What's Inside Your Desktop?

Intro

In this DEV post I will be going over the components in a computer, there functionality, and how they communicate with each other. So of course lets start with the hardware.

Hardware

A computer has a multitude of different parts to accomplish specific functions. Operating systems have a larger roll in how our hardware communicates with each other, but for now lets examine these parts and what they do!

• CPU
  People call the Central Computing Unit the brain of a computer, and for good reason. Its main task is to calculate instructions from our ram, and execute those instructions to our other hardware components for say rendering with our GPU or collecting data from our ram or storage devices.

• Motherboard
  The motherboard is the glue keeping all our components together.
  Its where we place all our parts so that they can communicate with each other. Motherboards come in varying sizes and different CPU chip slots (Intel, AMD).

• Power supply
  The PSU (power supply unit) converts AC power from the wall outlet to unregulated DC while reducing the voltage by using a input power transformer. This power is transferred to the rest of the parts.

• GPU
  The Graphics processing unit has dedicated memory to a variety of graphically intensive tasks, but most popularly VFX rendering and graphically intensive video games.

• RAM
  The Random access memory stores temporary memory till the computer is shutdown, an example of this is the copied text in the clipboard

• HDD/HHD/SSD (storage)
  A hard disk drive, hybrid drive, and solid state drive all have the important task of storing long term memory for continues use. All software on a computer is stored here from the operating system to .txt files.

Software

Our software contains the operating system and applications we download on that system to communicate to our hardware. Common operating systems run in an infinitely loop to continuously run, common operating systems in use are Windows, Linux, and Mac-OS. The browser is another important piece of software allowing connection to the world wide web for installation of other software. The software is a critical component to operating a computer, but the communication between the hardware is just as if not more important.

communication between hardware and software

All software installed are constantly making checks through the CPU for user input. CPU's usually contain integrated graphics to allow for rendering of the basic's like the operating system, but the process is usually done by the GPU.

When a user input is made like moving the mouse, the CPU calculates the current position of the mouse on the screen and gets the GPU or integrated graphics to re-render the location of the mouse. Clicking on applications like a browser, references the original file in the storage device and the RAM keeps track of the number of tabs in the browser.

This is only a small example of the amount work done by your computer to keep everything running in order smoothly, and the process of can alter depending on the software in use.

conclusion

The desktop computer uses all its parts in tandem with each other to keep installed software running effectively and smoothly. My personal favorite part about these machines are the ability to upgrade any part individually when ever you want. The links below are the sources used for this DEV post and I hope I gave you a better understanding of the computer you may be on right now.