37690632
Description
Flashcards by Darius Marian, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Darius Marian
about 2 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| What are the tools of the trade? | Phone, #2 Philips screw driver, Hemostat, IC inserter, iFixit tool kit, Nut drivers, spudgers (metal that opens smart screens off phones), pry bars (plastic spudgers), Voltage tester, Volt/Ohm meter (multimeter), Thumb drives |
| What is a Hemostat? | Scissors with bent tip, used to extract screws in tight spaces |
| What is an IC Inserter? | tool designed to plug in integrated circuits |
| What are spudgers? | Metal flat tool that is designed to open up smart screens off of smart phones |
| What are pry bars? | Plastic flat tool designed to open up smart screens off of smart phones |
| What are the 6 steps of the troubleshooting theory? | 1. Identify the problem 2. Establish a theory of probable cause (question the obvious) 3. Test the theory to determine cause 4. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution 5. Verify full system functionality and, if applicable, implement preventative measures 6. Document findings, actions, and outcomes (not all organizations require this) |
| What are 3 tips when Identifying the problem within the 6 steps of troubleshooting theory? | - Question the user - Inquire (ask) regarding environmental or infrastructure changes - Review system and application logs |
| What are 2 tips when testing the theory to determine cause within the 6 steps of troubleshooting theory? | - If theory isn’t confirmed, re-establish new theory - Escalate the issue, if necessary |
| What are the primary PC components? | - System Unit (computer) contains motherboard, CPU, RAM, and hard drives - Monitor - visual output - Keyboard and mouse - input - Printer creates paper output - Speakers for audio output - Game controller input - Webcam for visual input - External Hard Drive - Headset for audio output - Microphone for sound input |
| What are all the connectors to a computer? | - Universal Serial Bus (USB) - Network cable connection (RJ-45 is the wire connection that snaps into this slot) - Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is the old visual connector for older monitors - DisplayPort (similar to HDMI except one of the edges are squared) - HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) - Power connection (connector that connects system unit to power outlet) - Mini-DIN (PS/2) old round keyboard and mouse connectors - Parallel port (LPT port) old long purple female pin connector used for printers - Serial port - old pin male connector - Video Graphics Array (VGA) old common connector used for old monitors - Anti-theft connector used to keep thieves from stealing the laptop - Mini DisplayPort - USB C - Microphone and speaker connection - SD card slot - connection to insert SD card |
| Describe the RJ-45 connector | Ethernet cable, snaps when you plug it in, and is often connected to the router/modem |
| Describe a digital visual interface (DVI) connector |
old visual connector used for monitors. Similar to VGA but not the same.
Image:
Dvi (binary/octet-stream)
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| Describe a DisplayPort connector | Similar to HDMI, but one of the sides have both corners at a 90' degrees angle |
| Describe a Mini-DIN (PS/2) connector | old round keyboard and mouse connectors |
| Describe a parallel Port (LPT port) connector | old long purple female pin connector used for printers |
| Describe a Serial port connector | old pin male connector. they were standard on early computers for connecting a modem, mouse and printers on old Macs |
| Describe a Mini DisplayPort connector | small Display connector commonly found on laptops |
| What are the basic Components inside the PC | - Power Supply - Video card - Motherboard = where everything inside computer connects to, may have multiple power connections - RAM stick - Central processing = liquid cooling systems running to CPU - Intel Core i9 processor is a type of CPU - Thermal paste, or compound is a thermal seal that directs heat to the cooling system which throws the heat out of the system unit. - M.2 SSD is mass storage, main storage for motherboard - Expansion slots (PCIe) for expansion cards which expands capability of motherboard - Chipset = defines features that mother board can do. (How many USB drives it has, how many hard drives it supports, how many expansion slots/PCIe it supports - Front panel connectors = connection to the on/off switch and other components in the front of the system unit. |
| What is a computer? | anything containing CPU, RAM, Mass storage, and operating systems. (dryer/washer, cameras, cell phones, routers, printers, etc...) |
| WHAT IS A CPU? | Central Processing Unit, the brain of the computer. Super duper fast calculating machine. - CPU is similar to a man in the box. The man can add, subtract, divide, and multiply incredibly fast, but the problem is that he’s inside a box so you can’t talk to him. |
| What is an External Data BUS? | External Data BUS is a way to communicate with the man in the box. It's similar to 8 light bulbs in the box, and 8 outside the box each with a light switch under the light bulb. The light bulb in the box and outside the box both turn on at the same time, and flip the switch on to both inside and outside the box. it is how we communicate with the man in the box. On = 1, Off = 0. |
| What is a binary value or bit? | - value of communication, Ex: 1 or 0. |
| What is a bite? | The complete 8 binary values or bits (set of light bulbs) ex: 10010000 |
| What is a Machine Language or code book? | Computer language that you and the man in the box (of CPU) have access to in order to look up code definition. ex: python, etc… |
| What is a programmer? | Person who can understand and write the machine language or code book to tell CPU what to do. |
| What is a clock? | Similar to a bell inside a CPU used to tell the CPU to do something. |
| What does 1 Hertz mean? | 1 cycle per second |
| What does 1 GHz mean? | 1 billion cycles per second |
| What are the 2 dominant CPU companies today? | Intel and AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) |
| Does Intel and AMD CPUs speak the same language? | Yes |
| What is a System Crystal? (Quarts Oscillator) | small silver looking cylinder on the motherboard acting as a metronome for entire computer. This is a quarts oscillator oscillates at a fixed amounts of speed. This means that if you upgrade CPU, you may also need to upgrade the quarts oscillator, since it also has a clock. On a newer system, quarts crystal oscillator could be a small silver rectangle on the mother board. |
| What is Clock Multiplying? | CPU takes the beat (metronome) coming from the system Crystal (quarts oscillator) and double it or multiply it x10 or x30 and works great because inside PCU is where most of calculations occur. |
| What is the purpose of a code name? | (ex: Skylake) helps define the microarchitecture. - Intel Core i5 = the microarchitecture, my laptop is Intel Core i7 |
| What makes the CPU fast? | The multiplier. This means that 100 MHz is multiplied by the amount it can multiply, in this case somewhere between 8-36 times, which is fast. That’s how many times the clock gets hit per second. Most modern processors slow down and speed up based on temperature. |
| What is OverClocking? | telling the CPU to push the performance up a notch, not a good idea if you want your OS (operating system) to be reliable and stable. |
| What is Hyper Threading? | one super smart pipeline inside CPU (4 people per pipeline) that is supper smart and can handle 2 pieces of data at the same time. |
| What is Cache? | - Cache is basically a little bit of what you already have but a lot closer to you. Ex: you have lots of fire wood at warehouse far away, but you take a little bit of that for the winter in your backyard shed. |
| What happens inside a computer when you open up a program? | - When you open a program, CPU commands the program to be copied off of the hard drive into the RAM. From the RAM, individual lines of the program are fed into the CPU via external data Bus and the program is then processed. The problem is that the CPU is super fast. Ram is moderately fast, and Hard drive is slowly fast. CPU is so fast and therefore RAM cannot always keep up with feeding the data in a timely manner. To resolve this problem, we placed a tiny bit of SRAM (similar to RAM but smaller and much faster) inside CPU. SRAM is very expensive. |
| What is a pipeline stall? | when data is needed but its not in the cache section inside of CPU, pipeline is basically stalled, when this happens we use a few hundred clicks of the clock to go get the data from the RAM. This pipeline stall must be avoided at all times |
| How many caches does every CPU come with? and what is the purpose of the caches? | 3 levels of cache. The purpose is to avoid pipeline stalls |
| What are the speeds of the 3 levels of Cache inside a CPU? | Level 1 cache = Super Fast. 64k, runs at the multiplied speed of CPU. Level 2 cache = feeds level 1 cache, 128k or 256k, but it runs at half the CPU speed. Level 3 Cache = runs at base mother board speed, but faster than RAM. |
| What is the purpose of a Set Association? | defines how each cache is efficient on how it will be able to hand the right piece of code into the CPU. |
| What is the biggest difference between AMD and Intel CPU? | How the CPUs handle the Cache. AMD likes to use really big caches, Intel uses smaller caches that are really smart. |
| What is a CPU Socket | Motherboard Piece where CPU plugs into |
| What is a Microarchitecture? | circuit diagram inside the CPU. EX: they create a microarchitecture called Coffee Lake, they make different types of CPU with the same microarchitecture such as: i3, i5, i7, or i9 for best performance |
| What are 8 different family names of Intel? | - Nehalem (1st Gen) of i3, i5, i7, i9 - Sandy Bridge (2nd Gen) of i3, i5, i7, i9 - Ivy Bridge (3rd Gen) … - Haswell (4th Gen) … - Broadwell (5th Gen) … - Skylake (6th Gen) … - Kaby Lake (7th Gen) … - Coffee Lake (8th Gen) … - Every one of these intel family names have different CPU sockets for different performance and needs. |
| Describe each component of this CPU number i7-5820K | - i7 = type of performance CPU from that family name - 5 = 5th gen CPU. This could be any number between 2-9 - 820 = the SKU number. This is the sales inventory code - K = This letter can define the power. Can also be U. - The problem with this number is that it doesn’t tell you how many cores it has, how fast its running, or how big the cache is. |
| What does the term PGA mean in CPU Sockets? | PGA stands for Pin Gridder A, and it basically means that there are a bunch of pins sticking out of the bottom of CPU. |
| What does LGA mean in CPU Sockets? | - LGA stands for Land Gridder A, This CPU has lands (where pins plug into), and the actual socket has pins sticking up that plugs into the CPU. |
| What kind of socket does AMD CPUs have? and what does AMD call this socket? | - AMD has PGA type of socket (Pins stick out from bottom of CPU), AMD calls this socket an AM4 |
| What kind of socket does Intel CPUs have? | LGA 1151. The number 1151 is actually the number of pins it has. Motherboard socket has the pins sticking out, CPU is a female. |
| What are the 2 main type of sockets of Intel CPU? | - LGA 1151 is a mainstream type of socket, for middle of the road type CPUs moving into the enthusiast side. - LGA 2066 is into the enthusiast world for high end performance such as i9 processors. |
| What are the 2 main type of sockets of AMD CPU? | - AMA4 basically goes neck to neck with the LGA 1151, slightly on the enthusiast side. - TR4 is higher performance for enthusiast and high end stations today. |
| What do you need to consider when buying a motherboard? | - Weather its an AMD or Intel Motherboard, this is important depending on which CPU you want to install - Make sure you get the book manual, this shows the CPU speed it can handle |
| 4 Things to consider when installing CPU? | - Wear anti-static wristband - Do not touch CPU pins - align CPU with orientation notch - install thermal paste and CPU Fan flat against the CPU |
| What is overclocking? | - pushing the system beyond its rated speed |
| What are the 2 types of cooling systems used for CPUs? | Fan cooling Liquid cooling. This option is better |
| What are the 5 types of RAM? | 1. SDRAM (Synchronized DRAM) 2. DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate Synchronized D RAM) 3. DDR2 4. DDR3 5. DDR4 |
| What are 3 distinct feature of SDRAM? | 1. Only type of RAM with 2 noches (gaps where Ram plugs into motherboard) 2. Synchronized the speed with the motherboard speed 3. 168 pins |
| What are 3 distinct features of DDR SDRAM? | 1. Clock speed = DDR(Double Data Rate) can give 2 bits of info on a click of the motherboard crystal clock. If crystal clock is 100MHz, this ram runs 200MHz, which is why it can be called DDR 200. 2. The PC Speed rating--- The PC Speed rating of this RAM, take the speed rating of this RAM (200) and x 8. you get 1600, aka PC-1600. |
| What are 3 distinct features of DDR2? | 1. Clock Speed = if motherboard crystal speed is 100 MHz, this RAM is 2x faster than standard DDR. Standard DDR is 200, DDR2 = 400. 2. PC Speed Rating = 400 x 8 = 3200 or PC2-3200. 3. Uses 240 pins with 1 notch |
| What is the formula to find out PC Speed Rating? | RAM Clock speed (DDR speed) x 8 |
| What are 3 distinct features of DDR3? | 1. 240 pins, like DDR2, and 1 notch 2. 2x clock speed of DDR2. So if 100MHz is the motherboard crystal speed, this RAM can work at a rate of 800 MHz. 3. PC Speed rating = 800 x 8 = 6400. or PC3-6400 |
| What are distinct features of DDR4? | 1. 288 pins and 1 notch. Fastest RAM on A+ exam 2. Clock speed = if crystal clock speed is 200MHz, the bandwidth (info transferred per sec, not clock speed anymore) is 1600MT/s. Speed rating is DDR4-1600 and PC4-12800 as PC Speed rating |
| What does a square-based RAM mean? | - Every one-sided ram is measured as 4 x bigger than the previous one with less squares. So 256 MB > 1 GB > 4 GB > 16 GB - Double sided RAM is measured similar, 4 x bigger, but since its double sided the numbers look a little different. 512 MB > 2 GB > 8 GB |
| Do motherboards accept all types of RAM? | No, check owner's manual for compatibility |
| What does a channels mean in regards to RAM? | When 2 different RAM slots are channeled, this means you have to use the same type of RAM type and size on each channel. |
| What is a dual channel memory? | This means that there are 2 RAM channels. each channel consists of 2 RAM slots. One of the channel can be a different brand RAM. Always check motherboard manual for instructions |
| What is the Parity/ECC RAM? | RAM with more than 8 chips or squares on it (usually they have 8) |
| What is the difference between Parity RAM and ECC RAM? | Parity can function with one of the chips or squares to be bad, while ECC can function with two going bad |
| What is an SO-DIMM RAM type? and in what devices are these commonly used on? | Its a smaller size RAM, similar to the big ones used on Desktop, except smaller. Commonly used on laptops |
| How many pins does the DDR4 and DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM use? | DDR4 SO-DIMM = 260 DDR3 SO-DIMM = 204 |
| What is an SPD chip on a RAM do? | SPD (Serial Presence Detect) chip tells the computer the key features of the RAM such as: speed/size/brand/capacity/manufacturer/ week and year it was made/more... |
| What tool can be used to read SPD information? | CPU-Z can read the SPD (Serial Presence Detect) information |
| If the manual states that 64GB is the max amount of RAM you can install on it, how many GB does each of the 4 RAM slots handle? | 64GB divided by 4 is 16GB per slot |
| How can you check if RAM is installed correctly? | You should hear 2 clicks when pushing RAM into its slot. After this, turn on the computer and check for RAM storage and make sure it matches the amounts of GB you have installed. Make sure its installed within the correct channel and it clicks into place properly. |
| How do you install RAM on a laptop? What degree angle? | - To install on laptops, you literally push the RAM into the slot of the motherboard at a 45 degree angle, and just push it down until the arms hug it and lock it into place. |
| What is BIOS? | - Computer language burned into a chip (not one you can change or manipulate, AKA Firmware) - Used to communicate to basic hardware such as keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc... - BIOS Chips can be located on the motherboard. Modern motherboards may have 2 BIOS chips, in case one gets corrupted or fails. |
| What are 2 things built in BIOS? | Power On Self Test and System Setup (CMOS) |
| What is POST? | Power On Self Test is a diagnostics before everything is turned on |
| What is the process of POST? | Power Good Wire (power wire for CPU) turns on CPU > CPU talks to BIOS to run a POST > Post tells all computer components to run diagnostics and check themselves out > Assuming every component passes, they will communicate to POST that they passed > POST communicates to CPU that everything checks out and to boot up > CPU boots up the system. |
| What are Beep Codes? | - Codes during the POST that tells you (through sound) if there are any issues with any hardware (RAM, display, keyboard) 1----- - -- -- means there's no video card 1+---- -- -- means there's no RAM - Beep Codes come up before Video is tested. Once video passes the test, display codes show up |
| What do you do if there's no beep codes or video codes on the monitor during POST? | Use a POST card to figure out the issues |
| What is a POST Card? | - Similar to a car OBD reader, this is a small display USB plug you can plug into the computer (or some computers come with it) that can display error codes detected during POST. - Once display turns on, you can ignore the codes |
| What is Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) ? | basically BIOS but an upgraded modern version of it that works better and faster. |
| What is Firmware? | software but on a computer chip, such as BIOS. |
| What is a system setup? | a part of BIOS or UEFI BIOS which is an interphase we get to and work on using the mouse and keyboard to make changes to the changeable parts of BIOS. |
| How do you get to system setup on a computer? | - To get to system setup, you usually have to press and hold a key as you’re booting the operating system. It could be DEL key, or F1 key, or etc… usually the key you need to hold is stated on the screen as you’re booting up. |
| What changes can you make in system setup? | You can set up administrative pw (used to access system setup), set up user pw, some system setups have an Ai tweaker option used to play with numbers and overclock the CPU (can damage it), disable external plugs (on Advanced Options) to avoid people from plugging in USB drives, you can enable or disable booting anything off of an external storage (USB drive), you can flash the BIOS (updating it using a USB drive or internet), you can also play with RAM timing, and more... |
| Are firmwares safe to mess around with? | Not if you want your computer to be reliable |
| What are common terminology of firmware? | - UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - CMOS (Complementary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) - Firmware - BIOS (Basic Input/Output Services) etc... |
| How many firmwares did early computers come with? | 2 - one shiny read-only programmable memory chip - one for system setup with a clock and CMOS (Complementary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) Note: CMOS used to be 64 bytes, now its a lot bigger with the updated computers |
| How many firmware chips do we use in today's world, and what is/are the names? | 1 firmware chip Called Single Flash ROM Chips (Flash Memory) (ROM=Read Only Memory) |
| What are the benefits of Single Flash ROM Chips | We can flash it or update it |
| What is Real-Time Clock? (RTC) | a rhythmic clock timing used to keep all computers within a network synchronized in a specific timing (milliseconds apart) otherwise they won't even boot up. |
| What is a CMOS battery? | Circular backup battery (similar to watch battery) used as a backup in case electricity is not powering up the small chips in a computer. |
| What are the symptoms of a bad CMOS battery? | Causes RTC (Real Time Clock) to slow down. If computer time is 20 minutes behind, this can be a great indicator of a bad CMOS battery or OS battery. |
| What happens if CMOS battery dies while it is installed on a computer? | You can loose all information and computer will return to factory settings |
| What happens when you improperly flash the ROM chip? | May result in ruining the motherboard |
| What are key things to keep in mind when flashing ROM chip? | - Try not to loose power or unplug during the flashing process - Make sure you have the complete cope of that flash update (not partial update) or BIOS flash image - Know the reason for the flash upgrade. One main reason to flash BIOS firmware is to upgrade the CPU to accept faster processors - This is why manufacturers put 2 BIOS chips, in case you mess one up flashing it - Keep in mind, bugs can show up after flashing it |
| What are Services? | BIOS programs that make hardware functional |
| What do device drivers do? | Make hardware functional in an OS |
| What is contained in BIOS chip? | POST (Power On Self Test) and Services |
| Where can you find the explanation of POST hex codes? | in the system manual |
| In what circumstances do Beep Codes occur? | When the error messages can't be displayed on the screen (meaning video card might be bad) |
| Can POST program run without CPU? | No |
| What is the purpose of setting a user pw | to prevent random people from accessing the operating system |
| What is the difference between user pw and administrative pw? | - User pw is used to prevent accessing the OS - Administrative pw is used to prevent accessing the setup program (system setup) |
| What are 2 things that computers can benefit from flashing BIOS? | - Flashing BIOS is for fixing bugs and adding features to the contents of the BIOS chip. |
| What can happen after removing the CMOS battery? | Might prevent OS from booting |
| What can happen to the computer if the wall outlet voltage is too low? | Computer may not boot up |
| What is the standard type of CMOS battery? | CR2032. |
| What are Form Factors? | Standards created for computer manufacturers in order to ensure cases and computer components (such as motherboards) can fit and are exchangeable with other computers. As long as cases are big enough, 99.9% of the time you should be able to fit any motherboard in just about any case that fits it. |
| What is an I/O (Input/Output) area in form factors? | General area across multiple type of motherboards where all the inputs and outputs (I/O) are located. |
| What is an ATX Form Factor? | Been around for 20 years, very common Standard measurement of motherboard which is 12 in x 9.6 in |
| What is a MicroATX form factor? | Standard measurement of motherboard which is 9.6 in x 9.6 in |
| What is a Mini-ITX form factor? | Smallest common form factor motherboard size that fits regular size AMD, Intel, RAM, video card, etc... size: 6.75 in x 6.75 in |
| What is an ITX Form factor? | Larger version of Mini-ITX, rare |
| What is the benefit of standard form factors when it comes to power supply? | Same power supply can power up many different types of motherboards |
| What is an I/O shield? is it considered a form factor? | Computer back-plate used for the intputs and outputs. It also improves the airflow of the computer Yes, same shield can fit Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, or full size ATX |
| What was the down-side to older motherboard chips? | Each chip had 1 simple job/function (control mouse, control built-in sound card, control serial ports) so each chip had a single purpose. This was common for 10-15 years, and motherboards were filled with chips |
| What are the names of the 2 chip-sets made for modern motherboards? | Northbridge and Southbridge NOTE: They were designed to work together |
| What was the purpose of the Northbridge chip? | - Interphase to CPU - Memory controller built into it - High speed expansion BUSes - Doing the fast stuff |
| What was the purpose of the Southbridge chip? | - Runs the slower stuff - Individual ports (USB, etc...) |
| As technology progressed, what happened to the Northbridge, Southbridge, and CPU's functionalities on modern computer? | Northbridge is no longer a chip, all of the commands are ran by CPU now. We still have Southbridge for the slower stuff |
| How do chipsets help define computer capabilities and performance? | Chipset are the most critical part of understanding the functions of what a system can do. it defines (based on the model) how many sticks of RAM it supports, how many video cards you can put in, how fast of a RAM you can have, how many USB ports you can have, and the speed of these USB ports, how many hard drives you can install. So motherboard performance and limits are determined by chipsets. |
| What are SATA cables used for? | Cables used to connect Hard drives or SSD to the motherboard |
| What are power connectors used for? | Connections on motherboard used to connect a wire to the power supply (provides power to motherboard). There are multiple connections |
| What do capacitors do? | motherboard piece (looks like a battery with the + facing down) that adjusts and breaks down voltages depending on what the motherboard needs. it works together with voltage regulators. |
| How many voltages do power supplies provide? | 12V, 5V, and 3.3V |
| What do capacitors do with the voltage from power supply? | Breaks them down depending on the needs of the motherboard into at least 5 different voltage inputs of different voltages (could be 100s of different voltages in total) |
| What is a sign of a bad capacitor? | The top surface of the (negative battery looking) surface should be flat. if there's a bump on it, this is an indicator of a bad capacitor |
| What is a PCIe expansion slot? | Slot on motherboard (similar to RAM slot) where gaming cards can plug into, or anything with a PCIe male input can plug into it |
| What is a 16 lane PCIe connector and what are the unique features? | - Size: half of a palm - 16 lane PCIe is a data bus that uses serial connection - Runs one wire to send and receive data. |
| When was the PCI expansion slot invented, and how many bits wide is the BUS? | - in the 90's - 32 bit wide BUS (ran 32 wires) |
| What is Parallel vs. Serial? | terminology used to refer to when techs discovered it was faster to send the info on one wire (serial) rather than have 32 wires (parallel) |
| How is sending information on one wire (PCIe) faster than 32 wires (PCI) ? | The receiving end of the wires take more time as they have to account for every signal and make sure they all arrive, since some wires can transfer info faster than others |
| What are some similarities and differences between PCI and PCIe? | Both have the same binary language, but one uses one wire (PCIe) and other uses 32. (PCI) |
| What is a single lane? | When tons of data is sent and received on one wire rather than multiple. Same wire used in PCIe. - is an input but much smaller than the 16 lane, for smaller hardware to plug into it |
| Can smaller devices intended to plug into a single lane (x1) PCIe plug into a 16 lane (x16) PCIe input? | Yes Note: there are also 4-lane PCIe (X4) |
| What does a USB connector look like on a motherboard? and what can you connect to it? | about 8 pins or so sticking out - You can connect a Dongle which is the wire connector that adapts into USB ports of the I/O on the console - There are old dongles as well that adapt into an old-school serial ports, or VGA connector |
| What plugs into the Mass Storage slot on the mother board? | SSD drive (looks like RAM) or Hard Drive |
| What is a Tower Case? | Huge computer case designed to hold a motherboard with all other computer components and drives |
| What are front panel connections? | - Case connections in the front of the case - Examples include: On/Off Switch, USB connections, Hard Drive activity light, and audio connections |
| What are standouts? | the screw looking pins on the computer case, the actual pins where the motherboards are placed on. These screws are very standardized so any motherboard irrelevant of the brand can properly fit on it. |
| What are pass-throughs? | holes surrounded by rubber intended to keep computer organized by hiding the wires and allowing a small exposure of the wires to pass through and connect to the motherboard. |
| What are Hard Drive mounts? | empty slots on case where hard drives get mounted. |
| What is cable management? | organizing cables by keeping the unit organized and clean allowing minimal exposure to wires when installing a system unit. |
| What is an optical drive? | CD drive |
| What is the 1st important step to do before installing the inner-computer components into the computer case? | Test the motherboard before installing it into the computer case. Plug the CPU/Ram and other needed components to ensure the motherboard works and you can get to the system setup. |
| What is the first step that needs to be done before installing a motherboard into a computer case? | Install the I/O shield. They are easy to bend, so make sure you are gentle and install it properly the 1st time to avoid bending it. |
| When installing components in a computer case, what is the next step after installing the I/O shield? | Create landing space (For the motherboard). This is done by pulling out all the wires inside the computer that are in the way, letting them hang outside of the case in a n organized manner. |
| When installing components in a computer case, what is the next step after creating landing space? | Dry-fit the motherboard into the standoffs, gently push the motherboard towards the I/O shield to plug into it properly, and make sure the standoffs properly align with the holes in the motherboard. |
| What are the 2 main type of screws used in motherboards? and what are their differences? | fine-threaded screws (more threads) and Course-threaded screws (fewer threads) |
| When installing components in a computer case, what is the next steps after dry-fitting the motherboard? | Insert the proper screws through the motherboard into the standoffs. (Motherboards and cases usually come with screws) |
| When installing components in a computer case, what are the next steps after screwing down the motherboard? | Plug all the connectors. Make sure to follow case manual and motherboard manual for proper instructions on how/where to plug in properly. NOTE: switches don’t matter if you plug backwards (upside down) but the LED lights must be plugged properly (as there is a + and - side of the plug). |
| How many pins can fan connectors come with? | 3-pin or 4-pin connectors. NOTE: you can plug a 4-pin connector into a 3-pin slot into the motherboard |
| Can any I/O shield fit on any motherboard? | No, the outer dimension of the I/O shield is standardized (form factor) to fit on most computer cases, however, the right I/O shield for the motherboard is customized to fit the proper inputs welded to the motherboard. Motherboards usually come with an I/O shield customized to fit it. |
| What are dongles? | connectors with cables that plug into the motherboard. |
| What is an ATX style Power Supply? | the predominant power-supply used in Desktops, PCs |
| What is a slider (in the back of the power supply) ? | red Plug looking switch used to change the voltage intake to the computer depending on the location you live in. 230 Volts for the europeans, 120 Volts for North Americans. You don’t see sliders ofter, as most power supplies can adjust automatically the voltage it needs. |
| How is the air flow structure in most power supplies? | It flows outside of the computer case through the power supply |
| What is a Power-supply? | step-down transformers that convert power from AC (from wall outlet) to DC power (for the computer). |
| What is an ATX power connector? | 20-pin connector (can be 24-pin depending on the power needs of the motherboard). Usually there’s a 20-pin connector next to another P4 4-pin connector depending on the needs of the motherboard. |
| What are the 3 main voltage coming from the power supply? what color wire does each voltage have? | There are 3 main Volts that power supplies provide: 12 volt (yellow wires), 5 volts (red wires), and 3.3 volt (orange wires). |
| What is an ATX12V wire coming from power supply? | Originally, computers used to be powered with just 1 power-connector, but with time, with upgrades and higher power demand, more plugs were also created for power-supplies. Extra power plugs are referred to as ATX12V. They are 4-pin square-shaped connectors that extend more power to the motherboard. NOTE: Some motherboards require 6-pin slots to be plugged in, you can plug in 2 wires of the 4-pin connectors and have 2 pins hanging out, which is fine. |
| What is a Molex wire coming from power supply? | oldest power connector, general purpose (provides 5 and 12 volt). Used for peripherals and drives. |
| What is a mini connector coming from power supply? | designed originally for floppy-drive (old square reader before disks came out) but are still needed for other connections from time to time. |
| What are chamfers found in power cables from power supply? | Notches on the plug itself, purpose is to ensure we are plugging those wires in correctly and not upside down. |
| What is a SATA Power connector coming from power supply? | Power connector used primarily for hard drives, but can be used on optical media, etc… (peripherals) |
| What is a PCIe connector coming from power supply box? | Used to power higher-end video cards |
| What is a Modular Power Supply ? | A type of power supply box that has all the cables separately, so you can use and plug in only the cables needed in the back of this power supply box. standard power supply has too many cables that are saughtered into the box itself. Modular power supply is a perfect way for cable management. |
| How do you mount a power supply unit to a computer case? | - To mount it, you may need to pull off the back plate (already installed on the computer case) in order to properly slide in the power supply box. you want to mount that plate into the back of the power supply 1st, and remount it back into the computer case (with the 4 thumb screws or regular screws) after the power supply is inside the computer case. |
| What do you need to consider in regard to air-flow when installing a PSU (Power Supply Unit) ? | - You can position the power supply to draw air from inside the system, or some computer cases may allow you to draw cold air from outside through the unit and back outside for better cooling. |
| Can there be more than one ATX Power Connector on a motherboard? | Yes, there may be a primary and secondary ATX power connector. Make sure to read manual to find out how much power you need (may be based on how many video cards you are planning to use). |
| What is the main difference between Modular PSU (Power Supply Unit) and Non-Modular PSU? | - Modular PSU offer less cable clutter, however, it may also loose a little bit of power efficiency due to the plug in the back of the PSU. |
| What is the equation to find out watts on a system? | - Volts x Amps = Watts |
| Are PSUs power efficient? | No, some power may be lost due to heat, resistance, etc... |
| What can you use to find the correct Watts needed for your System Unit? | A wattage calculator, and don't forget to add 20-30% more watts for the power lost. |
| Are Watts written on the PSU package accurate? | Yes, in a perfect temperature and condition (Which is very rare). Odds are that the temperature will quickly rise, and Watts will lower as the heat rises |
| What is the 80 plus rating system for PSUs? | Rating system that rates the efficiency of the PSU, making it much easier to find efficient PSUs |
| Are there any smaller power connectors than the ATX Power connector? | Yes, there are smaller ones for laptops and etc.. |
| What is a Heat Sink? | Anything that can withdraw heat from another device. Ex: a CPU cooler that extracts the heat into a big copper block (with fin lines) outside of the CPU. Air can travel through the fins and take away the heat. A fan is usually connected to it (just like a car radiator).  |
| What is the normal air-flow inside a System Unit? | Cold air gets extracted from the front or top of the Unit inside and out from the PSU (normally, not in all cases). |
| What happens when system overheats? | It will reboot |
| What is the difference between big and small cooling fans? | Big fans turn slower, therefore making less noise. |
| What is a PWM connector ? | 4-pin connectors (inline 4) on the motherboard used to power up the fans (CPU fan and other fans). |
| What is the difference between a 3-pin fan dongle and a 4-pin fan dongle | 3-pin fans cannot communicate with motherboard on spinning control for proper temperature. However, the 3-pin does plug into a 4-pin PWM connector on the motherboard. The motherboard will have it run at its fastest speed at all times, since they cannot communicate on spinning control. |
| What can you do about temperature control inside System setup? or within the fan software (depending on the fans you have) | You can have computer alert you if CPU reaches a certain temperature, if CPU fan stops working, and adjust CPU fan speed. Normal speed controlled by CPU is preferred. |
| What computer component is most likely to damage or die? and why? | PSU because they take a ton of abuse from the electricity off of the wall outlet |
| What are the 2 ways PSU can die? | Fast or Slow |
| What are some symptoms of a fast dying PSU? What's the 1st thing you need to do about it? | rarely happens, you can smell something burning, or possibly see smoke. Unplug it immediately |
| What are some symptoms of a slow dying PSU? | This is Common, notorious, harder to diagnose. Symptoms: computer randomly shutting down, not wanting to power back on unless you unplug the outlet and plug it back in. |
| What is one of the common reasons for slow death in PSU? | There are massive capacitors acting as the primary surge suppressors. As capacitors start to break down after surges, the slow death begins. |
| What are 2 common tools used to test a PSU? | Multimeter, and PSU tester |
| What are some advantages to PSU tester? | Easy to use. The tester has all the inputs, it shows how much voltage should be passing through as well as how much it actually is passing through. |
| What is recommended to do if 12V yellow wires of a PSU is running a bit below 12V ? | Replace the PSU |
| What is one way to test the fan and power inside the PSU? | Use a bent paperclip and connect (from the PSU ATX Power connector) the green wire to any black wire (ground). This should immediately turn on the fan. |
| How can you test a PSU with a Multimeter? (Volt Meter) | You will need to plug the ATX Power connector from PSU into a motherboard. You don’t need the CPU installed or anything like that, just a plain motherboard will do. You will need to use the volt meter to test it. On the multimeter (or volt meter), you wanna set the DC voltage on the tester to the lowest number above the Voltage provided through the PSU connector (which is 12 V on yellow wires, so 20 V on Volt meter). If you connect the red pointer of the volt meter to the yellow cable (12 V) and the black pointer to the black cable (ground), you can actually turn on the PSU by using a bent paperclip and touching 2 red pins on the motherboard next to the ATX Power slot on the motherboard. If Voltage is good, then the volt meter would show right around 12 V. (Can be less but that indicates a possible slow death). You can actually test the 5 V or 3 V as well, but the 12 V seems to have a wider range and easier to spot voltage drop. |
| What computer components do you need to install on a motherboard in order to get to the CMOS setup or system setup? (CMOS = Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) is a small amount of memory on a computer motherboard that stores the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) settings. | Video-card, RAM, CPU, Keyboard, Mouse, and Monitor. Mass storage is not required. Keep in mind that the computer will not fully boot up since there is no mass storage installed. |
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