Motherboards and CPUs Flashcards
Chipset
A set of integrated circuits that routes communication between computer components and the CPU.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
A silicon microchip that processes all instructions, whether they are entered through user input or submitted by a computer program.
DVI (Digital Visual Interface)
A video display interface used to connect a display device to the computer.
Expansion slot
A hardware interface that enables the communication between PC and expansion devices.
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
A digital standard used to transfer high-definition video and audio from the computer to a display device.
Hyperthreading
A CPU feature that simulates two logical processors on one physical processor by using registers to overlap two instruction streams.
CMOS Battery
A small battery, typically a lithium coin cell, that provides continuous power to the computer’s real-time clock and maintains the system BIOS settings.
RAM Slot
Holds a memory chip for the computer.
SATA Connectors
Serial AT Attachment drive connectors connect modern hard disk drives, solid state drives, and optical drives to the circuitry of the motherboard
IDE Connectors
Integrated Drive Electronics drive connectors connect hard disk drives and optical drives to the circuitry of the motherboard.
ATX Power Connector
A 24-pin connector that connects to the power supply and provides power to the motherboard.
ATX 12 V Power connector
Connects the 12 volt, 4-pin power cable of the power supply unit to provide the CPU with additional power. High end and server motherboards might require an 8-pin EPS 12 V power connector.
Fan Connector
A three or four pin connector used for a CPU or case cooling fan.
Front Panel Connector
The front panel connector (also referred to as the fpanel or system panel connector) contains sockets to plug in five system cables for the power button, reset button, power LED, hard disk activity LED, and the internal speaker used for beeps and other simple system sounds.
USB Headers
Internal USB headers allow you to connect USB ports on your case to the motherboard.
USB
Universal Serial Bus provides a standard connection between the computer and a variety of computer peripherals, such as keyboards, digital cameras, printers, external disk drives, and more
PS/2
A six-pin interface used to connect older keyboards and pointing devices to a computer. Older computers will have a purple port for the keyboard and a green port for the mouse or other pointing devices, or two ports without clear colour coding.
VGA
Video Graphics Array is an older standard used to connect a display device to your computer.
LAN
The Local Area Network connector is an RJ-45 Ethernet port used to attach a computer to a local computer network via a physical cable.
Sound Ports
3.5 mm connectors used to connect audio devices to your computer
o Pink: for connecting a microphone.
o Lime Green: audio out for connecting headphones or front speakers.
o Light Blue: an analog line-in port for connecting other devices such as a turntable or receiver.
Expansion Slot
An expansion slot is a hardware interface that enables the communication between your PC and expansion devices such as sound cards, network cards (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth), and other connector cards (USB, FireWire, eSATA).
Heat Sink
An aluminium or copper cooling device that conducts heat from the processor to the thin metal fins to radiate it into the air.
Cooling Fan
A form of “Active Cooling” that uses an air cooler to blow air and improve heat dissipation.
Heat Pipe
A hollow device filled with a special fluid which helps to carry heat away from the processor to the fins.
Liquid Cooler
A device that uses water or some other fluid pumped through tubes to a heat sink away from the CPU.
Thermal Paste
A heat conducting pad placed in a thin layer to improve the heat transfer by eliminating air gaps.
Name all types of expansion slots and what they are used for?
PCIe = used by most new expansion cards
PCI = used by older expansion cards
Mini-PCI and Mini-PCIe = Used primarily for internal expansion of laptops and compact PCs
ExpressCard = used to expand laptop devices via an external slot
M.2 = Used for storage and network devices
AGP = Used for connecting video cards on older motherboards.
What is the backbone structure of a laptop to which all internal components connect?
Motherboard
What manages the input/output (I/O) interfaces for the computer such as PCI, PCIe, USB Serial, and IDE?
Southbridge Chip
Which ports installed on the motherboard can be used to connect a display device to the computer?
VGA
HDMI
DVI
What interface is used to connect peripheral devices to a computer, usually a laptop computer?
ExpressCard
What power connector connects hard disk drives solid state drives and optical drives to the circuitry of the motherboard?
SATA Connector
What allows a single microprocessor to act like two separate processors to the operating system?
Hyperthreading
You have a Ryzen CPU and want to find a motherboard for it. What kind of socket should you look for?
AM4
What motherboard form factor only supports mini-PCIe and laptop RAM slots?
Nano-ITX
Motherboard form factors (Smallest to Largest)
- Nano-ITX – 4.7 inches square
- Mini-ITX – 6.7 inches square
- Flex-ATX - 9 by 7.5 inches
- Micro-ATX – 9.6 inches square or smaller
- Mini-ATX – 11.2 by 8.2 inches
- ATX – 12 by 9.6 inches
- XL-ATX – 12 by 9.7 inches or greater in length
Case form factors (Smallest to Largest)
- Small form factor – Designed to use minimal space usually smallest form factor.
- Slimline – Designed to lay horizontally instead of vertically.
- Mini-tower – A desktop with height between 12-18 inches.
- Mid-tower – most widely used form factor with height between 18 and 22 inches.
- Full-tower – Designed to sit on floor with height of 22 inches.
Notebook for factors (Smallest to Largest)
- Phablet – a small tablet or large smartphone
- 2-in-1 – a laptop or subnotebook with detachable keyboard or keyboard that flips to the other side.
- Tablet – A mobile computer without an attached keyboard.
- Subnotebook – A smaller laptop with a screen size of 12 inches or smaller.
- Laptop – A full-powered portable computer with an attached keyboard and clamshell lid.
CPU Characteristics
- Core Count = A core is an independent processor embedded on to CPU. It can process a single instruction stream or thread at a time.
- Ability to hyperthread = Also known as simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) places additional registers on a physical core, allowing it to behave like 2 logical cores.
- Cache = The CPU cache is fast memory used to process instructions or data. An instruction cache speeds up executable instruction fetching. A data cache speeds up data fetch and store.
- 32-bit or 64-bit architecture = The processor’s bit-value tells you how many bits it uses for its memory addresses. 32-bit supports maximum of 4GB of RAM. 64-bit supports anything over 4GB.
- Integrated GPU = A graphics processing unit on the same chip as central processing unit. This allows for the CPU to directly control displays, provided that
- Virtualization = allows your computer system to run as a unique computer system with full access to all hardware for individual applications. For example, with virtualization, your computer can run a Linux operating system for one application and a windows operating system for another.
- No-execute bit (NX Bit) = A security feature that allows the operating system to classify areas of memory as non-executable, preventing the CPU running any code residing there.
- Clock Speed = every processor has a clock speed that determines how quickly it can process data. Modern CPUs used in PCs and mobile devices range roughly between 1 GHZ and 5 GHz clock speed.
CPU Cooling methods
- Heat Sink
- Heat Pipe
- Cooling Fan
- Thermal Paste
- Liquid Cooler
The expansion slot is a hardware interface that disables the communication between the PC and the expansion devices.
False
The expansion slot is a slot located on the motherboard or riser card.
True
The expansion slot is supported by a bundle of electronic circuitry on the motherboard.
True
An overheating CPU can cause system slowdowns and unexpected shutdowns.
True
If your CPU is overheating, it can fail to boot.
True
