Interworkings of a Computer

An input device, output device, control unit, processor, and storage.

Many years have gone by since then, and the evolution of computers has changed dramatically giving us now what we have, PC's (Personal Computers). This brings me to the computer I have before me. I'm going to show you how to build a computer and the inter-workings of the system.

The first thing you need to look at is the tower/case/chassis, whichever you prefer to call it. The tower is the frame containing the mo

Then we get to the CPU (Central Processing Unit). The CPU is the brain or engine of the computer. First created by Intel in 1971, it's often the most expensive single component in your computer, sometimes costing three to four times more than the actual motherboard it attaches to. Processors evolve daily and processor speeds keep getting faster and faster as technolgy gets better. Clocking the speed of a processor is very interesting in a way that you'd think who would think up of an idea like this. Clock speeds are measured in frequency that is expressed in cycles per second. Clock speeds are controlled using silver quartz, which is sometimes contained in a tin container but most newer computers have the oscillator in the motherboard making it very hard to see. As voltage is applied to the quartz, it begins to vibrate (hence the name Oscillator) emitting oscillations in the form of a current that alternates at a harmonic rate. Thus giving you the processor's clock speed. Your average PC runs millions of these cycles per scond. You can obviously see how computers have evolved considering the first one made could only do sixty thousand operations per second.

The next thing we'll look at is the motherboard. The motherboard is the core of the system. This is where most of the action goes on in a computer. Every single device contained in the tower is conected to the motherboard and it controls everything it is connected to.

Then we have the video card. The video card controls the information you see on the moniter screen. The moniter requires a source of input which is where the video card comes into play. It provides an interface between the tower and moniter which transmits the signals that appear as images on the display. There are many types of video cards you can purchase varying on the kind of person you are just using your computer to write reports and surf the web to extreme gamers.

Some topics in this essay:
RAM RAM, Unit CPU, Memory Ram, Douglas Englebart, Personal Computers, Screens Lastly, Versatile Disk, Analytical Engine, Endine Concieved, Ray Tube, power supply, floppy drive, magnetic storage, video card, computer industry, head arms platters, head platter, inside hardrive, entire hardrive, analytical engine, head arms,