Every computer consists of hardware and software components. The hardware is usually described as a device connected to a computer, being made up of those types of components within a computer that can be touched. Some examples within the computer hardware list of components are the CD-ROM, the monitor, the printer and the video card. Both the software and the hardware components are very important for the well functioning of a computer. Without these types of components it would not be possible for a PC to function properly.

There are also examples of external hardware devices from which a very well-known example is the webcam. This device offers us the possibility to have basic videos, to transmit certain types of videos and also to take pictures.

CD-ROM drivers (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), one of the main components on the computer hardware list are CD-players within a computer, which are used for playing audio CDs and also the ones including computer data. They can have different types and ranges of speeds. For someone who wants to connect a device like this to his or her computer it is important to know that it is needed a certain interface for this connection to be made possible. In this respect, there are many types of interfaces that could allow for the CD-ROM to be connected to the computer. There are the IDE/ATA, the PCMCIA (PC Card), the SATA, the SCSI and the USB.  The first within this list is the IDE/ATA type of interface, the most commonly used nowadays. The PC Card is sometimes used to connect external disk drives to computers, and in most of the case to laptops.

Another important component among the computer hardware list is the monitor. It is also known as VDT (video display terminal). There are two basic types of computer monitors nowadays: the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) type and the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) one.  The CRT and the LCD are considered to be the main and in the same time most expensive parts included in computer monitor.

The printer is another component that appears on the computer hardware list. The type of printer that someone might choose for his or her computer depends on what that person really intends to do with it, whether to print pictures, images, or to generate a great number of different pages, or even make certain types of copies. Among the many types of printers that can be found on the market nowadays, a few are known to be the ones produced by companies such as: Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard, Epson and Canon.

Other important components within a computer hardware list are the keyboard and the motherboard. What is important about these components is to find some that will not make you experience any dropouts, or latency and other types of known problems. The motherboard is usually used as an interface between the device called CPU and the devices retaining the memory within a computer. Among these devices that retain information within a computer are known to be the CPU, the RAM, the disk drives or other devices that can be connected to a computer using so-called expansion slots.

The CPU is known to be as the main important component that has to execute the instructions received from a consumer. It has a very important role within a computer as it enables it to really function. It has been considered by some of the people who used it the brain of a computer. The central processing unit needs to be cooled, so as to function appropriately. This can be made by using a heat sink and fan.  The CPU can be connected to other various components within the computer through the internal buses. These are known as either current ones or obsolete. Among the current ones the better known are the PCI express and the SATA.  The PCI express is used for different types of graphics and certain network interfaces types. The SATA is known to be especially for the disk drives. Among the obsolete components there are usually mentioned the ATA, the AGP, the VLB VESA Local Bus and the ISA. There are also so-called external bus controllers, among which important to be mentioned are the USB, the ESATA, the SCSI and the Fire wire.

The RAM device is known to be as the component which has to deal with temporary storage of certain information within a computer that is required to be kept within that PC. RAM stands for the so-called random access memory. The permanent information that has to be stored on a computer is being kept within the hard drive.

Also very important for the well functioning of a computer is the power supply found on the computer hardware list. This is because its role is to power all of the important computer devices and components. The computer could not function without this device.

There is another important device which helps with the communication between the central processing unit and other parts of the computer system and memory. This device is called the chip set.

Also very important to be mentioned among the computer hardware list of components is the video display controller, which is very important within a PC because it produces the necessary output for it. The video display controller can be either attached to the motherboard or in a specific slot, such as PCI, PCI=E, AGP, etc. It usually appears as a graphic card in representation. Also very important is the sound card, which enables the PC to give sound to certain audio devices and also to accept input from other devices such as a microphone might be. It is possible for the sound card to be kept in the motherboard or, more fashionable it is to have a separate sound card installed within a computer.

Nowadays, almost everyone has a computer because all of us need to use it for many different types of activities. It is very important to know that a computer is made up of both software and hardware, about which we have to know the important features so that we might know how to improve our computer and its different accessories and features.