Chapter 1: Introducing Hardware

Front 1

Adapter card

Back 1

A small circuit board inserted in an expansion slot and used to communicate between the system bus and a peripheral device (aka interface card)

Front 2

Binary number system

Back 2

The number system used by computers. It has only two numbers 0 and 1, called binary digits or bits

Front 3

BIOS

Back 3

(basic input/output system): firmware that can control much of a computer’s input/output functions, such as communication with the floppy drive and the monitor

Front 4

Bus

Back 4

the paths or lines, on the motherboard on which data, instructions, and electrical power move from component to component

Front 5

Byte

Back 5

a collection of eight bits that can represent a single character

Front 6

Cards

Back 6

adapter boards or interface cards placed into expansion slots to expand the functions of a computer, allowing it to communicate with external devices such as monitors or speakers.

Front 7

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Back 7

Also known as a processor or microprocessor. The heart and brain of the computer, which receives data input, processes information, and executes instructions

Front 8

Chipset

Back 8

A group of chips on the motherboard that controls the timing and flow of data and instructions to and from the CPU

Front 9

Clock speed

Back 9

The speed or frequency, expressed in MHz, that controls activity on the motherboard and is generated by a crystal or oscillator located somewhere on the motherboard

Front 10

CMOS

Back 10

(complementary metal oxide semiconductor): The technology used to manufacture microchips. CMOS chips require less electricity, hold data longer after the electricity is turned off, and produce less heat than earlier technologies. The configuration or setup chip is a CMOS chip

Front 11

CMOS setup

Back 11

The program in system BIOS that can change the values in CMOS RAM. Also called BIOS setup

Front 12

Data bus

Back 12

The lines on the system bus that the CPU uses to send and receive data

Front 13

Data path size

Back 13

the number of lines on a bus that can hold data, for example, 8, 16, 32 and 64 lines, which can accommodate 8, 16, 32, and 64 bits at a time

Front 14

DIMM

Back 14

(Dual inline memory module): a miniature circuit board installed on a motherboard to hold memory. DIMM’s can hold up to 4GB of RAM on a single module

Front 15

Expansion cards

Back 15

a circuit board inserted into a slot on the motherboard to enhance the capability of the computer

Front 16

Expansion slots: a narrow slot on the motherboard where an expansion card can be inserted. Expansion slots connect to a bus on the motherboard

Back 16

a narrow slot on the motherboard where an expansion card can be inserted. Expansion slots connect to a bus on the motherboard

Front 17

Firmware

Back 17

Software that is permanently stored in a chip. The BIOS on the motherboard is an example of firmware

Front 18

Flash ROM

Back 18

ROM that can be reprogrammed or changed without replacing chips

Front 19

Gigahertz (Ghz)

Back 19

One thousand MHz, or one billion cycles per second

Front 20

Hard drive

Back 20

The main secondary storage device of a PC. Two technologies are currently used by hard drives: magnetic and solid state. Also called a hard disk drive (HDD)

Front 21

The physical components that constitute the computer system, such as the monitor, the keyboard, the motherboard and the printer

Back 21

The physical components that constitute the computer system, such as the monitor, the keyboard, the motherboard and the printer

Front 22

Hertz (Hz)

Back 22

Unit of measurement for frequency, calculated in terms of vibrations, or cycles per second.

Front 23

Magnetic Hard Drive

Back 23

One of the two technologies used by hard drives where data is stored as magnetic spots on disks that rotate at a high speed

Front 24

One million Hertz, or one million cycles per second

Back 24

One million Hertz, or one million cycles per second

Front 25

Memory

Back 25

physical microchips that can hold data and programming, located on the motherboard or expansion cards

Front 26

Motherboard: The main board in the computer, Also called the system board

Back 26

The main board in the computer, Also called the system board

Front 27

Non-volatile memory

Back 27

refers to a kind of RAM that is stable and can hold data as long as electricity is powering the memory

Front 28

Parallel ATA (PATA)

Back 28

An older IDE cabling method that uses a 40pin flat or round data cable or an 80 conductor cable and a 40 pin IDE connector

Front 29

Parallel port

Back 29

A female 25pin port on a computer that can transmit data in a parallel, 8 bits at a time, and is usually used with a printer. The names for parallel ports are LPT1 and LPT2.

Front 30

Peripheral device

Back 30

devices that communicate with the CPU but are not located directly on the motherboard, such as the monitor, floppy drive, printer and mouse

Front 31

Port

Back 31

as applied to services running on a computer, a number assigned to a process on a computer so that the process can be found by TCP/IP

Front 32

Power supply

Back 32

a box inside the computer case that supplies power to the motherboard and other installed devices. Provide 2.2, 5 and 12 volts DC

Front 33

Primary storage

Back 33

temporary storage on the motherboard used by the CPU to process data and instructions. Memory is considered primary storage

Front 34

Protocol

Back 34

a set of rules and standards that two entities use for communication

Front 35

RAM

Back 35

(Random Access Memory): Memory modules on the motherboard containing microchips used to temporarily hold data and programs while the CPU processes both. Info in RAM is lost when the PC is turned off

Front 36

ROM

Back 36

(Read Only Memory):Chips that contain programming code and cannot be erased

Front 37

Secondary storage

Back 37

storage that is remote to the CPU and permanently holds data, even when the PC is turned off, such as a hard drive

Front 38

Serial ATA (SATA)

Back 38

An ATAPI cabling method that uses a narrower and more reliable cable than the 80 conductor cable

Front 39

Serial port

Back 39

a male 9-pin or 25-pin port on a computer system used by slower I/O devices such as a mouse or a modem. Data travels serially, one bit at a time, through the port. Serial ports are sometimes configured as COM1, COM2, COM3 OR COM4

Front 40

Solid state drives (SSD)

Back 40

An electronic device with no moving parts. A storage device that uses memory chips to store data instead of spinning disks (magnetic and cd hard drives)

Front 41

Startup BIOS

Back 41

Part of system BIOS that is responsible for controlling the PC when it is first turned on. Startup BIOS give control over to the OS once it is loaded

Front 42

System BIOS

Back 42

BIOS located on the motherboard

Front 43

System bus

Back 43

the bus between the CPU and memory on the motherboard. The bus frequency in documentation is called the system speed, such as 400 MHz. Also called the memory bus, front-side bus, local bus or host bus

Front 44

System clock

Back 44

A line on a bus that is dedicated to timing the activities of components connected to it. The system clock provides a continuous pulse that other devices use to time themselves

Front 45

Traces

Back 45

a wire on a circuit board that connects two components or devices

Front 46

Video card

Back 46

An interface card installed in the computer to control visual output on a monitor. Also called display adapter or graphics card

Front 47

Video memory

Back 47

Memory used by the video controller. The memory might be contained on a video card or be part of system memory. When part of system memory, the memory is dedicated by Windows to video

Front 48

Volatile

Back 48

Refers to a kind of RAM that is temporary, cannot hold data very long, and must be frequently refreshed