Motherboard Further Information Click on the image for details about each component

Motherboard A motherboard, also known as a mainboard, logic board, or system board, and sometimes abbreviated as mobo, is the central or primary circuit board making up a complex electronic system, such as a computer. A typical computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other basic components on the motherboard. Other components of the computer such as external storage, control circuits for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via ribbon cables, other cables, and power connectors. Back

Parallel Port For Printers In computing, a parallel port is an interface from a computer system where data are transferred in or out in parallel, that is, on more than one wire. A parallel port carries one bit on each wire thus multiplying the transfer rate obtainable over a single cable (contrast serial port). There are also several extra wires on the port that are used for control and status signals to indicate when data are ready to be sent or received, initiate a reset, indicate an error condition (such as paper out), and so forth. For the most part, the USB interface has replaced the parallel port - most modern printers are connected through a USB connection, and often don't even have a parallel port connection. On many modern (2006) computers, the parallel port is omitted for cost savings, and is considered to be a legacy port. Back

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) The Peripheral Component Interconnect standard (in practice almost always shortened to PCI) specifies a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. These devices can take the form of: integrated circuits fitted on the motherboard itself (called planar devices in the PCI specification); or expansion cards that fit in sockets. The PCI bus is common in modern PCs, where it has displaced ISA and VESA Local Bus as the standard expansion bus, but it also appears in many other computer types. The bus will eventually be succeeded by PCI Express and other technologies, which have already started to appear in new computers. The PCI specification covers the physical size of the bus (including wire spacing), electrical characteristics, bus timing, and protocols. Back

Power Supply A power supply unit (sometimes abbreviated power supply or PSU) is a device or system that supplies electrical or other types of energy to an output load or group of loads. The term is most commonly applied to electrical energy supplies. The power supply is a small box inside the computer; it is an important part of a computer because it provides power in a form that is suitable for every other component inside or attached to the computer in order for it to work. If only a small voltage is needed the main supply of power needs to be transformed to a suitable level in order for the component to work. Back

Central Processing Unit (CPU) A central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer that interprets instructions and processes data contained in software. CPUs provide the fundamental digital computer trait of programmability, and are one of the core components found in almost all modern microcomputers, along with primary storage and input/output facilities. A CPU that is manufactured using integrated circuits, often just one, is known as a microprocessor. Since the mid-1970s, single-chip microprocessors have almost totally replaced all other types of CPUs, and today the term "CPU" almost always applies to some type of microprocessor. Back

Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) BIOS, in computing, stands for Basic Input/Output System or Basic Integrated Operating System. BIOS refers to the software code run by a computer when first powered on. The primary function of BIOS is to prepare the machine so other software programs stored on various media (such as hard drives, floppies, and CDs) can load, execute, and assume control of the computer. This process is known as booting up. Back

CD-ROM/Hard Drive A drive is a peripheral device attached to a computer to access the information stored on a mass storage medium. In some types of drive, the storage medium is permanently sealed inside the device. In others, the medium can be replaced with varying levels of difficulty. Also, some drives with permanently attached media are designed to be portable as a whole. Mass storage devices are characterized by: Transfer speed Seek time Cost Capacity Back

Computer Speakers Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers, are external speakers and are usually equipped with a male- end phone plug for computer sound cards; however, there are some that have female RCA (phono) plug ports, and some people link computer sound cards to nearby stereo systems. Computer speakers are usually a simplified stereo system without a radio or other media sources built in. Typically, the simplest computer speakers come with computers. There are advanced forms of computer speakers that have graphic equalization features (bass, treble, etc.) for dynamic audio flexibility. Back

Keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral modeled after the typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters, and also to control the operation of the computer. Physically, computer keyboards are an arrangement of rectangular or near-rectangular buttons, or "keys". Keyboards typically have characters engraved or printed on the keys; in most cases, each press of a key corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously, or in sequence; other keys do not produce any symbol, but instead affect the operation of the computer, or the keyboard itself. See input method editor. A 102-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout Roughly 50% of all keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters). Other keys can produce actions when pressed, and other actions are available by simultaneously pressing more than one action key. Back