chap 2 comp maint

What is a case fan?

A fan inside a computer case used to draw air out of or into the case.

What is a cooler?

A cooling system that sits on top of a processor and consists of a fan and a heat sink.

What are front panel connectors?

A group of wires running from the front of the computer case to the motherboard.

What is a front panel header?

A group of pins on a motherboard that connect to wires that are connected to the front panel of the computer case.

What is a heat sink?

A piece of metal, with cooling fins, that can be attached to or mounted on an integrated chip (such as the CPU) to dissipate heat.

What is overcooling?

Running a processor at a higher frequency than is recommended by the manufacturer, which can result in an unstable system

What are spacers?

metal pegs that separate the motherboard from the case, so that components on the back of the motherboard do not touch the case (Also called Standoffs).

What is thermal compound?

A creamlike substance that is placed between the bottom of the cooler heatsink and the top of the processor to eliminate air pockets and to help draw heat off the processor.

Why is it important to not stack boards on top of each other when taking a computer apart?

A chip could be accidentally dislodged.

Why is it important to remove loose jewelry before working inside a computer case?

Loose jewelry might get caught in cables and components as you work.

When assembling a system, which do you install first, the drives or the motherboard?

The Drive.

What is the purpose of raised screw holes or standoffs installed between the motherboard and case?

To keep the board from touching the case.

When installing the front panel wires to the motherboard front panel header, how do you know which pins to use for each wire if the pins on the header are not labeled?

Turn to the motherboard user guide for help. Sometimes the motherboard documentation is not clear, but guessing is okay when connecting a wire to a front panel header connection. If it does not work, no harm is done.

What are the two major components of a processor cooler assembly?

Heat sink and fan.

How many pins does the CPU fan header on a current motherboard have?

4 pins

If the power connector from the CPU fan has only three pins, it can still connect to the 4-pin header, but what functionality is lost?

Adjustable speed control of the fan to lessen the noise in the system

How do you determine the wattage capacity needed by a power supply?

To determine what size power supply needed, add up the wattage requirements of all components, and add 30 percent.

Which one component in a high end gaming computer is likely to draw the most power?

Video card draws the most power