Wiley 978-0-470-48649-8 Datasheet

SAMPLE CHAPTER 1

Identifying Components of Motherboards 9Peripheral ports and connectorsßNBIOSßNCMOS batteryßNJumpers and DIP switchesßNFirmwareßNIn this subsection, y

10 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsThe term bus is also used in any parallel or bit-serial wiring implementation where multi-ple devic

Identifying Components of Motherboards 11SouthbridgeThe Southbridge subset of the chipset, as mentioned earlier, is responsible for providing support

12 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFigure 1.5 shows a schematic of a typical motherboard chipset (both Northbridge and Southbridge) an

Identifying Components of Motherboards 13you might wish to research these slots for your own edification and to be prepared, should you find yourself fa

14 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.7 An AGP slot compared to a PCI slotPCI slotAGP slotAGP performance is based on the or

Identifying Components of Motherboards 15on the number of lanes supported, which requires a related number of wires. Therefore, a x8 slot is longer th

16 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.8 PCIe expansion slotsAMR Expansion SlotsAs is always the case, Intel and other manufa

Identifying Components of Motherboards 17same length as one of the portions of the AMR slot, but the other portion of the CNR slot is longer than that

18 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.10 A CNR slotFIGURE 1.11 Different memory module form factors30-pin SIMM (3.5  .7

Chapter 1Personal Computer System ComponentsTHE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ ESSENTIALS EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:1.2 Explain motherboard c

Identifying Components of Motherboards 19Sometimes the amount of primary memory installed is inadequate to service additional requests for memory reso

20 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentsattached to it (as shown in Figure 1.12). These devices are used to draw away and disperse the heat

Identifying Components of Motherboards 21LGA-compatible sockets, as they’re called despite the misnomer, have a lid of sorts that closes over the CPU

22 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsThe processor slot is another method of connecting a processor to a motherboard, but one into which

Identifying Components of Motherboards 23TABLE 1.1 Socket/Slot Types and the Processors They Support (continued)Socket/Slot ProcessorsSocket 4 Pe

24 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsTABLE 1.1 Socket/Slot Types and the Processors They Support (continued)Socket/Slot ProcessorsS

Identifying Components of Motherboards 25FIGURE 1.15 An ATX power connector on a motherboardToday, the headers you will find on most motherboards a

26 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsThe 40-pin ATA header transfers data between the drive and motherboard multiple bits in parallel, h

Identifying Components of Motherboards 27about ½ inch in diameter, in a 5-pin DIN configuration. Figure 1.17 shows an example of the AT-style keyboard

28 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsNewer motherboards have color-coded the PS/2 mouse and keyboard con-nectors to make connection of k

Bus slotsßNPCIßNAGPßNPCIeßNAMRßNCNRßNPCMCIA ChipsetsßNBIOS / CMOS / FirmwareßNPOSTßNCMOS batteryßNRiser card / daughterboardßN[Additional subobjective

Identifying Components of Motherboards 29as well. Game ports connect such peripheral devices to the computer using a DA-15F 15-pin female D-subminiatu

30 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsMotherboard AttachmentThere are two ways of connecting these ports to the motherboard (assuming the

Identifying Components of Motherboards 31BIOS and POSTAside from the processor, the most important chip on the motherboard is the Basic Input/Output S

32 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsThe POST process can end with a beep code or displayed code that indicates the issue dis-covered. E

Identifying Components of Motherboards 33from electrostatic discharge (ESD). Another ramification is that it doesn’t take much of a power source to kee

34 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsIdentifying Purposes and Characteristics of ProcessorsNow that you’ve learned the basics of the mot

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Processors 35motherboard. As a result, the grid of metallic contact points, called lands, on the bottom of

36 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsWhich CPU Do You Have?The surest way to determine which CPU your computer is using is to open the c

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Processors 37processors come in Solo (mobile only), Duo, and four-core (Quad) implementations. Solo and Du

38 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsMatching System ComponentsIn a world of clock doubling, tripling, quadrupling, and so forth, it bec

Liquid cooling systemsßNThermal compoundßN1.6 Compare and contrast memory types, characteristics ßÛand their purposeTypesßNDRAMßNSRAMßNSDRAMßNDDR / DD

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 39FIGURE 1.29 Location of memory within a systemMemoryImportant Memory TermsThere are a few tec

40 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentsa memory bank. A bank of memory is required for the computer system to electrically recognize that

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 41Single- and Double-Sided MemoryAsk just about anyone who doesn’t manufacture memory for a living

42 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsAlthough it’s not the make-up of the memory that leads to dual-channel support, but instead the tec

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 43or marketability to computer manufacturers. The following list gives you an idea of the vast arra

44 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentstime is essentially the difference between the time when the information is requested from memory a

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 45falling edges of the clock signal. This obtains twice the transfer rate at the same FSB clock fre

46 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsLet’s try another. What do you need for a motherboard that features a 333MHz FSB (actual clock is 1

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 47The most commonly found range of actual clock speeds for DDR3 tends to be from 133MHz at the low

48 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentsspecial licensing considerations and royalties from Rambus. The contract ran from 1996 until 2002.

A personal computer (PC) is a computing device made up of many distinct electronic components that all function together in order to accomplish some u

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 49TABLE 1.2 How Some Memory Types Transfer 3200MBps per ChannelMemory TypeActual/Effective (FSB

50 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentsbut then no more. You had a new bug to keep the ROM bug company. Liken this to the burn-ing of a CD

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 51With 84 pins per side, this makes 168 independent pins on each standard SDR module, as shown with

52 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.32 A pair of DDR3 SDRAM modulesFIGURE 1.33 A Rambus RIMM module86498book.indb 52

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Memory 53As mentioned earlier, DRDRAM is based on a 16-bit channel. However, dual-channel implementation i

54 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.34 144-pin SODIMMFIGURE 1.35 200-pin DDR2 SODIMMIdentifying Characteristics of Por

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 55Peripheral Port Connector TypesComputer ports are interfaces that allow other devices to be connecte

56 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.36 D-sub ports and connectorsRJ-SeriesRegistered jack (RJ) connectors are most often u

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 57Audio jacksßNPS/2 (mini-DIN)ßNCentronicsßNLet’s look at each one and how it is used.FIGURE 1.37

58 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.38 USB portsBecause of USB’s higher transfer rate, flexibility, and ease of use, most d

Identifying Components of Motherboards 5FIGURE 1.1 A typical system boardTypes of System BoardsThere are two major types of system boards:Noninteg

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 59InfraredIncreasing numbers of people are getting fed up with being tethered to their computers by co

60 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.41 An RCA jack (female) and RCA plug (male)FemaleMaleToday, RCA jacks and connectors (

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 61PS/2 (Keyboard and Mouse)Another common port, as mentioned earlier, is the PS/2 port. A PS/2 port (a

62 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsCentronicsThe last type of port connector is the Centronics connector, a micro ribbon connector nam

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 63ParallelFor many years, the most popular type of interface available on computers was the parallel i

64 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentswith the standard and bidirectional ports and support cable lengths of 4.5 meters, which is almost

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 65FIGURE 1.46 The mini-Centronics connectorSerialIf standard parallel communications were similar

66 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.47 Standard DE-9 and DB-25 male serial portsFIGURE 1.48 A standard serial cable wi

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 67TABLE 1.4 Common Serial Cable Configurations 1st Connector 2nd Connector DescriptionDE-9 female

68 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsBe aware of the limitations in the USB specification. The commonly quoted length limit for USB cable

6 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsWith integrated system boards, there is a way around having to replace the whole mother-board when a

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 69Type B plugs connect in the direction of the component. Therefore, you see a Type B interface on the

70 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsFIGURE 1.52 A FireWire (IEEE 1394) alpha cableBecause the FireWire specification was conceived t

Identifying Characteristics of Ports and Cables 71FIGURE 1.53 An RCA cableThe RCA male connectors on a connection cable are sometimes plated in go

72 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsIdentifying Purposes and Characteristics of Cooling SystemsIt’s a basic concept of physics: electro

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Cooling Systems 73Memory module fan The more capable our memory becomes of keeping up with our CPU, the

74 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Componentsenhanced heat dissipation. For this, you can buy either heat sinks or, as mentioned earlier, specia

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Cooling Systems 75Air CoolingThe parts inside most computers are cooled by air moving through the case. Th

76 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsImproving and Maintaining CPU CoolingIn addition to using thermal compound, you can enhance the coo

Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Cooling Systems 77Liquid CoolingLiquid cooling is a technology whereby a special water block is used to co

78 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsOne of the downsides to TECs is the likelihood of condensation because of the sub-ambient temperatu

Identifying Components of Motherboards 7FIGURE 1.2 Both sides of a riser card with daughterboardLPX, a technology that lacked formal standardizati

Exam Essentials 79Exam EssentialsKnow the types of system boards. Know the characteristics of and differences between ATX, micro ATX, NLX, and BTX

80 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsReview Questions1. Which computer component contains all the circuitry necessary for other compone

Review Questions 817. Which of the following is not controlled by the Northbridge?A. PCIeB. SATAC. AGPD. Cache memory8. Which of the following is us

82 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System Components13. Which of the following standards are specified by IEEE 1284? (Choose two.)A. SPPB. RS-232C. EP

Review Questions 8319. You have just purchased a motherboard that has an LGA775 socket for an Intel Pentium 4 processor. What type of memory modules

84 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsAnswers to Review Questions1. A. The spine of the computer is the system board, otherwise known a

Answers to Review Questions 8511. A, C, G. DIMMs used in desktop-motherboard applications have one of three possible pin counts. SDR SDRAM is implem

8 Chapter 1 N Personal Computer System ComponentsBalanced Technology Extended (BTX)In 2003, Intel announced its design for a new motherboard, slated