All In One A+ Practice

Secure Digital (SD) is a flash memory card format used in a variety of different portable devices, including notebook computers, digital cameras and PDAs.

The capacity of memory modules is specified in bytes. however, teh geometry of the device involves an x-by-y format that corresponds to word size. A 512MB memory module designed to work directly with a 64-bit microprocessor would be designed to deliver data in 8-byte words (64 bits x 8 million words). Under this format the capacity of the device in bytes is derived by multiplying the two numbers and then dividing by eight or nine for parity chips.

The major difference between power supply types is in their form factors. Different power supply form factors produce power supplies that are smaller in size than other power supply form factors, and their hole patterns are different. Another point that differentiates power supplies is their power (or wattage) rating. Typical power ratings include 450 watt, 500 watt, and greater versions. Voltage is generally not a decision point. When you buy a power supply for a PC you generally do not have the option a 110 Vac versus a 220 Vac supply. Typically PC power supplies offer a voltage selector switch and exchangeable power cable connection to handle this function.

When you are upgrading power supplies, power consumption (expressed as wattage rating) is important so that enough power is delivered to drive all components installed.

ROM devices store information permanently and are used to hold programs and data that does not change. RAM devices retain the information stored in them only as long as electrical power is applied to the IC. This is referred to as volatile memory, ROM on the other hand is nonvolatile.

Parity checking is a simple self-test used to detect RAM read-back errors.

The ECC RAM detects and corrects errors in the information it processes.

The monitor is attached to the video adapter card in the system unit via a signal cable or cables. The signal cable permits the monitor to be positioned away from the system unit if desired. With most CRT monitors, the signal cable is permanently attached to the monitor and plugs in to the video adapter card using a 3-row, 15-pin D-shell connector.

The most widely used display device for current PCs is the color VGA/SVGA display. The display monitor's signal cable normally connects to a 15-pin 3-row femal D-shell (DE-15F connector at the back of the system unit.

Many Pentium system boards include an AGP interface connector for video adapter cards.

Special Zero Insertion Force sockets are designed to allow the microprocessor to be set in the socket without force and then be clamped in place. An arm-activated clamping mechanism in the socket shifts to the side, locking the pins into place.

The original IDE interface used a single 40-pin ribbon cable to connect the hard drive to the host adapter card or system board and supported a maximum throughput of 8.3 MBps.

PCI express (PCIe) slots are a collection of high-speed serial versions of the PCI bus standard. These PCI versions employ new slot specifications that are not compatible with older PCI devices. PCIe pushes performance levels to 2.5GHz and data transfer rates bgetween 250MBps and 32GBps. high-end video adapter cards such as thse used by artists and serious game players are designed to plug into more advanced PCI-X or PCIe slots.

The USB bus is a high-speed serial interface that has been developed to provide a fast, flexible method of attaching up to 127 peripheral devices to the computer. USB peripherals can be daisy-chained or networked together using connection hubs that enable the bus to branch out through additional port connections.

Cache memory is a fast RAM system used to hold information that the microprocessor is like to use.

The BIOS stores the PnP Information it collects from the devices in a special section of the CMOS RAM known as ESCD area.

You must remove the backup battery or short across the reset jumper to reset the CMOS information. It is also necessary to unplug the power from the commercial outlet to reduce the voltage to the CMOS registers. When the content of the CMOS is reset, you must manually restore any none-default CMOS settings being used by the system.

USB transfers are conducted over a four-wire cables. The signal travels over a pair of twisted wires (D+ and D-) in a 90-ohm cable. The four wires are connected to four pins within the connector end.

To perform a read or write operation, the address of the particular track and sector to be access is applied to a stepper motor, which moves a Read/Write head over the desired track. As the desired sector passes beneath the R/W head the data transfer happens.

The BIOS controls the cooling system through its Health Management system. This includes monitoring the actual temperature of the microprocessor and manipulating the cooling system to maintain a designated temperature leve.

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology enables the operating system software to dynamically control the clock speed of a processor. This feature allows the system to speed up the processor when higher performance is required and then slow it down to a lower power xconsumption speed, when demands on the processor are lower. This trhottling technique is used to conserve battery power in noteboods, and extend processor life and reduce noise from cooling devices. Like dual core Intel processors, the Athlon 64X2 supports a 64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set, enhanced virus protection with supported operating systems, and speed throttling features.

CD-ROM/DVD drives have an actuator motor that moves the laser/detector module in and out under the disc.

Few new desktop and tower PCs include a floppy drive as a standard component. Re-writable CD's and Flash drives have replaced the floppy disk in many cases, however floppies are still widely used to boot oder PC systems to a command prompt for troubleshooting.

The PC3200 double data rate module is designed for use with a double-pumped front-side bus that runs on a 400MHz effective FSB. To understand this relationship, consider that DDR memory chips used to make DDR modules and they are designed to transfer data on both the rising and falling edges of the memory bus's squarewave clock signal. This means that these devices transfer at twice the actual bus frequency.

Answers A & C. When the microprocessor is upgraded the BIOS should be flashed with the latest compatibility firmware, If the BIOS does not possess the flash option and does not support the new microprocessor a new BIOS chip that does support it must be obtained and installed. If not then the whole system needs replaced.