Basic Parts of Computer

• Input
• Output
• CPU (Central Processing Unit)
• Memory

At the very least, a machine needs these four basic parts to be considered a computer.

Today we're going to talk about the basics of computer hardware.

Computers are made up of 4 basic parts: the input, output, CPU, and memory.

The input is what you're putting into the computer.

Think about mouse, keyboard, microphone, any way you're getting data into the computer.

The output is what you're watching on your monitor or listening to on your speakers.

These can both be any format like text, numbers, videos, images, what have you, it doesn't matter.

CPU stands for central processing unit, and that's what we all think of when we think of a computer.

It's what does the functions, it's what runs the software, it manipulates the data.

The memory is where we store data and information.

Now, the CPU has exclusive access to this memory.

You can't get to the memory from the input or the output without the use of the CPU.

So, just to review, we've got 4 basic parts of the computer: the input, the output, CPU, and memory.

In this video we cover the basic functions of a motherboard, expansion slots, and power supply.

Let's quickly review - the 4 basic parts of a computer are the input, like the mouse or the keyboard, the output, which is seen on the monitor or heard on the speakers, the CPU, the central processing unit, and the memory.

Now memory can be short term memory, called RAM, or longer term memory.

That's usually as a hard drive, but it can also be a CD-ROM or a flash drive, anything like that.

In addition to those four basic parts, we have three more things we're going to discuss today: the motherboard, expansion cards, and power supply.

The motherboard is what connects everything.

While the data's flying around over here trying to figure out where to go, the motherboard helps route it so it goes to the right place.

Expansion cards are sound cards, video cards, that kind of thing that can really up your experience as a user.

Power supply is, as it sounds, what gets power to the computer.

It's usually that part that has a fan on it to keep it from overheating.

So let's do a quick review.

In addition to the four basic parts of input, output, CPU, and memory, we also usually have a motherboard, expansion cards, and a power supply.