Comp Tia A+

Front 1

How many pins in a Single Inline Memory Module (SIMM)

Back 1

72

Front 2

How many pins in a Dual Inline Memory Module

Back 2

168

Front 3

What does the North Bridge Chipset handle?

Back 3

High speed buses such as memory, advanced graphics ports and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express.

Front 4

What does the South Bridge Chipset handle?

Back 4

USB, PCI, IDE and legacy hardware including ISA devices.

Front 5

What does the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) do?

Back 5

The CMOS keeps track of the computers inventory by keeping a listing of system components such as the size of the HDD, the amount of RAM and the resources (IRQ’s [interrupt requests] and I/O addresses) used by the serial and parallel ports.

Front 6

What is the official standard that governs communication?

Back 6

The official standard is known as RS-232 or Serial ports. Modems are connected via the serial port via a DB9 or DB25 cable.

Front 7

How many bits of data does the Parallel port/printer port/LPT1send at a time?

Back 7

8Bits

Front 8

What are Serial and Parallel ports known as?

Back 8

Serial = Male, has pins
Parallel = Female, has ports

Front 9

What connectors does a standard printer cable have?

Back 9

One end has a DB25 male connector but the other end has a 36 pin Centronics connector.

Front 10

How is a Video Adapter's pins arranged?

Back 10

The Video Adapter has 3 rows of 5 pins making it a 15 pin adapter.

Front 11

What is the Video Adapter responsible for?

Back 11

The video adapter is responsible for receiving digital data from the processor which instructs the video adapter on how the images are to be drawn on screen.

Front 12

What is a PS/2 connector?

Back 12

PS/2 controllers are the small 6 pin circular connector,

Front 13

What is the speed of USB 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0?

Back 13

1.0 = 12mbps
2.0 = 480mbps
3.0 = 5gbps

Front 14

How many devices can you chain with USB?

Back 14

127

Front 15

Power connectors that come from then power supply to the mobo may be labelled as what?

Back 15

P1 or P2 or P8 and P9.

Front 16

What are the voltages commonly supplied by the PSU?

Back 16

3.3. 5 and 12 volts.

Front 17

How many pins does an Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) connector device have?

Back 17

40 pin connector

Front 18

How many Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) devices can you have on your system?

Back 18

Up to 4

Front 19

What is the transfer rate of Integrated Device Electronics (IDE)

Back 19

150mbps

Front 20

What is the transfer rate of a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)

Back 20

Up to 600mhz

Front 21

Is Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hot swappable?

Back 21

Yes

Front 22

What is hot swapping?

Back 22

To fit or replace a part with the power still connected.

Front 23

How does the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) connect to the mobo?

Back 23

Via 4 wire cable

Front 24

What is the transfer rate of Firewire (IEEE 1394)?

Back 24

400mbps

Front 25

What is the transfer rate of Firewire B (IEEE 1394B)?

Back 25

800mbps

Front 26

How many devices can you chain via Firewire (IEEE 1394/B)

Back 26

63

Front 27

How many pins does a Floppy Drive connector have?

Back 27

34

Front 28

Which end of the Floppy Drive cable connects to the drive?

Back 28

The twisted end

Front 29

What is an IRQ?

Back 29

Interrupt Request

Front 30

What is a DIP?

Back 30

Dual Inline Package

Front 31

What is meant when talking about a "Form Factor" in relation to a mobo?

Back 31

The dimensions of the mobo

Front 32

Describe a full AT form factor

Back 32

Full AT is 12” wide by 11” long and has a keyboard connector on the back and no other I/O ports

Front 33

Describe a Baby AT form factor

Back 33

Baby AT is 8.5”W by 10”L and usually has a DIN keyboard connector on the top right corner of the board (DIN Deutsches Institut fur Normung) and has a socket 7 ZIF slot for classic Pentium processors and usually has a mix of ISA/EISA and PCI slots as well as a plug and play BIOS.

Front 34

Describe a NLX New Low Profile Extended form factor

Back 34

NLX New Low Profile Extended is 9”w by 13.6”L has a keyboard/mouse connector , serial ports and parallel ports and a video connector

Front 35

Describe an ARX form factor

Back 35

ARX is 7.5”W by 12”L has most of the I/O ports integrated directly into the board including the USB ports.

Front 36

What is soft power support?

Back 36

soft power support allows the software that controls the start-up and shut down of the system

Front 37

What are the dimensions of the Micro ATX?

Back 37

9.6 x 9.6

Front 38

What are the dimensions of the ITX Mini?

Back 38

6.7 x 6.7

Front 39

What are the dimensions of the ITX Nano?

Back 39

4.7 x 4.7

Front 40

What are the dimensions of the Mobile ITX?

Back 40

75mm x 45mm

Front 41

Name another form factor that was designed to replace the ATX form factor and create smaller low profile systems

Back 41

BTX Balanced Technology Extended

Front 42

What is the bus width and transfer rate of ISA Industry Standard Architecture?

Back 42

16bit
8mhz

Front 43

What is the bus width and transfer rate of MCA Micro Channel Architecture?

Back 43

32bit
10mhz

Front 44

What is bus mastering?

Back 44

Bus mastering allows devices to send information directly instead of via the CPU

Front 45

What is the bus width and transfer rate of Extended ISA?

Back 45

16/32bit
8mhz

Front 46

What is the bus width and transfer rate of VESA Video electronics standard association?

Back 46

32bit
Speed is matched to the processor

Front 47

What is VESA Video electronics standard association generally used for?

Back 47

Video Adapters

Front 48

What is the bus width and transfer rate of PCI Peripheral component Interconnect?

Back 48

32bit
33mhz

Front 49

What is the bus width and transfer rate of PCI Xtended?

Back 49

32/64 bit
4 speeds of 33mhz, 66mhz, 266mhz and 533mhz

Front 50

What is the bus width and transfer rate of the PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association (PC Card)

Back 50

16bit

33mhz

Front 51

What are the 3 types of PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association (PC Cards)?

Back 51

Type 1 – 3.3mm memory cards

Type 2 – 5.0mm modem/network card

Type 3 – 10.5mm Removable drives

Front 52

What was the original motherboard speed of the ATX board?

Back 52

The ATX board had an original motherboard speed of 100 MHz

Front 53

Which bus architecture supports 32-bit/64-bit cards and Aryanfers information at 33 MHz?

Back 53

The PCI bus architecture is a 32-bit and 64-bit architecture that runs at 33 MHz

Front 54

Which motherboard component is responsible for charging the CMOS RAM so that CMOS can maintain its data?

Back 54

The battery is responsible for maintaining a charge so that the CMOS RAM doesn't lose its information.

Front 55

How many pins does a standard IDE controller have?

Back 55

An IDE controller has 40 pins to allow a 40-wire ribbon cable to connect a hard disk or CD-ROM to the motherboard.

Front 56

Which of the following best describes a Baby AT motherboard?

Back 56

The Baby AT motherboard uses a DIN connector as the keyboard connector and is the only I/O port found on the Baby AT and the full AT motherboards.

Front 57

How many devices are supported in a USB chain?

Back 57

A computer can support up to 127 USB devices in a USB chain.

Front 58

How many pins does a standard floppy drive controller have?

Back 58

A floppy drive connector has 34 pins.

Front 59

Which of the following video cards would be the better performing video card to purchase?
*PCI
*PCIe x16
*AGP x8

Back 59

PCIe is the newer bus architecture that has the better transfer rates and should be used if PCIe slots are available.

Front 60

What type of cache memory was originally found on the motherboard and is now integrated into the processor?

Back 60

Level 2 (L2) cache is the type of cache memory that is found on motherboards, whereas Level 1 (L1) cache is found in the processor.

Front 61

Which type of memory module supports 32-bit data chunks?

Back 61

72-pin SIMM modules are 32-bit modules.

Front 62

What is the bus architecture used in laptop computers?

Back 62

The bus architecture used in laptop computers is called PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association).

Front 63

Describe the Advanced Graphics Port

Back 63

The AGP slot runs at 66 MHz and has a direct path between the slot and the processor so that information will not have to travel through one of the slower buses.

Front 64

Which PCMCIA card type is used for modems?

Back 64

Type II cards are used for network cards and modems

Front 65

Which port is typically used for a modem?

Back 65

COM1 is a serial port that is typically used for modems or serial mice.

Front 66

When connecting a floppy drive to the system, which end of the ribbon cable connects to the floppy drive?

Back 66

The floppy ribbon cable has one end that is twisted; that twisted end must be connected to the floppy drive.

Front 67

What are the labels given to the power connectors that supply power to the motherboard?

Back 67

P1 and P2 are the typical labels given to a motherboard's power connectors. They can also be labeled as P8 or P9

Front 68

What is the primary purpose of the processor?

Back 68

Processors carry out instructions that they receive from the operating system.

Front 69

Which two of the following represent hard drive architectures?

*PCI

*IDE

*CMOS

*SCSI

*SAS

Back 69

Hard drive architectures used with computers are IDE (or ATA), Serial ATA (SATA), SCSI, and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)

Front 70

What standard do most current monitors follow?

Back 70

Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) is the current graphics standard that monitors follow

Front 71

Modems are usually attached to a computer through what type of port?

Back 71

Modems are serial devices, and as such are attached to the serial port.

Front 72

The programs that allow the POST to take place are stored in what?

Back 72

BIOS contains the programs that allow the POST to take place. The BIOS is stored on a ROM or an EPROM.

Front 73

Which of the following best describes superscalar design?

The processor is designed using only 3.1 Aryanistors.

The processor predicts the next few instructions to be executed and then determines the optimal order for the execution of these instructions.

The processor has two instruction pipelines, which enables multiple instructions to execute at the same time.

The processor works twice as fast as the motherboard.

Back 73

Superscalar design is the idea that the processor has more than one instruction pipeline to process application code

Front 74

In what socket/slot would you find a Pentium II processor?

Back 74

The Pentium II chip comes in a package called the Single Edge Contact (SEC) chip package, which fits into Slot 1.

Front 75

Which of the following are placed in Socket A? (Select all that apply.)

Pentium III

Athlon XP

Celeron

Pentium 4

Duron

Itanium

Back 75

AMD Athlon, Athlon XP, and the Duron chip are placed in Socket A

Front 76

What chip type was the original Pentium processor packaged in?

Back 76

The original Pentium processor was packaged in the pin grid array (PGA) chip type, which fits into either Socket 5 or Socket 7.

Front 77

Which of the following is a characteristic of protected-mode processors?

*Heat sink support

*Virtual memory support

*Run only one application at a time

*Encased in protective shell

Back 77

Virtual memory is one of the features of protected-mode processors.

Front 78

How much L1 cache does a Pentium III processor have built in?

Back 78

The Pentium III processor contains 32K of L1 cache.

Front 79

Which of the following acts as a storage container for information that will be processed by the processor?

*Data bus

*Address bus

*Registers

*Math co-processor

Back 79

Registers are storage areas for information to be processed by the processor.

Front 80

How much memory can a Pentium Pro address?

Back 80

The Pentium Pro has a 36-bit address bus, which enables it to access 64GB of system memory

Front 81

Which statement best describes the purpose of a math co-processor?

*Performs all logic functions on behalf of the processor

*Performs floating-point calculations on behalf of the processor

*Runs all applications, and a processor runs the operating system in a multitasking environment

*Allows for communication between devices

Back 81

The math co-processor performs floating-point calculations on behalf of the processor. The math co-processor performs many of the complicated math operations on behalf of the CPU.

Front 82

Which sockets/slots do original Pentium chips typically fit into? (Choose two.)

*Socket 1

*Socket 5

*Slot 1

*Socket 7

Back 82

The Pentium processor is placed into either Socket 5 or Socket 7

Front 83

How much L1 cache memory does a Pentium II have built in?

Back 83

The Pentium II chip increased the L1 cache to 32K, which is broken into two 16K channels. One channel is used for application code, and one is used for data.

Front 84

What sockets do Pentium 4 processors fit into? (Choose two.)

*Socket 370

*Socket 423

*Socket 478

*Socket 920

Back 84

Pentium 4 processors have either 423 or 478 pins, so they are placed in either Socket 423 or Socket 478.

Front 85

What is the major difference between a Celeron processor and a Pentium 4 processor?

Back 85

The Celeron chip is a cut-price Pentium chip. The L2 cache is decreased to save on cost. Celeron chips either have no L2 cache or 128K cache.

Front 86

Which of the following CPU characteristics determines how much total memory the system can access?

*Data bus

*Address bus

*Registers

*Math co-processor

Back 86

The address bus dictates how much memory the CPU can address.

Front 87

In what chip package type was the Pentium II processor packaged?

Back 87

The single edge connector (SEC) was used for Pentium II processors.

Front 88

Which processor is the AMD 64-bit processor designed for laptop systems?

Back 88

The Turion 64 is the AMD 64-bit mobile processor to be used on laptop systems

Front 89

What chip type uses a ZIF socket?

Back 89

PGA packaged chips can be placed in ZIF sockets. These sockets have a lever; when the lever is pulled, the processor chip pops out of the socket.

Front 90

What is the Data Bus and what does it do?

Back 90

The data bus is the pathway between the processor and the memory. The data bus carries data from the CPU to memory every clock cycle

Front 91

What is the address bus and what does it do?

Back 91

The Address Bus is a computer bus that is used to specify a physical address. . The address bus dictates how much memory the processor can access depending on it's width.

Front 92

What is a Register and what does it do?

Back 92

Registers are the storage areas within the processor used to store data temporarily for manipulation later.

Front 93

What is the The Math co-processor and what does it do?

Back 93

The Math co-processor (numeric processing unit) takes the workload off the processor by performing many of the large calculations that applications may require such as floating point arithmetic.

Front 94

What is Real Mode?

Back 94

Real Mode uses memory as a whole unit which stops it from multitasking as it will dedicate all memory to a single task.

Front 95

What is Protected Mode?

Back 95

Protected Mode segregates memory and allots it to whatever systems require it allowing for multitasking to take place. Protected mode also allows Virtual Memory which uses HDD space as Emulated Memory.

Front 96

What is Virtual/Emulated Memory?

Back 96

Virtual Memory uses HDD space as Emulated Memory so you could increase your 512mb RAM by using 768mb of HDD space as emulated memory or “pretend RAM” so a total of 1280mb of memory which is a combination of true memory and emulated memory.

Front 97

What are Multimedia Extensions? (MMX)

Back 97

MMX Multimedia Extensions added 57 new instructions to the processor to tell the system how to work with audio, video and graphics.

Front 98

What does Hyperthreading do?

Back 98

Hyperthreading allows a processor to logically act as two different processors by being able to execute simultaneous threads. A thread is a part of an application that executes at any given time, for example, when running a word document one thread will accept key strokes while another runs the spell checker as you type.

Front 99

Define multicore processors

Back 99

Multicore Processors combine a number of independent processors and the L1 cache from these processors onto a single processor chip. A multicore processor has the benefit of having multiple processors core feature such as superscalar design, pipelining and threading. Multicore chips draw less power than a dualcore processor would.

Front 100

What does Virtualization Support do?

Back 100

Virtualization Support allows you to run multiple computers on one physical computer. Each machine runs a separate OS with the virtual resources assigned to it. To run a virtualisation such a MS Hyper V you must have a processor that supports it and it must be enabled in the system BIOS.

Front 101

What does the integrated GPU do?

Back 101

The Integrated GPU performs logic operations and video operations. It takes care of the video calculations and processing for the system.

Front 102

The (VRM) voltage regulator module do?

Back 102

The VRM voltage regulator module provides the correct running voltage to the processor. The VRM’s typically sense what voltage is needed otherwise it is done via jumpers on the MOBO.

Front 103

Define a DIP Dual Inline Package

Back 103

A rectangular chip with 2 rows of 20 pins (pin 1 is located at the cut notch) you have to match pin 1 to pin 1 on the chip socket.

Front 104

Define the PGA Pin Grid Array

Back 104

The PGA pin grid array is the most common chip package that fits in a ZIF socket or a land grid array which uses a surface plate to hold the chip in place.

Front 105

Which Sockets can you install a Pentuim 4 in?

Back 105

423

478

775

LGA775

Socket T

Front 106

Which Sockets can you install a Celeron processor in?

Back 106

370

Front 107

Which Sockets can you install a Intel Core i7 processor in?

Back 107

LGA1366

LGA1156

Front 108

Which Sockets can you install an Athlon XP processor in?

Back 108

Socket A (462 pin)

Front 109

Which Sockets can you install an Athlon 64 processor in?

Back 109

754/AM2 (940 pin)

AM2+ (940 pin)

Front 110

Which Sockets can you install a Phenom processor in?

Back 110

AM2+ (940 pin)

Front 111

Which Sockets can you install a Turion processor in?

Back 111

754

Front 112

What is Superscalar Design?

Back 112

The processor has two instruction pipelines U and V to execute two instructions at the same time. As U and V are parallel to each other parallel processing takes place.

Front 113

Explain the 3 parts of Dynamic Execution

Back 113

1. Multiple branch prediction predicts instructions that may be used in future

2. Data flow analysis assigns the predicted steps in order of execution

3. Speculative execution then executes the instructions in the order assigned

Front 114

What is Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD)

Back 114

Multiple processes are given the same instruction instead of each individual process being told the same information.

Front 115

Which of the following types of memory is used for cache memory?

SRAM

DRAM

EDO

RAM

SDRAM

Back 115

SRAM is used for cache memory.

Front 116

How many bits make up the data path of a 30-pin SIMM?

Back 116

A 30-pin SIMM has an 8-bit data path.

Front 117

Which type of cache memory originally resided on the system board?

Back 117

L2 cache memory was originally external to the CPU. This memory was inserted onto the system board as additional cache memory.

Front 118

Which type of memory must be constantly refreshed?

Back 118

DRAM must be constantly refreshed.

Front 119

Which type of memory is dual-ported (can read from and be written to at the same time)?

Back 119

VRAM, or video RAM, is dual-ported memory that can read from and be written to at the same time.

Front 120

Of the following, which is the fastest memory?30 ns

10 ns

120 ns

70 ns

Back 120

10ns

With nanoseconds (ns), the lower the number, the faster.

Front 121

How many 72-pin SIMMs make up a memory bank on a Pentium system?

Back 121

2-pin SIMMs are 32-bit modules. Because Pentium processors have a 64-bit data path, you need two,

Front 122

How many pins does a DIMM have? (Select all that apply.)

Back 122

DIMMs come in different flavors: 168-pin (for SDRAM), 184-pin (DDR), or 240-pin (DDR2 and DDR3) memory modules.

Front 123

How many bits of parity information are found in a 72-pin SIMM?

Back 123

4

There is always 1 parity bit for every 8 bits of data. Because a 72-pin SIMM is a 32-bit module, it is made up of four 8-bit chunks, so it will have 4 parity bits.

Front 124

If memory data is corrupted, what type of error is created?

Back 124

You'll receive a parity error if there are any problems with data stored in memory.

Front 125

When installing SIMM memory, what do you look for to identify Pin 1 on the memory module?

Back 125

When looking at the memory module, you will notice that one side of the module is cut out. This indicates where pin 1 is located on the module.

Front 126

Which of the following best describes VRAM?

Memory that has video instructions burned to it by the manufacturer and that cannot be changed

Dual-ported memory usually found on video accelerator cards

Memory stored in the CPU and used for storing frequently used instructions

Memory that has video instructions burned to it by the manufacturer and that can be reprogrammed only by using special software

Back 126

VRAM is dual-ported video RAM, meaning that the memory can be written to on one port and read from on another port that is usually found on video accelerator cards.

Front 127

What type of memory is typically used for storing computer BIOS code?

Back 127

A computer manufacturer's BIOS code is typically stored on read-only memory
(ROM)

Front 128

Which of the following best describes shadow RAM?

An area of system memory where some of the BIOS functions are copied during the boot process

An area of system memory that stores the information twice so that if the system crashes there will be a backup copy

The process of having frequently used data stored in cache for quicker access

The same thing as SRAM

Back 128

The term shadowing implies "making a copy" — more specifically, copying the BIOS instructions to system memory so that the functions can be executed more quickly.

Front 129

Which type of DRAM is synchronized with the system clock?

Back 129

SDRAM memory is synchronized with the system clock speed. If the motherboard runs at 100 MHz, you must buy the same speed memory for the board.

Front 130

How many DIMMs are used to fill a memory bank in a Pentium III system?

Back 130

Pentium IIIs have 64-bit data paths, and a DIMM has a 64-bit data path as well. Thus, you need only one DIMM chip to fill a bank in a Pentium system.