Most users, including even those who have begun acquaintance with computer systems relatively recently, are aware of a term such as Hardware. This is not discussed. Experienced users imagine what relates to this concept. But beginners are invited to take a short excursion and find out the essence of the issue more deeply, since not everyone knows what can be included here.
Hardware is ...
As you know, a computer operates on the basis of a combination of two main components - hardware devices (hardware) and software (software). And they are designated in computer terminology, respectively: Hardware - these are all “hardware” components, Software - a complete set of software, including operating systems, drivers and programs.
But for a full understanding of this topic, it is necessary to find out exactly which devices belong to the category called the hardware of the computer.
Main devices related to the hardware of the computer
Many novice users mistakenly believe that computer hardware, or Hardware, is exclusively those components that are inside the system unit of a stationary PC or laptop (motherboards, processors, RAM, hard drives, sound and video cards, optical drives, etc. . d.). This is actually a profound error.
The fact is that the concept of Hardware equally includes monitors, keyboards, mice, joysticks, peripheral output devices (printers, scanners, etc.), removable USB hard drives and drives, network equipment, external MIDI controllers and much more. In this case, we are talking about the fact that the concept of Hardware implies everything that, roughly speaking, can be touched by hands (and many Internet resources like Hardware.am give just such an interpretation, without offering to delve into technical terms). Next, we dwell on some important issues related to the operation of equipment.
Graphics Hardware
Consider some types of devices. As for the computer component called Graphics Hardware, it is easy to conclude that this is all that relates to the graphics system, which is responsible for visualizing the information received by the user.
Again, it is a mistake to assume that only graphics accelerators (video cards) are included here. As the saying goes, what good is it if there is no means of outputting the image they process. Thus, monitors are also included in the graphics system (like speakers for a sound system).
Optimal hardware configuration
You can often find a term such as Appropriate Graphics Hardware. What it is? If you look at the translation, we can conclude that this is the corresponding graphic equipment. But corresponding to what?
Many users, especially all those who are interested in computer games, face the so-called system requirements before installing modern games. In other words, for the program to work correctly in the system, certain conditions must be met regarding the type of processor, the recommended amount of RAM, free space on the hard drive, and, of course, the main characteristics of the video card. Without the required minimum configuration, the game will not work, but it may not even be installed on the computer, since most modern developments check the computer hardware before starting the installation process for compliance with the minimum requirements of the software itself, not to mention the availability correctly installed hardware drivers.
As for video cards, here, too, is not so simple. Many modern accelerators operate under the control of their own processors (GPUs), are equipped with dedicated operational memory, which is installed on the motherboard, and also have built-in sound systems. So, for example, if the game requires support for the 5.1 format, but the sound system of the graphics accelerator does not support it, you won’t get surround sound during the game, even though a professional or semi-professional sound card can be installed on your computer.
Acceleration issues
However, with a minimum discrepancy between the characteristics of the computer’s hardware and the requirements of the programs, many users still find a way out and are engaged in what computer terminology calls Hardware Acceleration (hardware acceleration of hardware devices). Such people are commonly called overclockers.
Even at the dawn of the development of computer technology, actions to accelerate the operation of systems were mainly attributed to overclocking processors in order to increase the operating clock frequency, and only physical reconfiguration methods were used.
A little later, the corresponding software appeared , and the need for physical intervention disappeared by itself. Today, you can speed up the work of the same video card using the appropriate utilities, many of which are designed specifically to optimize their work exclusively for computer games. And it's not even about speeding up the GPU or freeing up additional memory. Everything is much simpler - all such applications are aimed at increasing the frame rate (fps), since it is this indicator in most cases that determines the comfort of the gameplay. This is done so that the image does not jump or jump from one frame to another, complex graphic textures are displayed, etc.
Even Windows-based systems have built-in optimization tools for the computer’s graphics system, designed to eliminate problems with incorrect display of graphics on the screen.
But the principles of acceleration are applicable to a very limited extent. However, as it turns out, even for sound cards it is possible to perform optimization, for example, when working with virtual recording studios or music sequencers, the requirements of which for the hardware have recently increased quite significantly. This effect is achieved through the use of special operating modes (for example, Full Duplex Mode) or the installation of special drivers (the most famous ASIO4ALL), which can change the sound settings in a very wide range, including sampling frequency, sound depth, bit rate, etc.
The overall result
Here is a brief summary of everything that relates to basic concepts related to computer hardware. As a main result, the average user should understand that not only the internal filling of the PC belongs to the hardware, but also everything that can be connected to the computer from the outside (and there are a lot of such devices today, not so many). Even a mobile phone connected to a PC can be called an external computer hardware.