Computer Hardware 2
RAM, CPU and Motherboards
RAM (Random Access Memory)
the hard drive RAM requires power in order to keep the data accessible, if power is lost all data contained in memory lost.
As the computer loads parts of the operating system and drivers are loaded into memory, which allows the CPU to process the instructions much faster and your computer to load faster. After the operating system has loaded, each program you open such as the browser you're using to view this page is loaded into memory while it is running. If too many programs are open the computer will swap the data in the memory between the RAM and the hard disk drive.
Over the evolution of computers there has been several different variations of RAM used in computer. Some of the more common examples are DIMM, RIMM, SIMM, SO-DIMM and SOO-RIMM.
CPU (Central Proccessing Unit)
It is sometimes referred to as the brain of the computer, processor, central processor, or microprocessor, the CPU was first developed at Intel with the help of Ted Hoff in the early 1970's and is short for Central Processing Unit. The computer CPU is responsible for handling all instructions it receives from hardware and software running on the computer.