.. _acsystemparts:
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Other equipment you will need
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A complete data acquisition system consists of the following hardware:

* An Acquisition Board, which you can either order from the `Open Ephys store <https://open-ephys.org/store>`_ or build yourself by following the :ref:`buildinstructions` section of this documentation.

* USB 3.0 cable

* 5V power supply

* At least one :ref:`headstage <headstages>` with an Intan RHD-series chip, which you can order from the Open Ephys store or the Intan website, or build yourself. Each headstage can handle 16 to 128 channels of neural input.

* One :ref:`cable <cables>` to connect each headstage to the acquistion board, which you can order from the Open Ephys store (as part of the starter kit) or the Intan website, or build yourself.

* (Optional) One or more :ref:`I/O boards <peripheraldevices>` for auxiliary (non-neural) signals. Each I/O board requires one HDMI cable to connect to the acquisition board.

* A :ref:`computer <computerhardware>` to run the software and interface with the rest of the system. The recommended configuration depends on the number of channels you plan to acquire simultaneously.

If you already have these components, follow the :ref:`quickstartguide` to learn how to start collecting data right away. Otherwise, we recommend reading through the sub-pages of this documentation to help you decide which components to buy.