Computer Concepts: Hardware

Examples of hardware that is common to all computers are:

1. The motherboard is a board-shaped structure located inside a computer and is its main part: a computer cannot do calculation or remember short-term information without the elements located on it. Components on the motherboard include:
   1. The CPU (Central Processing Unit): This is the brain of the computer that performs calculations.
   2. The Chipset is set of usually 2 chips: the northbridge and the southbridge. These chips connect the CPU to other components on the motherboard (because after you calculated something, you need to store it or output it to the world!)
   3. RAM (Random-Access Memory) is the short-term memory of a computer. This memory has a limited size and is volatile (will be erased when the computer shuts down.) Therefore, you should periodically save your work on a computer!
   4. ROM (Read-Only Memory) stores a small program called BIOS that runs when the computer “boots” (turns on or restarts.) ROM is non-volatile, and cannot be deleted, and this is the reason is it a “read-only” part.