Hardware

Hardware is best described as a device that is physically connected to your computer or something that can be physically touched. Most hardware will contain a circuit board, ICs, and other electronics. A perfect example of hardware is a computer monitor, which is an output device that lets you see what you're doing on the computer. Without any hardware, your computer would not exist, and software would not be able to run. In the image to the right, is a webcam and an example of an external hardware peripheral that allows users to make videos or pictures and transmit them over the Internet.

Internal hardware examples

• Blu-Ray, CD-ROM, and DVD
• CPU
• Hard drive
• Motherboard
• RAM
• Sound card
• Video card

External hardware examples

• Flat-panel, Monitor, and LCD
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Printer
• Scanner

What are hardware upgrades?

A hardware upgrade is any new hardware that replaces or adds to old hardware in the computer. A good example of a common hardware upgrade is a RAM upgrade, where the user is increasing the computers total memory, which will increase its overall speed and efficiency. Another good example is doing a video card upgrade, which is the act of removing the old video card and replacing it with a new video card that is much more capable than the previously installed video card, again increasing the capabilities of the computer.

• Additional information with installing computer hardware.

Other computer hardware related questions

• What are the differences between hardware and software?
• How to install and add hardware to the computer.
• All computer hardware questions and answers.
• Full listing of computer hardware devices, support, and help.

Also see: Component, Device driver, ESD, Hardware conflict, Hardware definitions, Hardware monitor,Internal, Peopleware, Peripheral, Phantom, Physical, Upgrade, Vendor ID, Wetware