A block of metal fins that draws heat away from the CPU or GPU. Usually topped with a fan.

The display screen. Comes in different sizes, resolutions, and panel types like LCD, LED, OLED.

For typing and giving your computer commands. I’m a sucker for a nice mechanical keyboard.

Lets you precisely point at and interact with things on the screen. Gaming mice are a whole rabbit hole!

Low-level software that runs when you first start your computer. Handles booting the OS.

Refers to a computer’s physical size and shape, like a laptop vs a desktop tower.

A chip that stores key settings like the system time and hardware config. Powered by a coin battery.

The Power-On Self Test. A series of quick checks the computer runs at startup.

An even faster SSD interface. If you want the absolute quickest response times, look for an NVMe SSD.

A versatile high-speed connector for add-in cards like GPUs, SSDs, capture cards, etc.