Hardware Components of a Computer

Hardware components that every computer has are:

  1. The motherboard is a large board-like chip hosting multiple devices and chips that are essential for the computer's operation, such as the CPU, RAM (memory), cache, graphics cards (GPU), buses and wires connection all these devices, and many more. Every modern desktop and laptop computer, every cell phone device, and many other devices have a motherboard.
    Top view of the ~25x20 cm flat green desktop computer's motherboard, featuring (right to left) two memory chips, a cpu chip, and a graphics card.

    Motherboard, Top View. Miriam Briskman, CC BY-NC 4.0.

    An oblique-angle view of a desktop computer's green-colored motherboard, featuring (right to left) two memory chips, a cpu chip, and a graphics card.

    Motherboard, Oblique-Angle View. Miriam Briskman, CC BY-NC 4.0.

These notes by Miriam Briskman are licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 and based on sources.