PC hardware covers the parts of your computer that make it run and operate, including its core components. This includes the motherboard, memory (RAM), hard disk drives or solid-state drives for data storage, graphics cards (GPUs), sound cards and more.
The chipset on a motherboard mediates communication between the CPU and main memory. The majority of current CPUs use the x86 ISA, which is based on Intel designs.
Motherboard
Motherboards act as a central “brain” for your computer, connecting each component and providing power. It has a number of expansion slots for adding things like graphics cards, sound cards and network controllers. It also has connectors for attaching storage devices, such as hard drives and solid-state drives.
The motherboard also contains space for random access memory, or RAM. This acts as a temporary warehouse for data that the CPU is actively working on, speeding up tasks and making it easier to open programs.
The motherboard has a chip that stores the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or its successor, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). This manages essential functions like booting up hardware during start-up and gives you a dashboard to adjust system settings.
Processor
The CPU is the brain of your computer, and it interprets instructions from applications. Getting the best CPU for your PC helps you stay productive and avoid frustrating delays when opening multiple apps or encountering incompatible software.
The CPU, or Central Processing Unit, is the most important piece of hardware in a computer. Everything from what you type on a keyboard (input) to the color of the background on your website or video game screen (output) comes down to math, and that is what the CPU does. The physical components of the CPU, which are mostly transistors, act as logic gates for binary sequences.
RAM
Basically, RAM acts as the servant that feeds information to the CPU and GPU. The higher its capacity, the more simultaneous tasks the processor can perform without slowing down.
It’s made of microchips filled with capacitors that hold and re-hold an electrical charge, and each memory cell has its own address line. To find a specific cell, the memory controller sends a row and column address down thin, etched lines on the chip.
There are two main types of RAM: SRAM and DRAM. SRAM has faster speeds but doesn’t last as long, and DRAM is cheaper but not as fast. DDR SDRAM increases performance by syncing up data connections to the motherboard with pins on the memory modules.
Graphics Card
The graphics card takes image information from the CPU and turns it into the pixels (tiny squares of color) on a monitor or display. It then adds lighting, texture and color to those pixels to create the final image.
A GPU also uses a type of memory called video RAM to hold data and completed images, which is separate from the system’s main RAM. This helps it perform faster.
Discrete cards use their own memory, while integrated GPUs (also known as IGPs or unified memory architectures) use a portion of the system’s main RAM. Both types require power, and the amount varies by model.
Sound Card
The sound card provides the connection between the digital realm of the computer and analog audio devices like speakers. Sound cards manage the flow of audio input and output, ensuring that everything is synchronized and that volume levels are correct.
A sound card’s analog-to-digital converter (ADC) converts analog sound waves into digital data by taking precise measurements at a rate called sampling. The faster the sample rate, the more accurate the reconstructed wave.
Early IBM PCs did not have integrated sound capabilities, and the earliest PC games used simple beeps as music. This changed with the introduction of Creative Labs’ Sound Blaster line of cards for ISA and PCI slots in the 1980s.
Network Card
A network card is a computer expansion card that allows your PC, laptop, or other device to connect to a wired or wireless network. You can find cards that support different connection standards, including ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), and USB.
NICs have a central control chip that acts like a mini CPU, processing data that’s sent to and from the card. This determines the card’s performance. Choosing one depends on the type of network you want to join, your budget, and other specifications such as security system capability. Most modern desktop computers come with a built-in Ethernet port. If yours doesn’t, you can add a standalone NIC in an open expansion slot.