The main board in the computer, Also called the system board. The CPU, ROM chips, DIMMs, RIMMs, and interface cards are plugged into the motherboard
peripheral device
Devices that communicate with the CPU but are not located directly on the motherboard, such as the monitor, floppy drive, printer, and mouse
main board
See motherboard.
parallel port
A female 25–pin port on a computer that can transmit data in parallel, 8 bits at a time, and is usually used with a printer. The names for parallel ports are LPT1 and LPT2.
microprocessor
See central processing unit (CPU).
memory
Physical microchips that can hold data and programming, located on the motherboard or expansion cards.
magnetic hard drive
One of two technologies used by hard drives where data is stored as magnetic spots on disks that rotate at a high speed. The other technology is solid state drive (SSD).
power supply
A box inside the computer case that supplies power to the motherboard and other installed devices. Power supplies provide 3.3, 5, and 12 volts DC. Also called a power supply unit (PSU).
primary storage
Temporary storage on the motherboard used by the CPU to process data and instructions. Memory is considered primary storage.
megahertz (MHz)
One million Hz, or one million cycles per second. See hertz (Hz).
