Internal System Components

Question 1

What is the motherboard?

Answer 1

▪ Printed circuit board (or PCB) that acts as the central hub where all other
hardware components connect and communicate, making it an essential
part of any computing device

Question 2

What does UEFI stand for?

Answer 2

User Extensible Firmware Interface

Question 3

What is the CPU?

Answer 3

o Central Processing Unit (CPU)
▪ Executes instructions and processes data, making it a critical component
of any computing device

Question 4

What is ARM, and RISC?

Answer 4

ARM (Advanced RISC Machine)
RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) is a type of microprocessor
architecture that utilizes a small, highly-optimized set of instructions
rather than the highly-specialized set of instructions typically found in
other architectures e.g. for mobile devices

Question 5

What cycle does the processor follow?

Answer 5

Fetch -> Decode -> Execute

Question 6

What does 32-bit and 64-bit refer to?

Answer 6

The amount of data the processor can process per second

Question 7

How much memory can a 32-bit system address?

Answer 7

4GB

Question 8

What is clock speed?

Answer 8

▪ Measured in gigahertz (GHz) to indicate how many instructions a
processor can execute per second

Question 9

What is bus speed?

Answer 9

▪ Refers to how fast the processor can communicate with other
components in the system

Question 10

What is hyper-threading?

Answer 10

▪ Innovative technology implemented in select Intel processors, enabling a
single processor core to manage multiple threads of execution
simultaneously
▪ This technology works by creating virtual cores within a physical core,
allowing it to handle multiple threads concurrently

Question 11

What is virtualization?

Answer 11

Improves the performance of software virtualization solutions, allowing
multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on the same machine,
each with its own set of resources

Question 12

What is a GPU?

Answer 12

o Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
▪ Specialized processor designed to accelerate rendering images and
videos on a device’s screen

Question 13

What are the differences between an integrated GPU and a discrete GPU? What are the advantages/disadvantages of both?

Answer 13

▪ Integrated GPU
● Are built into the processor, sharing system memory and
resources with the CPU
● Integrated GPUs are typically more energy-efficient, cost
effective, and space-saving

▪ Discrete GPU
● Are separate components that can be added to a computer
system
● Discrete GPUs require additional power, produce more heat, and
may require larger form factors

Question 14

What is RAM?

Answer 14

o Random Access Memory (RAM)
▪ Provides temporary storage for data that the processor needs to access
quickly

Question 15

What is DRAM?

Answer 15

o Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)
▪ It stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated
circuit

Question 16

What is SDRAM?

Answer 16

o Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM)
▪ Type of DRAM that synchronizes with the clock speed of the computer,
which enhances the overall speed of the system

Question 17

What forms does SDRAM come in, where would you find them both?

Answer 17

▪ SDRAM comes in the Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM) format for
Desktop PCs and Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module (SODIMM)
format for laptops

Question 18

What is the updated version of SDRAM called?

Answer 18

o Double Data Rate SDRAM
▪ Updated version of SDRAM that can transfer data on both the rising and
falling edges of the clock signal, effectively doubling the memory chip’s
data throughput

Question 19

How many versions of DDR SDRAM are there?

Answer 19

DDR1 - 5, they are not backwards compatible

Question 20

What forms of permanent storage are there?

Answer 20

HDD and SSD

Question 21

What are the advantages of SSD’s?

Answer 21

• The absence of mechanical components allows for near instantaneous data access times, accelerating boot times, file transfers, and application load times

Question 22

How can computers use fixed storage to supplement RAM? What is the proccess called?

Answer 22

To supplement RAM, computers use a portion of the HDD or SSD as virtual memory. This process is known as paging in the Windows operating system and a
“swap file” in the Linux and Unix operating systems

Question 23

What is a NIC?

Answer 23

o Network Interface Card (NIC)
▪ Provides a dedicated, full-time connection to a network, translating the
data produced by the computer into a format that can be transmitted
over the network, and vice versa

Question 24

What is a system bus?

Answer 24

o System Bus
▪ Critical component in computer architecture, serving as the primary
communication channel between the various components of a computer
system

Question 25

What are thre three types of buses within the system bus?

Answer 25

o The system bus is composed of three types of buses
▪ Data Bus transfers actual data between components
▪ Address Bus carries information about where the data should be sent
▪ Control Bus carries control signals, managing and directing the use of the
data and address buses

Question 26

What is the peripheral component interface (PCI)?

Answer 26

• Hardware bus used for attaching peripheral devices to a
  computer

Question 27

What is the accelerated graphics port?

Answer 27

Was specifically designed to handle the demands of high performance 3D graphics in the mid-1990s

Question 28

What is the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)?

Answer 28

• PCIe uses a serial interface with higher data transfer rates that provides a dedicated connection between devices
• PCIe can use x1, x2, x8, or x16 lanes depending on the size
  of the slot

Question 29

Name and explain the two main types of cooling.

Answer 29

▪ Passive Cooling
● It relies on conduction, convection, or radiation to dissipate heat e.g. heat sinks

▪ Active Cooling
● Uses power and includes components that move, like fans or
pumps to cool down the system

Question 30

Name and explain the two types of active cooling.

Answer 30

• Air Cooling
  ▪ It involves using fans to create airflow, which
  carries heat away from the components
• Liquid Cooling
  ▪ It uses a liquid coolant to absorb heat from
  components, which is then transported to a
  radiator where it is cooled by a fan before being recirculated

Question 31

What would you often find paired with a fan-based cooling system?

Answer 31

▪ The fans are often paired with heatsinks, which draw heat away from the components and into the path of the airflow

Question 32

What is system firmware?

Answer 32

o System Firmware
▪ Serving as the link between the system’s hardware and its operating
system

Question 33

Name and explain the two most common types of system firmware.

Answer 33

o The two most common types of system firmware
▪ Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
● Initializes the hardware during the booting process and provides
runtime services for operating systems and programs
● It operates in 16-bit mode and has a slow boot time

▪ Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
● Operates in either a 32-bit or 64-bit mode, allowing it to access all
of the system’s memory and enabling faster boot times
● UEFI also has a graphical user interface that makes it more user friendly than the BIOS used in older systems