Hardware Software Liveware

System Unit
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
also called The Chip, Microprocessor or simply The Processor

Main Memory (RAM) Storage Devices

Input Devices
Output Devices

CPU or microprocessor is often described as the brain of a computer CPU is an integrated circuit or chip which processes instructions and data. CPU speed or CPU performance is measured by the completed Instruction Cycles Per Second (IPS).
Currently, CPU speeds range from 600 megahertz (MHz or million cycles per second) to 4 gigahertz (GHz or billion cycles per second).

Processing performance of computers is increased by using

multi-core processors, which essentially is plugging two or more individual processors (called cores in this sense) into one integrated circuit.

(Eg: Intel Core i5, AMD Phenom II X4, )

RAM or Random Access Memory

It is a volatile type of memory Holds instructions for processing data, processed data, and raw data. Ram is measured by:
Capacity (in Megabytes or Gigabytes) Frequency (in MHz)

Amount of RAM installed will determine.

Which software applications will run

(efficiently)? How many software applications can be open simultaneously? (multitasking ability)

Types of RAM: SRAM (Static RAM) DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

Magnetic storage devices store data by magnetizing particles on a disk or tape.

Optical storage devices store data as light and dark spots on the disk surface.

Hard Disk Drives

Capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB or billions of bytes). Typically permanently installed. Used to store operating system, application software, utilities and data. Magnetic storage device.

Other Storage Devices : CD, DVD, BD External Hard Drives USB Flash Drive (Pen drive or Thumb drive)

Input devices gather and translate data into a form the computer understands. Primary input device:
Keyboard - Most common input device; used to

type in commands and data. Mouse or Trackball enhances users ability to input commands, manipulate text, images. Touchpad or Touchscreen Joystick useful for Gaming

Scanners

Webcams
Microphones

Monitors are the most commonly used output device.

Most monitors use a bitmap (Raster) display.
Allows user to resize the display.
Divides the screen into a matrix of tiny square dots

called pixels. The more dots a screen can display, the higher the resolution of the monitor. For example: CRT(Cathode Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

Other output devices: Speakers Printers Projectors

Thank You!