What is the chassis?

A plastic or metal enclosure that houses most of the computer's components

What is the motherboard?

The main component of a computer; an electronic circuit board

What is the CPU?

The Central Processing Unit, or brain of the computer. It manages communications and resources to other processors

What are GPUs used for?

Gaming and AI applications

What does the chipset determine?

How many high-speed components or USB devices the motherboard can support

What is RAM?

Random Access Memory; volatile storage

What is volatile storage?

Storage that is erased when you shut down your computer

What is an external/expansion bus?

Communication pathways between the CPU/memory and peripheral devices; it transfers data between computer components

What is a hard drive?

Permanent/non-volatile storage

What is an HDD?

Hard Disk Drive; mechanical, slower, prone to failure, and best for long-term storage

What is an SSD?

Solid State Drive; faster (similar to RAM) and more expensive

What is the main difference between an HDD and SSD?

An HDD is mechanical and slower; an SSD is faster but more expensive

What is a CMOS battery?

A small, coin-shaped battery on the motherboard that powers the CMOS chip and preserves settings such as the system date, time, and hardware configuration

What are the three system unit external components listed

Bays, slots, and ports

What is an expansion slot?

Mostly found in desktop computers; used to insert modem cards, wireless-access cards, and other PC cards that may not be internal to the system unit

What is an expansion card?

A card used with an expansion slot, such as a modem card, wireless-access card, or other PC card

What are ports used for?

To connect additional input, output, storage, and communication devices

What is an example of a port that provides wireless data transmission?

IrDA (Infrared Data Association) port

What is a Network Interface Card (NIC)?

A network card that supports wired or wireless connections.

What are the two network connection types shown?

Wired and wireless

What is the power supply?

A critical computer component that supplies power; it can be located on the side, front, or back of the computer

What does a heat sink do?

Together with the cooling fan, it keeps the processor from overheating

What are input devices?

Devices used to enter data into an information system

What input devices are listed in the PowerPoint?

Keyboards, magnetic ink character recognition, touch-tone devices, digital cameras, biometric devices, and voice input devices

What are output devices?

Devices that transform computer-readable data back into an information format

What are examples of output devices?

Display screens, printers, and plotters

What are the two types of printers?

Impact and non-impact

What is an impact printer?

A dot-matrix/typewriter-like printer; it has lower cost and quality