click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Hardware Terms
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Computer’s physical components Monitor, keyboard, memory, hard drive |
| Software | Directs hardware to accomplish a task, Input, processing, storage, output |
| Binary number system | Stores and reads two states 0 or 1, On or Off, True or False, etc |
| Bit | short for “binary digit”, Smallest unit of computing |
| Byte | eight bits, Used for counting, calculation, storage operations |
| Motherboard | Largest, most important circuit board Contains the CPU, expansion slots, other device |
| Central processing unit (CPU) | Also called: processor, microprocessor Reads input, processes data, writes data to storage |
| Chipset | Group of microchips on the motherboard controlling data flow |
| Primary storage | Temporary storage used by the processor |
| Secondary storage | Enables data to persist after machine turned off |
| Hard drives | Main secondary computer storage device |
| Optical drives | RW can write to a disk |
| Traces | Fine lines on top and bottom of the motherboard’s surface |
| Bus | System of pathways, transmission protocols |
| Video Card | provides a port for the monitor |
| Sound Card | provides ports for speakers and microphones |
| Network Card | provides a port for a network cable |
| Power supply | Most important electrical component Converts AC voltage external source to DC voltage |
| BIOS (basic input/output system) | Data and instructions stored on ROM chips ROM BIOS chips: type of firmware |
| CMOS RAM | includes date, time, port configurations Flash ROM ROM chips that can be overwritten |