The Coponents of the System Unit

1. The System Unit

1.1. Drive bay(s)

1.2. Power supply

1.3. Sound card

1.4. Video card

1.5. Processor

1.6. Memory

2. Processor

2.1. Multi-core processor

2.2. Dual-core processor

2.3. Quad-core processor

3. Buses

3.1. PCI bus

3.2. PCI Express

3.3. Accelerated Graphics Port

3.4. USB and FireWire bus

3.5. PC Card bus

4. Bays

4.1. A drive bay typically holds disk drives

5. Data Representation

5.1. Analog signals are continuous and vary in strength and quality

5.2. Digital signals are in one of two states: on or off

6. Memory

6.1. The operating system and other system software

6.2. Application programs

6.3. Data being processed and the resulting information

6.4. Volatile memory

6.4.1. Loses its contents when power is turned off

6.4.2. Example includes RAM

6.5. Nonvolatile memory

6.5.1. Does not lose contents when power is removed

6.5.2. Examples include ROM, flash memory, and CMOS

7. Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards

7.1. Plug and Play,

7.2. Memory cards, USB flash drives, and PC Cards/ExpressCard modules

8. Ports and Connectors

8.1. USB port

8.2. Firewire port

8.3. Bluetooth port

8.4. SCSI port

8.5. eSATA port

8.6. IrDA port

8.7. Serial port

8.8. MIDI port