Week 1: Computer Systems Flashcards
1
Q
All of the electronic and mechanical equipment in a computer is called
A
Hardware
2
Q
Give examples of hardware
A
- motherboard
- hard disk
- ram
- power supply
- processor
- case
- monitor
- keyboard
- mouse
3
Q
computer programs that perform a task or tasks on a computer system
A
software
4
Q
three groups of software
A
system software - OS
utility programs - antivirus
applications software - Word, SolidWorks
5
Q
collection of electronic and mechanical devices operating as a unit
A
computer system
6
Q
what are the main parts of a computer system
A
system unit, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers
7
Q
it is the main container for system devices that protect the delicate electronic and mechanical devices from damage
A
system unit
8
Q
give examples of system unit devices
A
motherboard
cpu (processor)
memory
disk drives
ports - usb
power supply
expansion cards
9
Q
give examples of expansion cards
A
sound card, network card, graphic cards
10
Q
meaning of cpu
A
central processing unit
11
Q
devices that connect to the system unit using cables or wireless technologies
A
peripherals
12
Q
give examples of peripherals
A
monitor
keyboard
printer
plotter
scanner
speakers
13
Q
what is an IC
A
integrated circuit
14
Q
this is an integrated circuit supplied on a single silicon chip. it controls all the computers functions
A
processor
15
Q
who are the main processor manufacturers
A
amd - athlon and turion (mobile)
intel - pentium and centrino (mobile)
16
Q
a series of instructions that is carried out by the processor in an orderly fashion
A
computer program
17
Q
give examples of typical instructions
A
arithmetic
logical
move
18
Q
performs addition and subtraction
A
arithmetic instruction
19
Q
comparing data and acting according to the result
A
logical
20
Q
move data from place to place within the computer system
memory to the processor for addition
memory to a printer or disk drive
A
move
21
Q
this is measured in megahertz (MHz) or Gigahertz (GHz)
this is the speed of the system clock (clock speed) within the processor and it controls how fast instructions are executed
A
processor speed
22
Q
the speed of the system clock
A
clock speed
23
Q
1 million ticks every second
A
1 MHz
24
Q
1 billion clock ticks every second
A
1 GHz
25
True or False:
latest trend - multi-core processors can have two, three or four processor cores on a single chip
True
26
Give the three characteristics of RAM
Primary storage, volatile, module
27
main computer memory
data programs currently in use are held in RAM
primary storage
28
contents of memory are lost if the computer is turned off
volatile
29
memory IC's on a circuit board
Module
30
memory is sold in what modules
DIMM's and SODIMM's
31
what does DIMM's mean and what is it used for
dual inline memory module for desktop computers
32
what does SODIMM's mean and what is it used for
small outline dual inline memory module for notebook computers
33
DIMM's and SODIMM's are available in modules capacities of?
256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB
34
DIMM's and SODIMM's are now called
DRR (double data ram)
35
what are the three types of DDR
DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
36
True or False: any particular computer system is only compatible with one type of DDR
True
37
What are the different specifications found in a DDR
Module capacity
Module name
Module type
Module speed
38
the motherboard is also called
mainboard or system board
39
this is the main circuit board for the computer system. all device in the computer system will either be part of this or connected to it
motherboard
40
different processors require different sockets and a motherboard must be chosen to suit the processor intended for use
processor socket
41
enumerate the different processor sockets
socket 478 - intel pentium iv
socket 775 - intel dual core and core duo
socket 754 - amd athlon
socket 939 - amd athlon 64
socket am2 - amd athlon x2
42
controls data flow around the computer
chipset
43
two chipsets
northbridge and southbridge
44
data flow between memory and processor
data flow between the processor and the graphic's card
northbridge
45
controls data flow to the devices, such as USB, IDE, SATA, LAN and Audio controls PCI slots and onboard graphics
southbridge
46
a path through which data can be sent to the different parts of the computer system
buses
47
enumerate the different buses
northbridge - processor (front side bus)
northbridge - ram (memory bus)
northbridge - graphics slot or AGP (graphics bus)
northbridge - southbridge (internal bus)
southbridge - pci slots (pci bus)
southbridge - onboard graphics (pci bus)
48
what does AGP mean
accelerated graphics port
49
what does PCIE mean
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
50
what does IDE mean
integrated drive electronics
51
what does SATA mean
serial advanced technology attachment
52
converts alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC)
power supply
53
this transforms main voltage (240 volts) into the voltages required by the computer
power supply
54
what are the main voltages
12 volts for the disk drives because they have motors
3.3 and 5 volts for the circuit boards in the computer
55
uses advance power management (APM) to allow the computer to go into a standby mode
Power Supply
56
what does APM mean
advance power management
57
True or False: Power supplies have a switch to toggle between 240 volt supplies and 110 volt supplies
true
58
this connects to the motherboard and supplies the 3.3 and 5 volt supply for the board
main connector
59
connects IDE hard drives and optical drives
molex connector
60
connects floppy disk drives
berg connector
61
connects SATA drives
SATA connector
62
computer ports are interfaces between peripheral devices and the computer
they are mainly found at the back of the computer but are also built into the front of the computer chassis for easy access
ports
63
a 9-pin port, often called com ports (com1, com2)
mice and external modems are connected to these ports
they are turquoise in color
serial port
64
a 25-pin port used to connect printers, scanners, external hard disks, zip drives to the computer
burgundy in color, they are often called LPT ports (LPT1, LPT2)
parallel port
65
used to connect a monitor to the computer system
video port
66
this is a 15-pin port and is blue in color
it is an analog port and is being replaced by the DVI port
VGA port
67
a digital port that is white in color
this means that no conversion is necessary between the computer and the monitor, which means that images can be produced more quickly on the monitor
DVI port - white
68
used to connect keyboards and mice to the computer.
PS/2 port
69
what color is the keyboard port
purple
70
what color is the mouse port
green
71
used to connect a modem to a telephone line.
modem port
72
what is the technical term for the port
rj11
73
intended to replace serial, parallel, and ps/2 ports with a single standard
usb port
74
how many devices can be connected to a single usb port
127 devices
75
devices can be connected and disconnected while the computer is on
hot swappable
76
what are the three usb standards
usb 1, usb 2, usb 3
77
original standard - transfer data of 1.5mbps
usb 1
78
current standard - transfer rate of 60mbps
usb2
79
future standard (2009) transfer rate of 600mbps
usb3
80
(IEEE 1394) is an apple technology
firewire port
81
firewire transfer rate of 50mbps
fw 400
82
fw transfer rate of 100mbps
fw800r
83
transfer rate of 400mbps
fw s3200
84
true or false: usb devices must be connected to a host computer while firewire devices can be connected to each other without using a computer
true
85
used to connect to a network, konwn as rj45, it is larger than a modem port
ethernet port
86
used to input and output audio from the computer
audio port
87
color of three mini jack ports
line in - light blue (LL)
speakers - lime (SL)
microphone - pink (MP)
88
true or false: graphics card handles its own processing making it almost independent of the processor
processor and fan
89
agp or pci-express
board connector
90
true or false: graphics has its own memory, which makes it faster. new cards use ddr3 memory
memory
91
digital output is supplied through this port
dvi connector
92
analogue output is provided through this port
vga connector
93
screen images are made up of dots called
pixels
94
the ____ must process each of these pixels to create the image
graphic card
95
this is the number of pixels being displayed
resolution
96
typical resolutions
800 x 600 - 480, 000 pixels
1024 x 768 - 786, 432 pixels
1280 x 1024 - 1, 310, 720 pixels
1600 x 1200 - 1, 920, 000 pixels
97
what are the two types of graphic card available
accelerated graphics port (AGP)
PCI Express
98
older technology but still available. it can output in analogue or digital or both
AGP
99
faster than AGP. allows for two graphic cards to improve the performance
PCI-Express
100
PCI-Express can also be called
scalable link interface (SLI)
101
connects the sound card to a pci slot
pci connector
102
used to connect digital musical instruments to the computer
musical instrument digital interface port (MIDI socket)
103
used to connect microphones, speakers, stereo systems etc to the computer
audio jacks
104
what are the main functions of a sound card
1. use a DAC (digital to analogue converter) to prepare audio for speakers
2. ADC (Analogue to digital converter) to convert the audio coming into the computer
105
give examples of analogue input devices
microphone, radio, tape deck, record player
106
allows computers to join a network
network card
107
true or false: network cards can be wired or wireless
true
108
what is the standard network called
ethernet
109
this covers wired and wireless networks
ethernet
110
transmission speed of 100mbps
fast ethernet
111
transmission speed of 1000mbps
gigabyte ethernet
112
introduced in 1999, it has a transmission rate of 11mbps and a range of 30 meters
the b standard
113
introduced in 2003, it has a transmission rate of 54mbps and a range of 30 meters
the g standard
114
introduced in 2006, it has a transmission speed of 540mbps and a range of 50 meters
the N standard
115
give examples of wireless network cards
PCI, PC Card, USB
116
internet access using a telephone line
modem
117
converts the digital computer data to analogue (modulation) before transmission over the telephone line and converts the analogue data to digital (Demodulation) before transmission to the computer
modem
118
the standard transmission speed of a modem is
56kbps
119
what is the primary storage
memory (RAM)
120
volatile - content is lost when power is turned off
primary storage (memory)
121
non-volatile - can store files when power is turned off
secondary storage (disk drives)
122
in memory, voltages are used to store data as
binary 1's and binaary 0's
123
what is used in secondary storage to store data as binary 1's and 0's
magnetism instead of electrical voltages
124
a metal disk coated with tiny iron particles which can be magnetised to north and south to represent the binary digits 0 and 1
platter
125
used to magnetise the particles on the disk surface to represent the data held in RAM
read-write head
126
true or false: hard disks can be internal or external
true
127
the disks connect to the motherboard using a ribbon cable
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
128
each IDE cable can hold two drives, namely
master and slave
129
the IDE drive is set as master or slave by positioning a jumper switch on the back of the drive
jumper
130
what does IDE mean
Integrated Drive Electronics
131
allow faster data transfer speeds than IDE
SATA
132
what does SATA mean
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
133
true or false: there is no master/slave arrangement with SATA and each drive has it's own cable
true
134
true or false: cables in SATA are much smaller and allow better air circulation in the system unit
true
135
external hard disk drives can be IDE or SATA and can be
mains powered or host powered
136
____ powered drives receive their power from the USB port
host
137
true or false: hard disk drives are also now found in video recorders, digital music players, digital camcorders, digital cameras and mobile phones
true
138
use lasers to sense pits and lands mechanically pressed into a polycarbonate disk
optical drives
139
pits and lands represent what
binary 0,s and 1's
140
true or false: the laser in optical drives only operates at a single intensity as it only scans the surface of the disk to detect the pits and lands
true
141
use a dye layer to mimic the lands and pits created mechanically on commercial disks
CD-R (Blank CD's)
142
in CD-R, at the ___ setting it burns spots on the dye layer changing it from transparent to opaque. this allows data to be written as spots of transparency and opacity
high
143
in CD-R, in ___ setting, it reads differences between spots and opacity
low
144
this disk is similar to CD-R but the laser has three intensities
CD-RW
145
what are the three intensities of CD-RW
intensity 1 - read data
intensity 2 - burn data
intensity 3 - erase deta
146
the CD-R disk has a capacity of
650mb to 800mb
147
what does DVD mean
digital versatile disc
148
true or false: DVD's can have several layers
true
149
how much data can DVD's hold
4.7gb of data
150
these DVD's have two reflective layers, one which can be penetrated at a certain intensity
dual layer disks
151
DVD Format: read only. mechanically stamped and manufactured as single or double layer and as single sided or double sided
DVD-ROM
152
DVD formats: single or dual layer disks and can be single or double sided. they can be written to only once
DVD-R
153
DVD format: same as DVD-R but can be written to several times
DVD-RW
154
DVD format: these are single or dual layer disks and can be single or double sided. they can be written to only once
DVD + R
155
DVD format: these are the same as DVD+R only that they can be written to several times
DVD+RW
156
true or false: DVD-R and DVD+R are incompatible with each other. manufacturers have produced DVD+-R drives capable of reading and writing to both standards
true
157
uses a new laser technology resulting in layer of 15gb instead of 4.7gb on standard DVD. This gives a total capacity of
a double sided - double layered disk as 60GB.
HD-DVD
158
Higher capacity than HD-DVD - 25GB of data/layer. A dual layer disk can hold 50GB. Technically, a double sided and double layered disk can hold 100GB of data.
blu-ray
159
Replaces floppy drives in new computers. They can
read media cards from most digital cameras
Card readers
160
Give examples of card readers
* Microdrive:
* Smartmedia:
* SD memory card:
* Memory stick/Duo/Pro:
* xD picture card:
161
a computer monitor displays images generated by the graphics card
monitors
162
monitors are almost exclusively
LCD (Liquid Crystal
Display).
163
these monitors are rare and are now as expensive as LCD monitors
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
164
this is the ration between the width and height of the screen
aspect ratio
165
2 aspect ratios
standard monitor - 4:3
widescreen monitor - 16:9
166
true or false: Most LCD monitors offer a VGA and a DVI connection.
true
167
The ___ connector is used for analogue signals
VGA
168
___ connector is used for digital signals
DVI
169
true: DVI is the best option because computer is a digital machine
true
170
resolution of standard monitors
* XGA (Extended Graphics Array) - 1024 x 768
* SXGA (Super Extended Graphics Array) - 1280 x 1024
* UXGA (Ultra Extended Graphics Array) - 1600 x 1200
* QXGA (Quad Extended Graphics Array) - 2048 x 1536
171
what does DVI mean
Digital visual interface
172
resolution of widescreen monitors
* WXGA (Wide XGA) - 1280 x 800
* WSXGA (Wide SXGA) - 1680 x 1050
* WUXGA (Wide UXGA) - 1920 x 1200
173
native resolution at which the image is crisp.
Other resolutions are possible but the image quality decreases.
LCD monitors
174
this is the primary input device
keyboard
175
this contains the letter and number keys, shift keys, spacebar, return key
typing keys
176
these keys are arranged as on a calculator
numeric keypad
177
programmable keys used by software for special functions
function keys
178
screen and cursor control
control keys
179
most common arrangement of keyboard is
QWERTY
180
what are other arrangements of keyboards
Dvorak, ABCDEF, AZERTY
181
these are either PS/2 or USB
wired
181
what does ps/2 mean
personal system
182
the keyboard uses batteries
wireless
183
useful for use with notebook computers; leaves users less prone to RSI (repetitive strain injury)
rubber keyboard
184
uses point and click technology
mouse (input device)
185
uses a ball to roll across the surface and move
rollers attached to sensors inside the mouse - reflecting the ball movement as cursor movement.
ball mouse
186
camera takes thousands of images per second and sends them for digital processing. The red LED lights up the surface for the camera.
optical mouse
187
produce a hardcopy (permanent and readable) of computer data
printers
188
what can printers print to
paper, transparency, photographic paper, card etc
189
what are the two main technologies involved in printers
inkjet and laser
190
uses an electric charge to vibrate a membrane.
When the membrane flexes downwards, it ejects an ink
droplet through the nozzle (1). When it flexes upwards, it draws more ink into the reservoir (2).
inkjet
191
a heating element locally heats ink to form a
bubble (1). As the bubble expands, it forces ink through the nozzle (2). When it bursts, it causes a vacuum which draws ink into the reservoir (3).
bubblejet
192
true or false: laser printers use toner (powdered ink) instead of liquid ink as in inkjet printers
true
193
these produce images using dots
laser printers
194
how do laser printers work
The image is created using a laser beam and a mirror -lens arrangement on a drum coated with magnetically
charged toner and then transferred from the drum to the paper. The paper is then fed through a heated fuser which fuses the toner to the paper as ink.
195
printers are available as
a4, a3, and a2
196
if larger drawings and images are required, what is more suitable
plotter
197
these use inkjet technology and are available in A3, A2, A1, and A0
plotters
198
what is firmware
hardware with embedded software
199
what is CMOS for
for managing date and time and setting up BIOS
200
What are capacitors
controls wattage and volts that other components need
201
what are inductors
removes electricity spikes
202
what is BIOS for
for initializing
203
what to consider in pc building
CPU
Motherboard
Casing
RAM
Storage
Video/Graphics Card
Power Supply
204
what are optional components in building a pc
Sound card
Network Card
Optical Drives
USB Expansion Card
Peripherals
205
Give examples of peripheral components
Keyboard, mouse, monitors, speakers
206
What are other tools used for building pc
Screwdriver
Cable Ties
Small Cups
Environment that is non-conductive
