Chapter 1: Motherboards, Processors & Memory

Question 1

What is the Motherboard?

pgs. 5

Answer 1

The spine of the computer which is the PCB/printed circuit board.

Question 2

Define System boards: ATX, Micro ATX, ITX

pgs. 6-7

Answer 2

Form factor designs are ATX- Advanced Technology Extended motherboard created by Intel and places the CPU and Memory slots @ right angles to the Expansion slots; Micro ATX follows the ATX principles with less power and quantity; ITX was developed by VIA as a low-power, small form factor (SFF) consisting of Mini, Nano, Pico, Mobile for embedded application in home systems, set-top boxes and cell-phones.

Question 3

Bus Architecture

pgs. 8-9

Answer 3

A ‘bus’ contains signal pathways in which related devices communicate via serial circuits like SATA (Serial ATA), USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE 1394/Fire Wire, and PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express)

Question 4

Chipsets

pg. 9

Answer 4

Chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor.The go-between CPU and and installed peripherals like Memory, expansion cards and peripherals.

Question 5

Northbridge

pgs. 9-10

Answer 5

Northbridge is the set of circuitry or chips that manages high-speed peripheral communications

Question 6

Southbridge

pg. 9

Answer 6

Southbridge is the set of circuitry or chips that support the slower expansion buses and peripherals which do not tie in with the CPU clock nor pose as a bottleneck to the system.

Question 7

Expansion Slots

pgs. 10-17

Answer 7

The most visible part of the motherboard and are used to install various devices to expand on a computers capabilities, ie. video, network, sound, disk interface.

Question 8

Which ‘bridge’ on the motherboard would contain AGP & PCIe slots?
pg. 9

Answer 8

The Northbridge is responsible for communications with integrated video utilizing AGP (Accelerated Graphics Program) and PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express).

Question 9

Other names for motherboard?

pg.5

Answer 9

PCP/printed circuit board, system board and mainboard

Question 10

Name a serial circuit.

pgs. 8-9

Answer 10

SATA (Serial ATA), USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE 1394/Fire Wire, and PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) are all serial circuit examples.

Question 11

Identify a small form factor (SFF).

pgs. 5-7

Answer 11

ITX was developed by VIA as a low-power, small form factor (SFF) consisting of Mini, Nano, Pico, Mobile for embedded application in home systems, television set-top boxes, cell-phones.

Question 12

What is a CPU?

pg. 5

Answer 12

The central processing unit on the motherboard.

Question 13

What are the two main categories of bus architecture?

pg. 8

Answer 13

Serial and parallel connectivity.

Question 14

What PCB area manages the processor-to-memory communications?
pg, 9

Answer 14

Northbridge

Question 15

What is the go-between CPU and installed peripherals like Memory and expansion cards?
pg. 9

Answer 15

Chipsets

Question 16

Parallel computer-system components work on the basis of a (blank) ?
pg. 9

Answer 16

A ‘bus’ which is a common collection of signal pathways that allow related devices to communicate

Question 17

What is a set of signal pathways connecting the CPU and main memory?
pg. 10

Answer 17

FSB/ Frontside bus

Question 18

The clock signal that drives the FSB is used to drive communications to other devices on the motherboard which are?
pg.10

Answer 18

AGP/ Accelerated Graphics Port and PCIe/ Peripheral Component Interconnect Express

Question 19

What subset of a motherboard’s chipset main function is to manage high-speed peripheral communications?

Answer 19

Northbridge

Question 20

What does the Southbridge do?

pg. 10

Answer 20

The Southbridge subset of the chipset provides support for onboard slower peripherals which do not restrict system performance.

Question 21

How does the BSB/ Backside bus function?

pg. 10

Answer 21

If present, the BSB is a set of signal pathways between the CPU and Level 2 or 3 (external) cache memory.

Question 22

What are Expansion Slots?

pg. 10

Answer 22

The most visible parts of any motherboard which are used to install various devices to expand the capabilities in a computer.

Question 23

What are the main types of expansion slots?

pg. 10

Answer 23

PCI and AGP

Question 24

How many versions of PCI slots and adapters are manufactured?
pg. 12

Answer 24

5V and 3.3V

Question 25

What distinction can be made between the PCI versions?

pg. 12

Answer 25

The notch in the card edge of the 5V is oriented toward the front of the motherboard, and the 3.3V notch is located towards the rear.