Learn Computer Organization & Operating System “Components & Peripherals of Computer ” Lesson 3

Components & Peripherals of Computer

Introduction to Computer Components & Peripherals

A computer consists of several physical components and each physical component is designated to perform one of the operations discussed in the previous section. These physical components of a computer are called computer hardware.

The computer hardware device can be attached internally or externally to the computer. Devices connected internal are called the Primary components and connected external are called peripherals.
The following diagram shows some of the computer components.

Primary Components of Computer
Below are some of the devices that are attached internally to the computer are called Primary components.

Motherboard

o It is the Main circuit board accommodates Processor slot, Chipset, Front side bus, Controller bus, RAM Slots, Extension slots (PCI), Controllers & Connectors for internal components, Ports for KBD & Mouse, USB Ports, Display Connector, Audio processing circuitry and connectors for Speakers & Microphone, Parallel port for printer connection, Serial port for data communication etc..

Processor
o It is the brain of the computer. Data Processing and Execution of the task is performed in it.

CPU Heat sink & Fan

Heat sink and Fan is placed on the top of the processor to maintain the temperature at pre defined level. The Speed of fan can be controlled based on the heat generated by the processor.

RAM
o RAM (Random Access Memory) is a Semiconductor Memory used as a temporary storage supporting the processor. CPU retrieves the raw data from RAM and pushes the processed data to it.

Floppy Disk Drive
o Used to read, write Floppy disks

Hard disk
o It is a Magnetic memory device used for bulk/ permanent storage. The data stored in this can be retrieved based on requirement.

Optical Drive
o Optical drives are used to read /Write (Depends on Drive) data from the optical media called CDROM, DVD ROMs. These Optical media can store huge amount of data ranging from 700 MB to 4.5 GB compared to Floppy disk capacity of 1.44 MB. Some of the advantage are data portability and data retention.

SMPS
o Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) Converts the AC input into DC out put. The Out put Voltages are constant irrespective of the input Voltage. The DC Out of the SMPS will be fed to various components of Computer . SMPS connects to motherboard on SMPS power connector . Different color of wires provides different voltages on output . Even connectors are also specifically used for separate devices or peripherals .

Add on Cards – Modem, Network card, PCI Express Card etc.
o Add on cards are used to expand the computer functionalities. These are attached to the PCI slots available on the motherboard. These are used based on requirement.

Modem card: enables the computer to connect to the internet
Network card: enables the computer to connect to the Local Network
PCI Express card: Used display high end 3D graphics

In addition to above mentioned devices, there are two more devices that are though attached externally are called computer components. These are keyboard and mouse.