PC main components

 

• CPU (Central Processing Unit): It develops the basic arithmetic operations and commands for the PC to work, it is composed by cores, which are at the same time made by threads, which are made of microscopic transistors, which are about 14nm big (this depends on the creation method used and the brand that made it), for comparison see that a red blood cell is about 6000nm big so it is impossible to look at the transistors without a microscope.

The number of laps that the electrons do to the circuits in the CPU are called cycles, which are controlled by an electronic device made of quartz called clock, these cycles are measured in Hz (frequency) which indicate how many cycles (or tasks) are made in a processor in one second. 

EXAMPLE:

If a CPU has a basic frequency of 3,5 GHz, this means that 3,5 bllion cycles are done in the processor in one second.

• RAM (Random Access Memory): It serves as a memory for the CPU to work with certain elements used for the ongoing tasks, this is used because the main storage system of the PC is very slow compared with it, there’s a common question about this: “If this memory is faster than the main storage, then, why it is not transformed into the main storage memory of the PC?” Well, this is because this memory is volatile, which means that when the PCs are switched off all the stored data is deleted, it is something like what happens with the PCs in high the school.

• Cache: This memory is much smaller than the RAM but it’s faster and it is used for the same purpose, the reason why this isn’t transformed into the main storage system is because the electric circuits that compose it are very big and this would be a problem when making the cache bigger.

• HDD (Hard disk drive): It is the main storage of your PC and by difference the slowest memory in the PC it is composed by a magnetic pick that writes the information on  disks, this mechanisms is very slow in terms of electronics because the pick has to rotate all the disks to look for information, it is very similar to a turntable.

• GPU (Graphic Processing Unit): It is the part of the PC that works for graphic processing, it has its own RAM and processor designed specifically for this task.

• PSU (Power Supply Unit): It is the device built to power the PC by transforming the voltage in the home circuit to a suitable one for th PC to work.

• Motherboard: It is the big plate where you connect all the other components, it supports and connects them.