Internal hardware components, cost, image and function

Motherboard (OEM video cards belong here)




CPU

Power Supply

Card expansions (i.e. sound card, video card, etc.)

Also, there's bunches of fans (mainly the CPU fan, chassis fan, and graphics card fan)

Hard Drive[s]

CD/DVD/Floppy disk drives

Adapters, if you need them



a. Power Supply - The power supply comes with the case, but this component is mentioned separately since there are various types of power supplies. The one you should get depends on the requirements of your system. This will be discussed in more detail later

b. Motherboard - This is where the core components of your computer reside which are listed below. Also the support cards for video, sound, networking and more are mounted into this board.



i. Microprocessor - This is the brain of your computer. It performs commands and instructions and controls the operation of the computer.

ii. Memory - The RAM in your system is mounted on the motherboard. This is memory that must be powered on to retain its contents.

iii. Drive controllers - The drive controllers control the interface of your system to your hard drives. The controllers let your hard drives work by controlling their operation. On most systems, they are included on the motherboard, however you may add additional controllers for faster or other types of drives.

2) RAM- Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order (i.e., at random). "Random" refers to the idea that any piece of data can be returned in a constant time, regardless of its physical location and whether or not it is related to the previous piece of data.