Hardware and Buses: Computer Science OCR: GCSE (9:1)

Data Bus

Used to transport data to and from memory and the CPU.

Address Bus

Used to transport the addresses of data between the CPU and memory.

Control Bus

Used to transport command around the CPU and communicate signals with other components.

Motherboard

Circuit board which all other components connect to.

Hardware

The physical components which make up a computer system.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Volatile memory which will temporarily store data and instructions which are currently being executed by the CPU. Loses all contents once the computer is turned off.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The part of the computer which completes all the instructions. Referred to as the brain of the computer.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

Processing unit specifically designed to perform scientific calculations to speed up the processing of graphics based applications.

Peripherals

Term given to the input and output devices with by a computer.

Power Supply Unit (PSU)

The component which supplies the power to a computer system.

Read Only Memory (ROM)

Non-volatile memory which retains its contents when the computer is turned off, and can not be changed.

Sound Card

A component attached to the motherboard which allows the use of audio devices to hear multimedia.