Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

CompTIA A+ Certification Prep 1: Hardware > Lesson 7 Chapter 2 - Powering the PC > Flashcards

Lesson 7 Chapter 2 - Powering the PC Flashcards

1
Q

Plugs and receptacles vary, but in the US what is the standard for wall outlets? (2, plug and receptacle)

numa numa
What’s my name

A
  1. Plug is NEMA5-15P
  2. Receptacle NEMA 5-15R
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the 3-prong connector that connects to a desktop PC called?

A

IEC-320

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

In the US, standard AC comes in between how many volts? How is this often written as? (2)

A

US: 110-120V written as ~115VAC

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What VAC range does the rest of the world use?

A

Rest of the world: 220-240 VAC

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What are the 2 kinds of dual-voltage power supplies? (2)
What is the second one sometimes called (2 names)?

A
  1. Fixed-input power supply (voltage-selection switch)
  2. Auto-switching power supply (auto-range or auto-sense)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What’s the difference between the 2 kinds of dual-voltage power supplies?

A

Fixed-input:
you have to flip a switch manually in order to accommodate another voltage range auto-switching:
does that automatically (auto accommodates different regions and voltages)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What happens if you try to turn on a PC with the power supply switch set to ~230 V in the US?

A

It won’t turn on completely, fans might spin and LED might light up but hard drives will refuse to power on

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What happens if you try to turn on a PC in a country with ~230 V standards, with the AC switch set to ~115 V on your power supply?

A

You’ll fry the power supply

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Before plugging any critical components into an AC outlet, take a moment to do what first? With what device?

A

Take a moment to verify the amount of volts and amps coming out of the outlet with a multimeter

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What are the 3 holes the IEC-320 plug has?

A
  1. Hot wire
  2. Neutral wire
  3. Ground wire
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Describe the 3 holes the IEC-320 plug has

cold, switzerland, earth

A
  1. Hot - Carries the electrical charge (pipe that delivers water)
  2. Neutral - Carries no voltage (water drain, returns electricity to local source like a breaker panel)
  3. Ground - Allows excess electricity to return safely to the ground (such as in a short-circuit condition)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

When testing AC power, you want to check for 3 things:

cold to, cold to, white to

A
  1. Hot to neutral
  2. Hot to ground
  3. Neutral to ground
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is a multimeter? What does it do?

A

Measures a number of aspects of electrical current

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is a multimeter often referred to as? (2)

mom, DIMM

A
  1. Volt-ohm meter (VOM)
  2. Digital multimeter (DMM)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What are the 4 electrical tests that multimeters offer?

insert coins, nope, v, v

A
  1. Continuity - electrons can flow from one end of a wire to the other end (checks fuses are ok, breaks in wires)
  2. Resistance - (substitute for continuity) A broken wire/fuse will show infinite resistance
  3. AC voltage (VAC) - Making sure the measured AC/DC voltages are what it should be
  4. DC voltage (VDC)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Do not touch what part of the multimeter?

aliens

A

Metal prongs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What does the auto-range meter do? (when using a multimeter)

set, own, don’t need, except

A

Auto-range meters set their own range, they don’t need any selection except AC V

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Are AC adapters for laptops interchangeable?

A

No, they could have different volts and amps

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What are 3 things you need to make sure match before plugging in a replacement AC adapter into a device:

v, a, p

A
  1. Voltage
  2. Amperage
  3. Polarity (which wire is hot, which is neutral… like putting a battery on backwards in a flashlight)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What happens if the voltage or amperage on an ac adapter block is higher than the device’s?

A

You will fry the device

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What are two essential devices that handle the spikes and sags in AC power supply from an outlet?

ss, ups

A
  1. Surge suppressor
  2. Uninterruptible Power Supply
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

what are large sags in electricity called?

dirt

A

Brownouts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What does a surge suppressor do?

kirby, extra, protect

A

A surge suppressor absorbs the extra voltage from a surge to protect the devices from damage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Besides offering greater protection from stronger power surges, what’s another benefit of using a surge suppressor?

psu

A

A surge suppressor allows a power supply unit to have an extended life because it absorbs the small surges a power supply unit would have been handling

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What is a joule?

a unit, ee

A

A joule is a unit of electrical energy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What unit do you use to measure how much energy a surge suppressor can handle before it fails?

A

Joules

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What’s the minimum joules rating a surge suppressor should have?

A

2000 joules minimum (the more joules, the more protection)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Surge suppressors are also rated in….?

A

Clamping Voltage

29
Q

What is a clamping voltage?

over-v, more man-v

A

An overvoltage condition is “clamped” to a more manageable voltage for a certain amount of time

30
Q

Good consumer surge suppressors can clamp ____ volts down to 180 volts or less for at least 50 microseconds (on either the hot or neutral line)

A

600 volts down to 180

31
Q

Don’t forget that surges can also come from ____ and ___ connections

A

phone lines and cable connections

32
Q

What is power conditioning on a surge suppressor? (does 2 things)

filter

A
  1. Filters out EMI Electromagnetic interference
  2. Filters out RFI Radio frequency interference

Filters out this line noise in case for example lightning generates enough noise to cause weird things to happen to your PC (like data errors, keyboard lockups)

33
Q

What does UPS stand for?

A

Uninterruptible power supply

34
Q

How does a UPS protect your computer during a power sag or outage?

A

It contains a big battery that provides AC power to your computer regardless of the amount of power coming from the AC outlet

35
Q

What are uninterruptible power supplies measured in? (2)

A
  1. Watts (true amount of power supplied in power outage)
  2. Volts-amps (VA), roughly similar to watts
36
Q

What is volt-amps (VA)? Roughly similar to? (2)

amount, fight the, supply, took, perfectly

A

1.VA is the amount of power the UPS could supply if the connected devices took power from it perfectly (best case scenario)
2. VA is roughly similar to watts

37
Q

What are the 3 types of UPS available? Describe them

offline, sit, l-i

A
  1. online - devices are constantly powered through UPS’s battery
  2. standby - devices connected to the UPS receive battery power only when AC sags below ~80-90 V
  3. line-interactive- similar to standby, special circuitry to handle moderate AC sags/surges without needing to switch to battery power
38
Q

What is a redundant power supply? How do they run?

A

A computer has 2 power supplies, each is capable of running the computer by itself but together they run at half capacity during normal operation. If one fails, the other will step up to cover the power shortage.

39
Q

What type of computers would need a redundant power supply?

A

Critically important computers like medical system servers

40
Q

Make sure your surge suppressor and UPS has the ____ ______ __ 1449 for ____-V rating to ensure protecting for your system

both ss and ups have power conditioning and surge suppression

A

Underwriters Laboratories UL 1449 for 330-V rating (to make sure you don’t get a cheap surge suppressor or UPS!)

41
Q

What are the 3 voltage ranges when the PSU converts AC into DC? What do they power?

A
  1. 3.3 V - logic boards and circuits
  2. 5.0 V - logic boards and circuits
  3. 12.0 V - for most things on modern systems
42
Q

What kind of connector does a newer and older motherboard use? (pins, and the name of the connector) [2]

A

Motherboards use a 24-pin P1 power connector (very old motherboards might use a 20-pin version)

43
Q

It’s also common for motherboards to have extra 12v connectors in ___, ___, ___ pin connectors (3)

A

4, 6, or 8-pin connectors

44
Q

What are the 2 types of connectors that a modern power supply unit will have?

A
  1. Molex
  2. SATA
45
Q

What volt range do Molex connectors from the PSU have? For what devices? (2)

A

5V-12V current
for fans and older drives

same as SATA, 5-12V

46
Q

Molex connectors require a firm push to plug in properly but the ______ can be damaged if plugged in wrong

A

chamfer (the holes/notches)

47
Q

SATA power connectors come in __ pin SATA power connectors which allows it to support the __-_____ feature (3)

A

larger 15-pin SATA power connectors support the hot-swappable feature

48
Q

SATA power connectors provide __,___, and ___-V for devices

A

3.3, 5.0, 12.0V

49
Q

Which V in a current SATA drive is not used?

A

3.3V, reserved for possible future use

50
Q

All generations of SATA use the same …..?

A

connector

51
Q

When physically connecting a power connector, what’s the difference between a Molex and SATA?

A

A Molex connector has holes/notches called chamfers and must be pushed in a little harder but harder to tell if it’s in the right way, and a SATA connector has 15-pins and can only be inserted one-way

52
Q

What does a Molex connector physically look like?

A

Used to be white, now it’s black. Has notches/holes called chamfers.

53
Q

What do you do if you run out of connectors to power the devices in your computer?

purchase

A

Purchase splitters to create more connections

54
Q

What do you do if you need a SATA connector but only have a Molex?

voltages, wire, simple

A

Since the voltages are the same between Molex and SATA on the wire, you can just buy a simple adapter

55
Q

Why would a tech need to use a multimeter on a power supply?

A

To test the DC voltages coming out of the PSU

56
Q

What are the ends of a multimeter called?

you, I follow

A

Leads

57
Q

What does ATX stand for? (1) What does this specification apply to and have to work together? (3)

A

Advanced Technology eXtended

The ATX standard applies to:
1. motherboard
2. cases
3. power supply

58
Q

Apart from the 24-pin P1 power connector for the motherboard, ATX power supplies also have at least ____ other cables with _____ connectors for peripheral power

A

ATX power supplies also have at least 2 other cables with 2 or more (Molex or mini) connectors for peripheral power

59
Q

What is soft power?

how a, supplies a, to the, even when. Pushing the

A

Soft power is how an ATX power supply supplies a constant flow of 5V to the motherboard even when not powered on. Pushing the power tells the motherboard to start up until the BIOS or OS takes over to start up/shut down.

60
Q

What is a rail in terms of the PSU?

set of, in

A

A set of wires (traces) in the power supply circuit

(like a 12V rail)

61
Q

What is OCP and what does it do? (PSU)

monitors

A

Overcurrent protection

A circuit that monitors each rail so it can shut down the PSU if too much current goes through the rail

62
Q

A+ exams: How do you bridge the incompatibility between an older power supply and a newer motherboard?

A

You can buy a 20-pin to 24-pin adapter for the P1 motherboard connector

63
Q

To prevent damage from harmonics (the electrical buzzing you hear) when PSU is converting AC to DC, never buy a power supply that doesn’t come with ____

A

active PFC (active power factor correction)

64
Q

What is active PFC? What type of component is it?

2^2

A

active PFC - active power factor correction

extra circuitry that smooths out the power coming from the wall before passing it to the main power supply circuits which eliminates any harmonics

65
Q

What is an efficiency rating?

A

The differential wattage amount between what the power supply draws from the wall to what it actually provides to the system in VDC

66
Q

What’s the minimum PSU recommended wattage for a new system with a single GPU?

A

at least a 750-W power supply

67
Q

What’s the minimum power supply wattage recommended for a system with multiple GPUs?

A

At least a 1000-W power supply

68
Q

How is a modular power supply different from a regular one?

A

Modular PSUs don’t have fixed power cables for devices and motherboard, instead it has multiple sockets and you add only the lines you need

69
Q

What color wire corresponds to what voltage? (3) black, yellow, red

A

Black - Ground
Yellow - +12 V
Red - +5 V

CompTIA A+ Certification Prep 1: Hardware (49 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions