PC101-Personal Computer 101
What are the basic hardware components of a modern PC?

The Basic hardware devices of a PC are:
  1. A case to hold the HW devices, cables and connectors
  2. A motherboard that hosts memory, CPU, BIOS, ports (inc. USB) and other cards
  3. A power supply usually with a fan
  4. A hard disk drive to store SW (data, applications and OS)
  5. A modem to connect to the internet, plugged into the motherboard
  6. Either a video card or onboard video (on the motherboard)
  7. Either a sound card or onboard sound (on the motherboard
  8. A CD or CD/DVD with read/write capabilities
  9. an ethernet card for networking
  10. A set of stereo sound speakers
  11. A monitor display, mouse and keyboard
Other optional HW devices are:
  • a floppy drive
  • wireless and/or infared capability
  • a printer, scanner, fax, copier
  • a backup device (e.g. zip drive)
  • memory media reader
  • game controller and/or joystick
For much more information on optional devices see the question:
What HW peripherals/optional devices do I need?

To see a motherboard click here.

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