If you want to put your own computer together, the first thing you probably need to have is a motherboard. This piece of hardware is the “control panel” of all circuitry in your computer. Every additional piece of hardware has some kind of connection to the motherboard. The board consists of chipsets, a processor, memory, internal I/O connectors, expansion slots, and a few other components. These motherboards range in price, depending on what hardware materials are found on the board and how new the technology is.
The next important piece of hardware you may need is a CPU (central processing unit). The CPU is known as the “brains” of the computer. Most computer calculations take place in the CPU. This hardware is probably the most important element in a computer system, so having a functional CPU is necessary. Depending on the size of the computer, the CPU may actually be connected to the motherboard, so you wouldn’t need to get one in that case.
Another important hardware piece is the memory. There are many types of memory associated with a computer. As far as putting a computer together, you basically need to know just two types. One piece of hardware memory is the hard disk. The hard disk, or hard drive, is a magnetic disk on which you can store data. The term “hard disk” is used to distinguish itself from soft or floppy disks. Hard disks hold much more data than floppy disks. For example, a hard disk can hold anywhere from 10 gigabytes up to 200 gigabytes of information, whereas the floppy disk can only hold about 1.4 megabytes of information.
The other type of memory hardware is the RAM (random access memory). RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices such as printers. This memory allows you to both read and write information; that is, you can write data into RAM and read data from RAM. RAM is a volatile piece of computer hardware meaning as soon as the power is turned off, any information in RAM is lost. The higher amount of RAM you have, the faster your computer will function, and you can run more software applications.
The next kind of hardware might be the disk drives. Computers nowadays have a variety of different disk drives. Most computers today have turned away from floppy disk drives and are now focused on CD drives. These common hardware devices are usually in the form of CD-ROM drives, CD-RW drives and DVD drives. They also have certain combinations of these kinds of hardware. Basically, these drives allow you to read information from a CD, write information to a CD, or view motion picture material from a CD/DVD.
You can purchase other pieces of hardware for your computer as well. Since you have a motherboard with PCI slots, you could purchase wireless hardware or a couple of USB ports. These hardware products just snap into the PCI slots and as soon as you install the necessary driver software, you’re able to use the memory-saving devices.
To start building you own computer, you will need these necessary computer components. You may find that you want some upgrades, which are always available. Just be sure to assess all the hardware you purchase to make sure it functions and fits properly.
By John Ivie