Hardware Flashcards

1
Q

What is the motherboard

A

A large circuit board with many slots, connectors and different parts clearly visible all over it

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2
Q

What are the 3 roles of the motherboard

A

Provides connectors to allow other circuits to connect to it
Ensures that all components can communicate with one another
Provides power to the difference components

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3
Q

What does a modular design mean

A

The computer is made up of many separate parts

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4
Q

What does a modular design allow (2)

A

Easy to repair the computer
Easy to upgrade the computer

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5
Q

What does ZIF stand for and what is its purpose

A

Zero Insertion Force
It is where you connect the CPU to the motherboard

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6
Q

What does DIMM stand for what is its purpose

A

Dual Inline Memory Modules
The sticks of memory that you can add to your computer

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7
Q

What are SATA connectors

A

Where you plug in cables that connect storage devices to the motherboard

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8
Q

What are external connectors and what do they typically include

A

Built into the motherboard for connection at the back
Includes USB, VGA, Ethernet, Headphone jack etc.

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9
Q

What are expansion slots used for

A

To add extra circuits to your motherboard such as video cards

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10
Q

What is the CPU responsible for (4)

A

Fetching instructions and data from memory
Decoding instructions
Executing instructions
Transferring data back to memory

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11
Q

What do we call the tasks that the CPU is responsible for

A

The Machine Cycle

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12
Q

What do systems with powerful video cards also do with regard to their CPU

A

Use the processor on the video card to do some of the work

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13
Q

What does BIOS stand for

A

Basic input / output system

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14
Q

Where is the BIOS stored and what is its responsibility

A

It is stored on the ROM and it is responsible for making sure your computer starts up correctly

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15
Q

What is the GPU responsible for

A

Processing the instructions that create the pictures on your screen

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16
Q

What does RAM stand for and what does it do

A

Random Access Memory
It stores the instructions that the CPU is using

17
Q

What does VRAM stand for and what is it used for

A

Video Random Access Memory
It stores the image data that the computer displays
It acts as a buffer between the CPU and the video card

18
Q

What does ROM stand for and what does it do

A

Read-Only Memory and it stores the motherboard’s operating software

19
Q

What does PCI stand for and what does it do

A

Peripheral Component Interconnect - allows you to plug additional hardware like a GPU, ethernet card or Wi-Fi card into the computer

20
Q

What is the GPU/PCIe x16 used for

A

High-speed slot for the computer’s graphics card since it sends and receives the most data

21
Q

What does SATA stand for

A

Serial AT Attachment

22
Q

What is a bus

A

A communication system transferring data between components inside a computer or between computers

23
Q

What are the two types of buses

A

Internal
External

24
Q

What is an internal bus

A

The communication highway of the motherboard

25
Q

What is an external bus

A

The interface for peripheral devices like hard disks and flash drives to connect to the CPU

26
Q

What do all Buses have (3)

A

A control bus
A data bus
A power bus

27
Q

What does the control bus do

A

Used by the CPU to send signals to the different parts of the computer in order to control them

28
Q

What does a data bus do

A

Provides the path to transfer data and instructions among the different components of the computer. It is assisted by the address bus

29
Q

What does the address bus do

A

Provides the physical address of data in the system memory to help data transfers

30
Q

What does a power bus do

A

Energises the different components of the computer system

31
Q

What is caching

A

A technique used by computers to store data that is likely to be used soon, in order to access it more easily

32
Q

What is a CPU cache

A

The difference in speed between a CPU and RAM has become too large and now CPU’s have a small built-in cache to store a small amount of data that it needs

33
Q

What is a Disk cache

A

A small amount of RAM built into a hard disk drive

34
Q

What is a Web cache

A

A small area on a computer’s hard drive where images and pages from the internet are stored

35
Q

What are 3 examples of Temporary storage

A

RAM
Cache Memory
Disk Cache Memory

36
Q

What are 4 examples of Permanent Storage

A

Magnetic Storage (Hard Disk Drives)
SSD’s
Flash Drives
Optical Storage Media (CD, DVD)