As far as computers are concerned, look at them for what they are. Several components working together for the greater goal. This just about describes an electronic device and computers are no different, though a little more complicated than some, not as comlicated as others. I'm not going to bore you with ellaborate descriptions of what each piece is, in detail, but you may have a better understanding from it.
Processor or CPU - the CPU is like the "brain" of the whole operation. It decides how things are done, and processes the information provided by the rest of the hardware. By today's standards, you would want to look for something in the 3Ghz range as far as processing speed. CPUs come in different styles, for a beginner socket 478 is a good starting point because they are common and easy to deal with, and compatable components are abundant.
Motherboard or mobo - Mobos could be similar to the Spine, EVERY piece of hardware described here, attaches to the motherboard in someway, shape or form. The mobo provides the pathways for information and routes it all to the appropriate places to be disbursed and make your PC function as it is suppose to. Motherboards and CPUs go hand in hand as they need to be compatable with each other, more so than any other 2 pieces of hardware. The socket type of your CPU will directly reflect on the type of Motherboard you should purchase. Example (if you buy an Intel P4 3.2Ghz Socket 478 CPU, you want a motherboard that has the physical 478 type socket that the CPU rests in.)
RAM or Random Access Memory - RAM is like short term memory that can be expanded. The PC uses RAM as a buffer to process the flow of information. The more RAM you have, the size of the flow of information will be greater. In other words, letting you do more. There are multiple speeds and capacities of RAM PC2100 up to PC3200 and higher, and capacities ranging from 128mb to 1gb, the Mobo will specify which speed and total capacity allowable, but you can use lower speeds and lower capacity sticks of RAM, but not faster or more. If that makes sense.
Harddrive - Harddrives are like long term memory, this is where the physical information and data is stored and archived for daily and/o future use. There are several different types of Harddrives, IDE being the most common, you would want to look for a 7200rpm IDE harddrive, possibly even a 10000rpm depending on your budget. There are also SATA drives that allow different configurations of harddrive setups, such as 2 identical drives working in tandum where one drive ghosts the other as a "backup" or a daisy chain of different drives to form one giant mass of storage. With IDE you are pretty much limited to 2 harddrives, a master and a slave.
CDRom and DVDRom Drives - pretty self explainitory, these are IDE devices as well. IDE refers to the way they drives interface with the motherboard, which is usually the tape type wiring inside your PC, though you can get IDE cables that are round as well.
Videocards - Videocards are just as they sound, they provide the picture to the monitor. I won't get too much into these as they really serve no audio purpose, but a decent video card can help in overall function of the PC by taking the visual load off of your mobo and placing most of the strain on the videocard, freeing up resources for the PC to do other things.
Soundcards - Here's what you have been waiting for. I'm no guru by any means. Myself, I use PCI soundcards, because that's the setup that best suits my needs. There are a few different types, PCI, firewire and USB, PCI cards mount directly inside your PC with a breakout cable or box for access to the I/O, firewire and USB interfaces are their own box with a single connection running to a firewire or USB port on your PC (more on PCI, firewire, and usb later) The soundcard or sound interface is where your computer meets your gear. There are many many different combinations of ins and outs. Best bet here is to figure out what you need and what you want to spend.
Power Supply or PSU - Hardcore individuals will sit and figure up the wattage of every single piece of hardware and buy a PSU based on those figures. Ideally, you want something that will power what you have and then some. I don't feel, personally, that it's necessary to break out the calculator. I stick to 450w - 550w PSUs and I've yet to be let down by them. The PSU plugs into the mobo, then has a tangle of leads that attach to most other hardware pieces like ROM drives, harddrives, videocards, fans, etc.
PCI and AGP - These "slots" are standard on mobos, it's where the accessory "cards" plug in. AGP slots are typically for videocards, and PCI slots are for everything else. PCI Express is a fairly new technology, but there aren't many uses other than videocards at present (see above about video cards)
As far as all of this coming together. There is pretty much one place these things go. Each piece has it's own place to plug in and the manual for the mobo should walk you through this with ease
shew, that's enough for now, hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here, but you'll find that building a PC yourself is much more lucrative than buying a manufactured PC, leaving you more money for gear.
