A 3D printer is a computer-aided manufacturing
(CAM) device that creates three-dimensional objects . Like a traditional printer, a 3D printer receives digital data from a computer as input.
However, instead of printing the output on paper, a 3D printer builds a three-dimensional model out of a custom material .
3D printers use a process called additive manufacturing to form (or "print") physical objects layer by layer until the model is complete.
This is different than subtractive manufacturing, in which a machine reshapes or removes material from an existing mold. Since 3D printers create models from scratch, they are more efficient and produce less waste than subtractive manufacturing devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_vloWVgf0o

An adapter is a device that allows a specific type of hardware to work with another device that would otherwise be incompatible . Examples of adapters include electrical adapters, video adapters, audio adapters, and network adapters.
An electrical adapter, for instance, may convert the incoming voltage from 120V to 12V , which is suitable for a radio or other small device. Without regulating voltage through an adapter, the incoming electrical surge could actually fry the internal components of the device.

A barebones PC is a computer that has minimal components. A typical barebones system includes a case, motherboard, CPU, hard drive, RAM, and power supply.
Most barebones systems are sold as kits, in which the components must be assembled by the user.
Since barebones PCs usually do not come already assembled, they are not designed for the average computer user. Instead, barebones kits are aimed at computer enthusiasts and users who prefer to build their own PCs .

Blu-ray is an optical disc format such as CD and DVD. It was developed for recording and playing back (HD) video and for storing large amounts of data . While a CD can hold 700 MB of data and a basic DVD can hold 4.7 GB of data, a single Blu-ray disc can hold up to 25 GB of data .
Dual-layer Blu-ray discs are able to store 50 GB of data.
That is equivalent to 4 hours of HDTV.
Blu-ray discs can hold more information than other optical media because of the blue lasers the drives use.
The laser is actually blue-violet, but "Blu-ray" rolls off the tongue a little easier than " Blu-violet-ray ." The blueviolet laser has a shorter wavelength than the red lasers used for CDs and DVDs (405nm compared to 650nm).
This allows the laser to focus on a smaller area, which makes it possible to cram significantly more data on a disc the same size as a CD or DVD.

Buses are a communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer . Each bus inside a computer consists of set of wires that allow data to be passed back and forth called bus cables . Most computers have several buses that transmit data to different parts of the machine. Each bus has a certain size, measured in bits (such as 32-bit or 64-bit), that determines how much data can travel across the bus at one time. Buses also have a certain speed, measured in megahertz, which determines how fast the data can travel.
Buses can connect the CPU to the rest of the components on the motherboard.

Stands for " Peripheral Component
Interconnect ." It is a hardware bus designed by Intel and used in both
PCs and Macs . Most add-on cards such as SCSI, Firewire, and USB controllers, use a PCI connection.
Some graphics cards use PCI, but most new graphics cards connect to the AGP slot. PCI slots are found in the back of your computer and are about 3.5" long and about 0.5" high. So before you go buy that Firewire expansion card, make sure you have at least one PCI slot available.

Stands for " Accelerated Graphics Port ." AGP is a type of expansion slot designed specifically for graphics cards . It was developed in 1996 as an alternative to the PCI standard. Since the AGP interface provides a dedicated bus for graphics data, AGP cards are able to render graphics faster than comparable PCI graphics cards .
Like PCI slots, AGP slots are built into a computer's motherboard. They have a similar form factor to PCI slots, but can only be used for graphics cards .

The motherboard is the main circuit board of your computer and is also known as the mainboard or logic board. If you ever open your computer, the biggest piece of silicon you see is the motherboard. Attached to the motherboard, you'll find the CPU, ROM, memory RAM expansion slots, PCI slots, and USB ports . It also includes controllers for devices like the hard drive, DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse.
Basically, the motherboard is what makes everything in your computer work together .
Each motherboard has a collection of chips and controllers known as the chipset. When new motherboards are developed, they often use new chipsets.

Stands for "Printed Circuit Board." A PCB is a thin board made of fiberglass, composite epoxy, or other laminate material.
Conductive pathways are etched or "printed" onto board, connecting different components on the PCB, such as transistors, resistors, and integrated circuits .
PCBs are used in both desktop and laptop computers. They serve as the foundation for many internal computer components, such as video cards, controller cards, network interface cards, and expansion cards. These components all connect to the motherboard, which is also a printed circuit board.
While PCBs are often associated with computers, they are used in many other electronic devices besides PCs. Most TVs, radios, digital cameras, cellphones, and tablets include one or more printed circuit boards .

A chipset is a group of integrated circuits that work together . It may refer to the design of a single component or may describe the relationship of multiple components within a computer system .
For example, the chipset of a video card describes the design of the card, while a motherboard chipset describes its layout and the different components it supports.
Diagrams are often used to illustrate chipset designs. For example, a diagram of a video card chipset may contain the GPU, video RAM, and the
PCI bus. It may also include lines and arrows that represent the circuitry between the components.
Together, the components and circuitry make up the overall design of the chipset, and may also be called the architecture of the video card.

Stands for " Read-Only Memory ." Please do not confuse this term with RAM or a hard drive, as many people already do. ROM is memory containing hardwired instructions that the computer uses when it boots up , before the system software loads. In PCs, the instructions are read from a small program in the ROM, called the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System).

Stands for " Random Access Memory ," and is pronounced like the male sheep. RAM is made up of small memory chips that form a memory module.
These modules are installed in the RAM slots on the motherboard of your computer.
Every time you open a program, it gets loaded from the hard drive into the RAM . This is because reading data from the RAM is much faster than reading data from the hard drive . Running programs from the RAM of the computer allows them to function without any lag time.
The more RAM your computer has, the more data can be loaded from the hard drive into the RAM, which can effectively speed up your computer. In fact, adding
RAM can be more beneficial to your computer's performance than upgrading the CPU .

Most of the processing done on a computer is done via the computer's central processing unit, or CPU.
So in order to give the CPU a break and help it run more efficiently, a video card can be used to process the graphics portion of the processing load . Because most of today's programs are graphically oriented, the video card can help almost any program run more efficiently.
However, the difference in performance is especially noticeable in image editing applications and 3D games.
Video cards, also called graphics accelerators, which can speed up both 2D and 3D graphics rendering.

Pronounced "nick," this is the card that physically makes the connection between the computer and the network cable . These cards typically use an Ethernet connection and are available in 10,100, and 1,000 Base-T configurations. A 100 Base-T card can transfer data at 100 Mbps. The cards come in ISA and PCI versions and are made by companies like
3Com and LinkSys. So if you want to connect your computer to a network, you better get yourself a NIC.