HEATSINK FAN absorbs heat and release it out

to keep the system unit cool and prevent the
CPU from overheating.

SATA CONNECTOR & PORT (Serial Advanced

Technology Attachment) is an interface used