A computer system has many hardware devices. The input and output devices are linked to the system unit or the chassis or cabinet as shown in figure 1. A cabinet or chassis is the box or outer shell that houses the circuit board.
Various components in a chassis are –
Motherboard –Circuit board which acts as a backbone to which all other components are attached
CPU or Processor – The part which does calculations and is usually from AMD or Intel
Heat Sink – It is attached on top of CPU for providing air cooling to CPU.
Power supply – They are usually supplied with the chassis in the market. The power rating of the power supply (also called as SMPS) is dependent on the form factor of the chassis.
RAM modules – It acts as buffer between CPU and secondary memory with GBs of capacity.
Optical drive – It is either CD-ROM or DVD drive to read or write CDs or DVDs.
Hard Disk – It stores data in partitions and operating system is in it with capacity in GB.
Buttons – Buttons on chassis for power and reset to turn on or off or reset a computer.
LED and Miscellaneous Cables – LED indicate power and hard disk activity status. LED are present in the front of the chassis. Miscellaneous cables connect LED to the motherboard.