Part 1. Motherboard & CPU (processor)
We'll start with the basis of your computer, the
motherboard. We start here because this is the
component that every other component connects to. The
motherboard is responsible for carrying information to
and from every component. To do this it uses what is
known as a "bus" and for good reason.
The motherboard can be thought of as a city and to demonstrate i want you to picture an aerial shot of a city where all the little people are signals from the components and all these people are using busses to get around the city. The busses carry all the little people around the city using lanes (roads) dropping them off at different places. Thinking of it this way makes it easier to understand because that is how a motherboard works.
Motherboard connections
Connecting components to the motherboard is simple as they just slot right in. Each component has a different type of slot so there's no way you can put the wrong component in the wrong slot! The motherboard has other connections for all your external devices like the keyboard, mouse and USB devices such as printers and scanners.
Power
All components need power to run and the motherboard is responsible for sending small regulated volts to each component connected to it. The motherboard draws its power from the power supply (PSU) and then feeds it to each component. Components are very sensitive and any slight fluctuation in voltage can easily damage them so the motherboard plays a crucial role in getting it just right.
The Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU is the brainchild of your computer. It is
very powerful yet so small! The CPU is responsible for
carrying out all your computer functions and
instructions for your programs. Everything you do on
your computer is being processed by the CPU so that it
is displayed in a way you can understand on your
screen.
Each time you press a key on the keyboard you are sending an instruction to the CPU. To demonstrate how the CPU receives this data we will type a word. When we type the word QWERTY that is what we see on the screen but the CPU sees zeros and ones like this 0110100. It's the job of the CPU to turn that data into what we want to see.
Zero's & One's
The CPU is a mathematical genius and it's primary role is to calculate numbers. Every function of a computer is mathematical and the CPU calculates lots of data very fast. All this speed creates heat and to keep it cool, a heat block is placed on top with a fan attached. Without this the CPU would simply burn out almost instantly!
Dual & Quad Core
The CPU has come a long way since the days I began using computers. Most chips now are either dual or quad core which simply means there are either 2 or 4 processors respectively on a single chip. This is great as it enables you to multitask and puts less strain on a single processor because the work is shared between them.
So that is a basic explanation of the Motherboard and the CPU of course there is allot more to it than that but unless you're a computer geek like me that's all you need to know...