Internal Hardware

Internal Hardware

1. Power supply

   • Alternating Current Rectification (CA -> CC)
   • Feeds the computer electrically
   • Voltage Reduction: 120-230V -> 3-12V
   • A fan is included to prevent overheating

2. Motherboard

   • Microprocessor
     • Small chip (or integrated circuit) to process information ("brain")
     • It is made of millions of tiny transistors, divided in cores (núcleos)
     • Its processing frequency is measured in GHz (billions of times per second)
     • Intel (core i3, i5, i7) and AMD are the most known brands.
     • It must be cooled down with a fan to prevent overheating
   • RAM Memory
     • Random Access Memory (Memoria de Acceso Aleatorio)
     • Reading and Writing Memory
     • It is fast but has a lower capacity (2GB - 8GB)
     • Good for multitasking functions
     • Information is deleted when turning off the computer (Short-term or volatile memory)
   • Ports
     • Electrical connections that make it possible to communicate the microprocessor with the peripheral devices
       • VGA port: Monitors
         • USB ports: Keyboard, mouse, pen drives and other devices
           • HDMI: TV, computers, etc
             • Network port: Internet
               • Sound: Speakers
   • Expansion Slots
     • These slots are able to connect expansion cards in order to add memory, graphic cards, etc.
   • ROM Memory
     • Read Only Memory (Memoria de Solo Lectura)
     • Information is NOT deleted when turning off the computer (Permanent or non volatile memory)
     • Information may be seen but not modified (OS)

3. Hard Drive

   • High capacity storage device (1-2TB)
     • Information is NOT lost when turning off the computer
       • Files, programs and the operating system are permanently stored in it
         • There are attached, movable and external hard drives
           • Reading and writing memory
             • It is made of one or more disks and a read/write head

4. CD/DVD units

   • Optical memory devices allow us to read and save info in a CD or DVD
     • Compact Disc capacity (audio): 700-800MB.
       • Disco Versátil Digital capacity (vídeo): 4,7-8,5GB
         • There are 3 types of CD/DVD: ROM (Read only), R (Writable, just once) or RW (ReWritable, multiple times)

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