MModule 2 Glossary

Question 1

Address bus

Answer 1

Connects the CPU to the MCC and sends over the location of the data, but not the data itself

Question 2

ATA

Answer 2

The most common interface that hard drives use to connect to our system

Question 3

ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended)

Answer 3

The most common form factor for motherboards

Question 4

Backward compatible

Answer 4

older hardware works with newer hardware

Question 5

(Basic Input Output Services) BIOS

Answer 5

software that helps initialize the hardware in our computer and gets our operating system up and running

Question 6

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

Answer 6

Refers to the practice of allowing people to use their own personal devices for work

Question 7

Cache

Answer 7

The assigned stored location for recently or frequently accessed data; on a mobile app it is where anything that was changed or created with that app is stored

Question 8

Charge cycle

Answer 8

One full charge and discharge of a battery

Question 9

Chipset

Answer 9

decides how components talk to each other on our machine

Question 10

Clock cycle

Answer 10

sends a voltage to the clock wire

Question 11

Clock speed

Answer 11

The maximum number of clock cycles in a set in a certain time period

Question 12

Clock wire

Answer 12

When you send or receive data, it sends a voltage to the _________ to let the CPU know it can start doing calculations

Question 13

Data sizes

Answer 13

bit, byte, kilobyte, kibibyte, and megabyte

Question 14

CPU socket

Answer 14

a series of pins that connect a CPU’s processor to the PC’s motherboard

Question 15

DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM)

Answer 15

A type of RAM that is faster, takes up less power, and has a larger capacity than earlier SDRAM versions

Question 16

Desktop

Answer 16

The main screen where we can navigate our files, folders, and applications

Question 17

DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module)

Question 18

Display port

Answer 18

outputs audio and video

Question 19

DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory)

Question 20

Drivers

Answer 20

contain the instructions our CPU needs to understand external devices like keyboards, webcams, printers

Question 21

DVI cables

Answer 21

generally output video

Question 22

Electrostatic discharge

Answer 22

A sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short or dielectric breakdown

Question 23

External Data Bus (EDB):

Answer 23

A row of wires that interconnect the parts of our computer

Question 24

Factory reset

Answer 24

Resetting a device to the settings it came with from the factory

Question 25

Form factor

Answer 25

A mathematical way to compensate for irregularities in the shape of an object by using a ratio between its volume and height

Question 26

Hard drive

Answer 26

A long term memory component that holds all of our data, which can include music, pictures, applications

Question 27

Hardware

Answer 27

External or internal devices and equipment that help you perform major functions

Question 28

HDD (Hard disk drive)

Answer 28

use a spinning platter and a mechanical arm to read and write information

Question 29

HDMI

Answer 29

A type of cable that outputs both video and audio

Question 30

Heatsink

Answer 30

Used to dissipate heat from our CPU

Question 31

Instruction set:

Answer 31

A list of instructions that our CPU is able to run

Question 32

ITX (Information Technology eXtended)

Answer 32

A form factor for motherboards that is much smaller than ATX boards

Question 33

Land Grid Array (LGA)

Answer 33

A type of CPU socket that sticks out of the motherboard

Question 34

Mb/s: (megabit per second)

Answer 34

A unit of data transfer rate

Question 35

MCC (Memory controller chip)

Answer 35

A bridge between the CPU and the RAM

Question 36

Micro display port

Answer 36

One of the standard power, data and display connector types used in mobile devices 

Question 37

Motherboard

Answer 37

The body or circulatory system of the computer that connects all the pieces together

Question 38

Northbridge

Answer 38

interconnects RAM and video cards

Question 39

NVMe (NVM Express)

Answer 39

interface standard which allows greater throughput of data and increased efficiency

Question 40

Overclocking

Answer 40

increases the rate of your CPU clock cycles in order to perform more tasks

Question 41

PCI Express: Peripheral Component Interconnect Express

Question 42

Peripherals

Answer 42

the external devices we connect to our computer that add functionality, like: a mouse, a keyboard, and a monitor

Question 43

PGA (Pin Grid Array)

Answer 43

CPU socket where the pins are located on the processor itself

Question 44

Ports

Answer 44

Connection points that can connect devices that extend the functionality of our computer

Question 45

POST (Power On Self Test)

Answer 45

It figures out what hardware is on the computer

Question 46

Registers

Answer 46

An accessible location for storing the data that our CPU works with

Question 47

Reimaging

Answer 47

involves wiping and reinstalling an operating system using a disk image which is a copy of an operating system

Question 48

ROM chip (Read Only Memory)

Answer 48

A memory chip where the BIOS is stored

Question 49

SATA

Answer 49

The most popular serial ATA drive, which uses one cable for data transfers

Question 50

SDRAM: (Synchronous DRAM)

Answer 50

this type of RAM is synchronized to our systems' clock speed allowing quicker processing of data

Question 51

SOC (System On a Chip)

Answer 51

Packs the CPU, Ram, and sometimes even the storage onto a single chip

Question 52

Southbridge

Answer 52

maintains our IO or input/output controllers, like hard drives and USB devices that input and output data

Question 53

Standoffs

Answer 53

Used to raise and attach your motherboard to the case

Question 54

Thermal paste

Answer 54

A substance used to better connect our CPU and heat sink, so the heat transfers from one to the other better

Question 55

Type-C connector:

Answer 55

A type of USB connector meant to replace many peripheral connections