1 Motherboards, Processors, and Memory

Question 1

What does the Northbridge control ?

Answer 1

Management of high-speed peripheral communications. CPU, Cache, Memory Controller, PCIe Controller. The Northbridge is responsible primarily for communications with integrated video using PCIe, for instance, and processor to memory communications.

Question 2

Two motherboard form factors ?

Answer 2

ATX and ITX

Question 3

4 ITX form factors ?

Answer 3

Mini-ITX, Nano-ITX, Pico-ITX and Mobile-ITX

Question 4

What is a chipset ?

Answer 4

A chipset is a collection of chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor. This collection of chips is usually the circuitry that provides interfaces for memory, expansion cards, and onboard peripherals, and it generally dictates how a motherboard will communicate with the installed peripherals.

Question 5

What are a chipsets 2 main functional groups ?

Answer 5

Northbridge and Southbridge

Question 6

What does the Southbridge control ?

Answer 6

The Southbridge is responsible for providing support to the slower onboard peripherals; USB, Serial and Parallel ATA, LAN, onboard audio and PCI expansion bus. Responsible for managing their communications with the rest of the computer and the resources given to them.

Question 7

At what speeds do PCI expansion buses operate ?

Answer 7

33 MHz or 66 MHz (version 2.1) over a 32-bit (4-byte) channel, resulting in data rates of 133 MBps and 266 MBps, respectively, with 133 MBps being the most common, server architectures excluded

Question 8

PCI is a shared-bus topology meaning that
mixing 33 MHz and 66 MHz adapters in a 66 MHz system will:

Answer 8

slow all adapters to 33 MHz.

Question 9

What are the 7 different link widths supported by PCIe

Answer 9

x1, x2, x4, x8, x12, x16, and x32

x1, x4, and x16 are the most common.

Question 10

Are PCIe slots forward and backward compatible ?

Answer 10

yes

Question 11

What is SLI?

Answer 11

NVIDIA’s Scalable Link Interface (SLI). I allows users to combine preferably identical graphics adapters in appropriately spaced PCIe x16 slots with a hardware bridge to form a single virtual graphics adapter.

Question 12

What is a riser card ?

Answer 12

It connects to the mother board and it provides additional slots that other expansion cards plug into.

Question 13

What is a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) ?

Answer 13

A module that contains one or several random access memory (RAM) chips on a small circuit board with pins that connect it to the computer motherboard.

Question 14

Space on a hard drive used as RAM is called:

Answer 14

a swap file or a paging file. (virtual memory or virtual RAM)

Question 15

What is cache?

Answer 15

Cache is a very fast form of memory forged from
static RAM which improves system performance by predicting what the CPU will ask for next and prefetching this information before being asked. Only the most recently used data and code or that which is expected to be used next is stored in cache.

Question 16

All computer memory from fastest to slowest:

Answer 16

(cache capacities are for each core of the 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor)

L1 cache: 80 KB (32 KB for instructions / 48 KB for data)
L2 cache: 512 KB
L3 cache: 8–16MB
RAM: 16–256 GB
HDD/SSD: 100s of GB to several TB

Question 17

What is a multisocket motherboard ?

Answer 17

A motherboard with more than 1 CPU socket (usually used for servers 2 an 4 socket being the most common)

Question 18

Do SATA and eSATA ports provide power ?

Answer 18

No. USB does

Question 19

What is connected to a mother boards headers ?

Answer 19

Power button, Power light, Reset button, Drive activity lights, Audio jacks, USB ports

Question 20

What is BIOS ?

Answer 20

(Basic Input/Output System) Firmware burned into ROM BIOS chip. Its system software that boots the system and allows the operating system to interact with certain hardware in the computer.

Question 21

What is Sealing (with BIOS/UEFI) ?

Answer 21

Coupled with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a dedicated security co-processor, or cryptoprocessor, the BIOS can be configured to boot the system only after authenticating the boot device. This authentication confirms that the hardware being booted to has been tied to the system containing the BIOS/UEFI and TPM, a process known as sealing. Sealing the devices to the system also prohibits the devices from being used after removing them from the system

Question 22

What is UEFI ?

Answer 22

The successor to the BIOS. It System firmware that can check digital signatures for each boot file it uses to confirm that it is the approved version and has not been tampered with. This technology is known as Secure Boot.

Question 23

What is LoJack ?

Answer 23

for Laptops / its a UEFI-enabled security system. It performs similarly to other UEFI security methods, drive encryption, but adds a few features like remotely track stolen laptops as well as lock and delete certain files.

Question 24

What is the POST process ?

Answer 24

The Power-On Self-Test (POST) is special software stored on your system’s read-only memory, which runs every time your machine boots. It runs a check on system components to ensure they are working properly such as the SCSI BIOS and the video BIOS, known collectively as option ROMs. It verifies the integrity of the BIOS/UEFI itself. It also verifies and confirms the size of primary memory.

Question 25

What is Flashing the System BIOS/UEFI ?

Answer 25

replacement of the burned-in code within the BIOS itself (upgrading)

Question 26

What does CMOS and CMOS Battery control ?

Answer 26

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS memory chip) controls Date, Time, Hard drive/optical drive configuration, Memory, CPU settings, such as overclocking, Integrated ports (settings as well as enable/disable), Boot sequence, Power management, Virtualization support, Security (passwords, Trusted Platform Module settings, LoJack even when the PC is turned off

Question 27

The two major categories of CPU:

Answer 27

Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) and Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC).

Question 28

Virtual CPUs are also called:

Answer 28

Logical processors

Question 29

RAM Memory Types:

Answer 29

DRAM (dynamic random access memory)
ADRAM (asynchronous DRAM)
FPM DRAM (fast page mode DRAM)
EDO DRAM (extended data out DRAM)
BEDO DRAM (burst EDO DRAM)
SDRAM (synchronous DRAM)
SDR SDRAM (single data rate SDRAM)
DDR SDRAM (double data rate SDRAM)
DDR2 SDRAM (double data rate, version two, SDRAM)
DDR3 SDRAM (double data rate, version three, SDRAM)
DDR4 SDRAM (double data rate, version four, SDRAM)
DDR5 SDRAM (double data rate, version five, SDRAM)
SRAM (static random access memory)
ROM (read-only memory)

Question 30

What is SRAM ?

Answer 30

Static random access memory (SRAM) doesn’t require a refresh signal like DRAM does. The chips are more expensive and are considerably faster. SRAM is classically used for cache memory.

Question 31

What is ROM ?

Answer 31

ROM stands for read-only memory. Once information had been etched on a silicon chip and manufactured into the ROM package, the information couldn’t be changed. Some form of ROM is normally used to store the computer’s BIOS because this information normally does not change.

Question 32

Two types of memory packaging ? Form factors ?

Answer 32

dual in-line package (DIP)
single in-line memory module (SIMM)

DIMM (dual in-line memory module) - Desktops

SODIMM (small outline dual in-line memory module) - Laptops

Question 33

How do you to perform the most complete restart of the computer without removing power?

Answer 33

Reset

Question 34

What does the jumper on the motherboard do ?

Answer 34

Allows you to clear the CMOS memory of any user settings and cause the BIOS to use factory defaults, including no user or supervisor passwords.

Question 35

What does the 4th fan pin do ?

Answer 35

controls fan speed

Question 36

DDR Characteristics:

Answer 36

DDR 184 pins / 1GB max / 1 channel / 2.5v
DDR2 240 pins / 8GB max / 1 channel / 1.8v
DDR3 240 pins / 32GB max / 1 channel / 1.5v
DDR4 288 pins / 64GB max / 1 channel / 1.2v
DDR5 288 pins / 128GB max / 2 channels / 1.1v

Question 37

What memory chips would you find
on a stick of PC3-16000 ?

Answer 37

PC3-16000 modules are DDR3 modules and are populated with chips named DDR3 and a number that is one-eighth of the module’s numeric code: 16000 / 8 = 2000.

Question 38

CPU Sockets:

Answer 38

Intel LGA 2066 10th Gen Core
Intel LGA 1700 12th Gen Core
Intel LGA 1200 11th Gen Core, 10th
Intel LGA 1151 9th Gen Core, 8th Gen
AMD sTRX4 Ryzen Threadripper 3000
AMD TR4 Ryzen Threadripper 2000/1000
AMD AM4 Ryzen 5000, 3000, 2000 and 1000

Question 39

Which processor will likely generally be preferred for mobile devices?

Answer 39

ARM

Question 40

What is soft reset ?

Answer 40

A soft reset is a type of reset used to restart a device or system without losing any data. It is also known as a “soft reboot” or “soft power cycle.”

Question 41

What PC components need to support virtualization in order to do it ?

Answer 41

CPU and BIOS

Question 42

PCIe data transfer rate PCIe 2.0 x16 slot?

Answer 42

The PCIe 1.1 specification provided 250 Mbps of throughput per lane per direction. With the 2.x versions of PCIe, this rate was doubled to 500 Mbps. As a result, each v2.0 lane is capable of a combined 1 Gbps. An x16 slot consists of 16 lanes, for a total bidirectional throughput of 16 Gbps.

Question 43

SODIMM pin configurations:

Answer 43

200, 204, 260, 262 or 288 pins

Question 44

HDDs and SSDs for laptops come in what three form factors?

Answer 44

2.5”, 1.8”, or M.2 are all form factors for HDD and SSDs on laptops

Question 45

This technology can identify errors in memory, and then correct them as it operates.

Answer 45

Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory is an expensive type of memory, typically reserved for high-end systems.

Question 46

What is the fastest form of SSD?

Answer 46

Non-volatile memory express (NVMe) is a form of memory that uses the M.2 form factor. It is the fastest SSD available today.

Question 47

2 ATX motherboard form factors ?

Answer 47

Standard ATX and Micro ATX

Question 48

Four major versions of PCIe available in the market

Answer 48

1.x, 2.x, 3.0, and 4.0

data rate of 250 MBps, 500 MBps, approximately
1 GBps, and roughly 2 GBps, respectively.

Question 49

What is the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) ?

Answer 49

A dedicated security coprocessor, or cryptoprocessor, the BIOS can be configured to boot the system only after authenticating the boot device. This authentication confirms that the hardware being booted to has been tied to the system containing the BIOS/UEFI and TPM, a process known as sealing. Sealing the devices to the system also prohibits the devices from being used after removing them from the system. For further security, the keys created can be combined with a PIN or password that unlocks their use or with a USB flash drive that must be inserted before booting.

Question 50

What is BitLocker ?

Answer 50

Microsoft’s BitLocker uses the TPM to encrypt the entire drive. Normally, only user data can be encrypted, but BitLocker encrypts operating-system files, the Registry, the hibernation file, and so on, in addition to those files and folders that file-level encryption secures. If any changes have occurred to the Windows installation, the TPM does not release the keys required to decrypt and boot to the secured volume.

Question 51

What is a hardware
security module (HSM) ?

Answer 51

Most motherboards come with a TPM chip installed, but if they don’t, it’s not possible to add one. You can enable the same functionality by using a hardware security module (HSM). An HSM is a security device that can manage, create, and securely store encryption keys—it enables users to safely encrypt and decrypt data.

Question 52

What is Secure Boot ?

Answer 52

With UEFI, the system firmware can check digital signatures for each boot file it uses to confirm that it is the approved version and has not been tampered with. This technology is known as Secure Boot. The boot files checked include option ROMs, the boot loader, and other operating-system boot files. Only if the signatures are valid will the firmware load and execute the associated software.