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CMN113.CMP113.CBS103 Computer Organization > Topic 1 - Introduction to Personal Computer Hardware (I) > Flashcards

Topic 1 - Introduction to Personal Computer Hardware (I) Flashcards

Topic 1

1
Q

What is an Electrostatic discharge (ESD)?

A

▪ Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can occur when there is a buildup of an electric charge that exists on a surface which comes into contact with another differently charged surface.
▪ ESD can cause damage to computer equipment if not discharged properly.
▪ At least 3,000 volts of static electricity must build up before a person can feel ESD.

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2
Q

List

Methods of preventing ESD

A
  • Keep all components in antistatic bags until you are ready to
    install them.
  • Use grounded mats on workbenches.
  • Use grounded floor mats in work areas.
  • Use antistatic wrist straps when working inside computers
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3
Q

Define

What is the purpose of a computer case?

A

The case houses the internal components such as the power supply, motherboard,
central processing unit (CPU), memory, disk drives, and assorted adapter cards.

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4
Q

What does the term form factor in computer cases refer to?

A

The term form factor refers to the physical design and look of a case.

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5
Q

List

What are the common kinds of form factors for computer cases?

A
  • Horizontal Case
  • Full-Size tower
  • Compact tower
  • All-in-one
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6
Q

Describe a Horizontal case.

A

This computer case is horizontally oriented on the user’s desk with the monitor often positioned on top and was popular with early computer systems. This form factor is often used for home theater PCs (HTPCs).

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7
Q

Describe a full-size-tower.

A

This vertically-oriented case is typically located on the floor under, or beside, a desk or table. It provides room for expansion to accommodate additional components such as disk drives, adapter cards, and more.

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8
Q

Describe a compact tower

A
  • This is a smaller version of the full-size tower and is commonly found in the corporate environment.
  • It may also be called a minitower or small form factor (SFF) model. It can be located on the user’s desk or on the floor. It provides limited room for expansion.
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9
Q

Describe an All-in-one computer case

A

All of the computer system components are integrated into the display. They often include touch-screen input and built-in
microphone and speakers. Depending on the model, all-in-one computers offer little to no expansion capabilities. The power
supply is often external to the computer.

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10
Q

What is the purpose of a power supply?

A

Computers use a power supply to convert AC power into a lower voltage DC power required by internal components

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11
Q

List the different forms of power supplies.

A
  • Advanced Technology (AT)
  • AT Extended (ATX)
  • ATX12V
  • EPS12V
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12
Q

List the common types of connectors

A
  • A 20-pin or 24-pin slotted
    connector
  • SATA keyed connector
  • Molex keyed connector
  • Berg keyed connector
  • 4-pin to 8-pin auxiliary
    power connector
    6/8-pin PCIe power
    connector
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12
Q

Describe a A 20-pin or 24-pin slotted
connector

A
  • Connects to the motherboard
  • The 24-pin connector has two rows of 12 pins each
  • The 20-pin connector has two rows of 10 pins each
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13
Q

Describe a SATA keyed connector

A

* Connects disk drives
* Connector is wider and thinner than a Molex connector

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14
Q

Describe a Molex keyed connector

A
  • Connects hard drives, optical drives, or other devices
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15
Q

Describe a Berg keyed connector

A
  • Connect to legacy floppy drives
  • Smaller than a Molex connector
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16
Q

Describe a 4-pin to 8-pin auxiliary
power connector

A
  • Connector has two rows of two to four pins and supplies
    power to different areas of the motherboard
  • The auxiliary power connector is the same shape as the
    main power connector but smaller
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17
Q

What are the most comob voltage supplies?

A
  • 3.3 volts
  • 5 volts
  • 12 volts
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18
Q

Describe a 6/8-pin PCIe power
connector

A
  • Connector has two rows of three to four pins and supplies
    power to internal components
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19
Q

Where are 3.3 and 5 volt commonly used?

A

The 3.3 volt and 5 volt supplies are typically used by digital circuits

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20
Q

What are 12 volts commonly found in?

A

12 volt supply is used to run motors in disk drives and fans.

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21
Q

What is a rail?

A

A rail is the printed circuit board (PCB) inside the power supply to which the external cables are
connected.

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22
Q

What is a motherboard?

A

▪ The motherboard is the backbone of the computer.
▪ It is a printed circuit board (PCB) that contains buses, or
electrical pathways, that interconnect electronic
components.
▪ These components may be soldered directly to the
motherboard, or added using sockets, expansion slots,
and ports.

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23
Q

List

What are the major components on a motherboard?

A
  • Central Processing Unit (CPU)
  • Random Access Memory(RAM)
  • Expansion slots
  • Chipset
  • Basic input/output system (BIOS) chip and
    Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
    chip
  • SATA connectors
  • Internal USB connector
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24
Q

What is a chipset?

A

Chipset consists of the integrated circuits on the motherboard that control how system hardware interacts with the CPU and motherboard.

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25
Q

What does a chipset consist of?

A

Most of the chipsets consists of the following types:
* Northbridge
* Southbridge

26
Q

Describe the function of a Nothbridge

Chipset

A

Controls high speed access to the RAM and video card.

27
Q

Describe the function of a Southbridge

A

Allows the CPU to communicate
with slower speed devices including hard drives, Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, and expansion
slots.

28
Q

What is does a form factor of a motherboard mean?

A

The form factor of motherboards pertains to the size and shape of the board.

29
Q

List

What are the common form factors of mother boards?

A

There are three common motherboard form factors:
* Advanced Technology eXtended(ATX)
* Micro-ATX
* ITX.

30
Q

Describe an Advanced Technology eXtended (ATX) motherboard

A
  • Most popular form factor
    *
31
Q

Describe a Micro-ATX

A
  • Smaller footprint than the ATX
  • Popular in desktop and small form factor computers.
  • Size = 9.6 inch X 9.6inch (24.4cm * 24.4 cm)
32
Q

Describe a Mini-ITX

A
  • Designed for small devices sucha s thin clients and settop boxes
  • Size = 6.7 inch * 6.7 inch (17cm * 17cm)
33
Q

Describe a ITX

A
  • Comnparable form factor to Micro-ATX
  • Size = 8.8in * 7.5 (21.5cm * 19.1cm)
34
Q

What is a CPU socket?

A

The CPU socket is the connection between the motherboard and the processor.

34
Q

What is the function of the Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A

The central processing unit (CPU) is responsible for interpreting and executing commands.

35
Q

List

What are the common modern CPU and Processor packages architechtures?

Name 2

A

Modern CPU sockets and processor packages are built in
following architectures:
* Pin Grid Array (PGA) -
* Land Grid Array (LGA)

36
Q

Describe a Pin Grid Array (PGA)

A

Pin Grid Array (PGA) - the pins are on the underside of the
processor package and is inserted into the motherboard CPU socket.

37
Q

Describe a Pin Land Grid Array (LGA)

A

Land Grid Array (LGA) - the pins are in the socket instead of
on the processor.

38
Q

What are the two methods of keeping computers cool?

A

Computers are kept cool using active and passive cooling solutions.

39
Q

What is the difference between active and passive cooling solutions?

A

Active solutions require power while passive solutions do not.

A case fan is considered as active cooling.

40
Q

How do passive solutions work?

A

Passive solutions for cooling usually involve reducing the
speed at which a component is operating or adding heat
sinks to computer chips.

41
Q

How do memory chips store data?

A

All memory chips store data in the form of bytes.
* A byte is a block of eight bits stored as either 0 or 1 in the memory chip.

42
Q

What is Read-Only Memory (ROM)?

A

ROM (read-only memory) is a non-volatile memory type. This means it receives data and permanently writes it on a chip, and it lasts even after you turn off your computer.

43
Q

What is Random Access Memory (RAM)?

A

Random Access Memory (RAM) is the temporary working storage for data and programs that are being accessed by the CPU.
* RAM is volatile memory.

44
Q

How can you enhance the performance of a computer?

A
  • Adding more RAM in a computer enhances the system performance.
  • However, the maximum amount of RAM that
    can be installed is limited by the motherboard.
45
Q

List

List the common types of Read-only Memory

4 common types

A
  • ROM chips
  • PROM(programmable read-only memory) chips
  • EPROM(erasable programmable read-only memory) chips
  • EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) chips
46
Q

List

List the common tupe of Random Access Memory (RAM)

9 types

A
  • Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
  • Static RAM (SRAM)
  • Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM)
  • Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR
    SDRAM)
  • DDR2 SDRAM)
  • DDR3 SDRAM)
  • DDR4 SDRAM)
  • GDDR SDRAM)
  • DDR5
47
Q

What are ROM chips?

A
  • ROM is an acronym for Read-Only Memory
  • It refers to computer memory chips containing permanent or semi-permanent data
  • ROM is non-volatile; even after you turn off your computer, the contents of ROM will remain.
48
Q

What is a PROM chip?

A
  • PROM, an acronym for programmable read-only memory.
  • A PROM is a memory chip on which data can be written only once. Once a program has been written onto a PROM, it remains there forever.

Unlike RAM, PROMs retain their contents when the computer is turned off.

48
Q

What is a EPROM chip?

A
  • EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory)
  • It is memory that does not lose its data when the power supply is cut off. The data can be erased and the chip reprogrammed by shining an intense ultraviolet (UV) light through a window designed into the memory chip.
49
Q

What is EEPROM chip?

A
  • EEPROM is an acronym that stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory.
  • EEPROM is a type of non-volatile ROM that enables individual bytes of data to be erased and reprogrammed.
  • That is why EEPROM chips are known as byte erasable chips.
  • EEPROM is usually used to store small amounts of data in computing and other electronic devices.
49
Q

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Static RAM (SRAM)

A

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is stored data in a capacitor-transistor pair that requires refresh pulses every few milliseconds due to capacitor leakage.
* Static RAM (SRAM) only uses transistors, so refresh pulses are not required.
* SDRAM is faster, lower storage density, and more expensive than DRAM.

50
Q

Describe Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM
(DDR SDRAM)

A

DDR SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory, which means that the memory is synchronized with the system clock and can access any memory location in a random order.
* DDR SDRAM modules have double the number of pins of SDRAM memory modules.

50
Q

Describe Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM)

A
  • Synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) is dynamic random access memory (DRAM) with an interface synchronous with the system bus carrying data between the CPU and the memory controller hub.
  • SDRAM has a rapidly responding synchronous interface, which is in sync with the system bus.
51
Q

What is a memory module?

A

Memory chips are soldered to a circuit board to create a memory module which is placed into a memory slot on the motherboard.
* The speed of memory has a direct impact on how much data a processor can process
in a given period of time.

52
Q

List the different types of memory modules

A
  • DIP
  • SIMM
  • DIMM
  • SODIMM
53
Q

What is the fastest memory?

A

The fastest memory is typically static RAM (SRAM) which is used as cache memory

54
Q

What are the three common types of cache memory?

A
  • L1 cache – integrated into the CPU
  • L2 cache – was original mounted on the motherboard, but now integrated into the CPU
  • L3 cache – used some high-end workstations and server CPUs
55
Q

When do memory errors occur?

A

**Memory errors occur when the data is not stored correctly in the memory chips. **
The computer uses different methods to detect and correct data errors in memory.

56
Q

List the different types of error checking methods

A
  • Nonparity
  • Parity
  • ECC
57
Q

Describe the Nonparity methods of error checking

A
  • Nonparity memory does not check errors in memory.
  • The term also implies that the memory does not use error-correcting code (ECC)
58
Q

Describe the Parity methods of error checking

A
  • Parity memory contains 8 bits for data and 1 bit for error checking.
  • A parity check refers to an error detection method where an extra bit, or a parity bit, is added to each data unit.
  • Parity check provides a simple and efficient method for detecting errors in data transmission and storage as well as helping ensure a secure data transmission process.
59
Q

Describe the ECC methods of error checking

Error Correction Code

A

Error Correction Code memory can detect multiple bit errors in memory and correct single bit errors in memory

CMN113.CMP113.CBS103 Computer Organization (2 decks)

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