OVERVIEW OF COMPUTER HARDWARE

COMPUTER HARDWARE

Computer hardware efers to the physical component of the computer system.

It is every physical part of the computer system that can be seen and torch e.g. Keyboard, mouse, screw, motherboard etc.

The components of the computer hardware are:

SYSTEM UNIT  AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES

SYSTEM UNIT/DEVICE

This is the part of a computer that houses the primary devices that performs operations and produce results of complex calculations. It is also known as the Main Unit which contains all the main parts of a computer.

The system unit consist of the following components:

1. Motherboard
2. Central Processing Unit
3. Memory Unit
4. Power Pack
5. GPU (Graphic Processing Unit)

PERIPHERAL DEVICE/UNIT

These are hardware devices, which SUPPORT the system unit to carry out its processing activities. They are hardware that can be connected directly or indirectly to the System Unit. They are classified into 3 main units (i.e. groups), which are;

1. Input Unit
2. Output Unit
3. Storage or Memory Unit

Input Unit

This unit comprises of devices, which help the computer to enter data. Examples of such devices are keyboard, mouse, light pen, digital camera, barcode reader, joystick, scanner, touch pad, touch screen, microphone, trackball, etc.

Output Unit

This unit comprises of devices, which help the computer to present result of processing to the user. Examples of such devices are monitor (or VDU), printer, speaker, projector, graph plotter, etc. Hence these devices are called output devices.

Storage Unit or Memory Unit

This is the unit, which helps the computer to store data (input), information (output) and installed programs.

This unit is further divided into:

1. Primary memory
2. Secondary memory

EVALUATION

1. Define the term hardware and Peripheral.
2. List the major components of the System Unit.
3. Give 5 examples each of devices which belong to the following hardware units;

[a] INPUT                [b] OUTPUT          [c] STORAGE