Computer Maintenance Chapter 1 - System Hardware Components

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering computer hardware components, safety procedures, and BIOS/UEFI settings based on the Computer Maintenance lecture transcript.

Computer System

A complete set of components that work together to input, process, store, and output information, consisting of hardware and software.

Hardware

The physical components of a computer that can be seen and touched, such as the system unit, keyboard, monitor, and cables.

Software

The programs and instructions that tell a computer how to operate and perform tasks, divided into Operating Systems and Application Software.

Desktop Computer

A personal computer designed to be used at one fixed place, consisting of separate parts like a monitor, system unit, keyboard, and mouse.

Laptop (Notebook)

A portable personal computer with a built-in screen, keyboard, and touchpad that runs on a battery or power adapter.

Form factor

The physical design and look of a computer case or the size and shape of a motherboard.

ATX12V

The most common power supply on the market today, which includes a second motherboard connector to provide dedicated power to the CPU.

EPS12V

A power supply originally designed for network servers but now commonly used in high-end desktop models.

P1 Connector

A $20$-pin or $24$-pin connector that provides power to the motherboard.

Molex

A $4$-pin peripheral power connector used to supply power to IDE disk drives and CD-ROM/DVD drives.

Berg (Mini-Molex)

A $$4$-pin power connector that supplies power to a floppy disk drive.

SATA power connector

A $15$-pin power connector mainly used for SATA hard drives.

PCIe power connector

A $6$-pin or $8$-pin power connector used for PCI Express graphics cards.

$12$ volts ($V$)

The voltage supply typically used to run motors in disk drives and fans.

Dual Voltage Power Supply

A power supply with a voltage selector switch to set the input voltage to either $110V/115V$ or $220V/230V$.

Voltage ($V$)

Measured in Volts ($V$), it is the measure of work required to move a charge.

Current ($I$)

Measured in Amperes ($A$), it is the measure of the amount of electrons moving through a circuit per second.

Resistance ($R$)

Measured in Ohms ($\Omega$), it refers to the opposition to the flow of current in a circuit.

Power ($P$)

Measured in Watts ($W$), it is the measure of the work required to move electrons multiplied by the number of electrons going through the circuit per second ($P = VI$).

Ohm's Law

The electrical equation expressing that voltage is equal to the current multiplied by the resistance ($V = IR$).

$80$ Plus Certification

A voluntary program certifying that a PSU is more than $80\%$ energy efficient at $20\%$, $50\%$, and $100\%$ of rated load.

Motherboard

The main printed circuit board containing buses and electrical pathways that allow data to travel among various components.

Northbridge

The chipset component that controls high-speed access to the RAM and video card.

Southbridge

The chipset component that allows the CPU to communicate with slower speed devices like hard drives and USB ports.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A small microchip responsible for interpreting and executing commands from hardware and software.

Pin Grid Array (PGA)

An architecture where the pins are on the underside of the processor package and insert into the motherboard socket.

Land Grid Array (LGA)

An architecture where the pins are located in the socket instead of on the processor.

Zero Insertion Force (ZIF)

A socket design that uses a lever or slider to lock the CPU in place with no force required during insertion.

Cache

Special high-speed memory that stores frequently used data and instructions nearby for rapid CPU access.

Hyper-Threading

An Intel technology that executes multiple pieces of code (threads) simultaneously so a single CPU performs like two CPUs.

Overclocking

A technique used to make a processor work at a faster speed than its original specification.

CPU Throttling

A technique where the processor runs at less than the rated speed to conserve power or produce less heat.

Multicore Processor

A single integrated circuit that contains two or more processors (cores) to execute instructions more quickly.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

A chip that performs rapid mathematical calculations required to render graphics; can be integrated or dedicated.

Thermal Design Power (TDP)

The maximum amount of heat, measured in watts ($W$), that a computer chip generates and a cooling system must dissipate.

ROM (Read Only Memory)

Nonvolatile memory chips that contain essential instructions, such as booting the computer, which are not erased when powered off.

EEPROM

Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, also called Flash ROM, because its contents can be flashed for deletion or upgrade.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

Volatile temporary working storage for data and programs currently being accessed by the CPU.

DDR SDRAM

Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM, which transfers data twice as fast as standard SDRAM.

ECC (Error-Correcting Code)

A memory type that can detect multiple-bit errors and correct single-bit errors in memory.

DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module)

A circuit board holding SDRAM or DDR chips that is mounted directly on the motherboard’s memory slots.

SODIMM (Small Outline DIMM)

A smaller version of DIMM commonly used in laptops and small form factor PCs.

PCIe (PCI Express)

A serial expansion bus that uses data lanes ($x1$, $x4$, $x8$, $x16$) to provide high throughput for adapter cards.

HDD (Hard Disk Drive)

A traditional magnetic disk storage device with speeds measured in revolutions per minute ($RPM$).

SSD (Solid-State Drive)

A storage device that use semiconductor flash memory to store data, with no moving parts, making it faster and more reliable than HDDs.

NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)

A specification developed to allow SSDs to attach directly to the PCIe bus without requiring special drivers.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

The buildup of an electric charge resting on a surface that can damage computer components with as little as $30$ volts ($V$).

Antistatic Wrist Strap

A safety tool wrapped around the wrist and connected to the metal chassis to keep the technician's body at the same voltage as the computer.

POST (Power-On Self-Test)

A hardware check performed by the BIOS when the computer is booted to ensure main components are functioning.

CMOS

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor; a memory chip that stores BIOS settings and is powered by a battery.

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)

A modern firmware interface that replaces legacy BIOS, addressing security issues and supporting larger boot drives.

Secure Boot

A UEFI security standard that ensures a computer only boots an Operating System trusted by the motherboard manufacturer.

TPM (Trusted Platform Module)

A chip designed to secure hardware by storing encryption keys, digital certificates, and passwords.