Hardware vs. Software Hardware is the physical part of the computer, something that you can hold in your hand. Software, or a program, allows users to perform specific tasks such as word processing, browsing the internet, editing photos, checking email, ect.. A computer needs both hardware and software is order to be used. Hardware is what's used to make it power on and perform while software is used to tell the computer which functions to perform. A computer cannot be a computer without both hardware and software. Let's take a look at both terms more specifically.

Hardware Let's focus on hardware for a while. The following is a list of items that usually comes with a standard PC, or personal computer; motherboard, processor, hard drive, RAM, power supply, optical drive, case. That's it! That's what most PCs come with as far as hardware is concerned. Now let's break it down piece by piece.

Motherboard This is the main circuit board that everything else connects to. It's named motherboard because it acts like a "mother" to all the other components in that it controls everything they do. Most motherboards have integrated parts to them. If you look at the back of a computer you will see a plate that most things plug in to such as; sound, Ethernet, video and USB. Those connections, or ports, are directly connected to the motherboard and cannot be taken out or replaced without replacing the entire motherboard. This applies to desktop computers as well as laptops.

Of course there's always a way to upgrade your hardware components by way of a PCI slot. PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect (note that it is ALWAYS simply called PCI). PCI slots allow the ability to add different devices to the computer such as; sound, video, modem, TV tuner, wireless, and many, many, many others. Just about any device that you want to add to a computer will plug into a PCI slot. The only device that may be better suited for a different slot is a video card. Video cards can use different technology such as AGP and PCI Express in order to plug into the motherboard. These technologies simply allow faster processing. If you're not into games, or gaming, then you really don't need to worry about that right now.

The motherboard plays the most important role in making a computer run. If your motherboard goes bad then most people have to bring their computer in to get it replaced. It's not an easy thing to replace, because there are so many things connected to it. If it's an older computer then it might be cheaper just to get a whole new computer. Technology moves so fast that a 5 year old motherboard is difficult to even find a replacement for.

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