SF 101 PRELIM REVIEWER

Power Supply

• It is the source of electrical power of every part in the PC.

• Converts AC power from the wall socket into DC

• Must provide enough power for the installed components and future additions – ranges from 200W to 800W

• Contain the framework to support and enclose internal components of the computer

Computer Case

Provides protection and support for internal components

Should be durable, easy to service, and have enough room for expansion

Molex Connector

Is a keyed connector used to connect to an optical drive or a hard drive

Berg Connector

Is a keyed connector used to connect to a floppy drive. A Berg connector is smaller than a Molex connector.

RAM

Random Access Memory

DRAM

Is a memory chip that is used as a main memory. DRAM must be constantly refreshed with pulses of electricity in order to maintain the data stored within the chip

SRAM

Is a memory chip that is used as cached memory. SRAM is much faster than DRAM and does not have to be refreshed as often.

EDO RAM

is a memory that overlaps consecutive data access. These speed ups the access to retrieve data from memory, because the CPU does not have wait for one data access cycle to end before another data access cycle begins.

DDR RAM

Is the memory that transfers data twice as fast as SDRAM, DDR SDRAM

increases performance by transferring data twice per cycle.

DDR3 RAM

Expands memory bandwidth by doubling the clock rate of DDR 2 SDRAM

and it consumes less power and generates less heat than DDR 2 SDRAM.

DIMM

Is a circuit board that holds SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, and DDR2 SDRAM chips. There are 168-pin SDRAM DIMMs, 184-pin DDR DIMMs, and 240-PIN DDR2 DIMMs and DDR3 DIMMs.

SODIMM

is a smaller, more condensed version of DIMM which provides

random access data storage that

Floppy Disk Drive

Is storage device that uses removable 3.5 inch floppy disks that can store

1.44 MB of data.

Hard Disk Drive

A secondary storage that is used when large amounts of data have to be stored,  particularly if some of the data need not be accessed very frequently.

Solid Disk Drive

is a type of solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuits to store data persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-state device, or solid-state disk.

Optical Drive

Is a storage device that uses lasers to read data on the optical media.

HDMI

has a 19-pin connector and provides digital video and

digital audio signals

PS/2 Port

• A PS/2 port connects a keyboard or a mouse to a computer.

• The PS/2 port is a 6-pin mini-DIN female connector.

• The Line In connects to an external source.

• The Microphone In connects to a microphone.

• The Line Out connects to speakers or headphones.

• The Game port/ MIDI connect to a joystick or MIDI-interface device.

Parallel Port

• Ports can transmit 8 bits of data at one time and use the IEEE 1284 standard

• To connect a parallel device, such as a printer, a parallel cable must be used.

• A parallel cable has a maximum length of 15 feet (4.5 m).

Mirroring

A method of storing duplicate data to a second drive.

Types of RAM

• Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)

• Static Random Access Memory (SRAM)

• Extended Data Out Ram (EDO Memory)

• Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM – 168 pins)

• Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM – 184 pins)

• Double Data Rate 2 SDRAM (DDR2 SDRAM – 240 pins)

• Double Data Rate 3 SDRAM (DDR3 SDRAM – 240 pins)

Examples of Adapter Cards

Increase the functionality of a computer by adding controllers for specific devices or by replacing malfunctioning ports.

• NIC (network interface card) – connects a computer using a network card

• Wireless NIC – connects a computer using radio frequencies

• Sound adapter – provides audio capability

• Capture card – sends a video signal to a computer so that the signal can be recorded to the computer hard drive with video capture software.

• TV Tuner – provides the ability to watch and record TV signals on a PC by connecting a TV source such as Cable TV, satellite, or an antenna to the installed tuner card. 

• Video adapter – provides graphic capability

• Modem adapter – connects a computer using a phone line

• SCSI adapter – connects SCSI devices such as hard drives or tape drives, to a computer

• RAID adapter – connects multiple hard drive to a computer to provide redundancy and to improveperformance

• USB, parallel, and serial ports

• Examples of Optical Media

There are several types of optical media:

• CD-ROM – CD read-only memory media that is pre-recorded.

• CD-R – CD recordable media that can be recorded one time.

• CD-RW – CD rewritable media that can be recorded, erased, and re-recorded.

• DVD-ROM – DVD read-only memory media that is pre-recorded.

• DVD-RAM - DVD random access memory media that can be recorded, erased, and re-recorded.

• DVD+/-R – DVD recordable media that can be recorded one time.

• DVD+/-RW – DVD rewritable media that can be recorded, erased, and re-recorded.

• BD-ROM – BD read-only media that is pre-recorded with movies, games, or software.

• BD-R – BD recordable media that can record HD video and PC data storage one time.

• BD-RE – BD rewritable format for HD video recording and PC data storage.

Examples of Drive Interface

IDE – Integrated Drive Electronics, also called Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) is an early drive controller interface

EIDE – Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics, Also called ATA-2, is an updated version of the IDE drive

controller interface. EIDE supports hard drives larger than 512 MB, enables Direct Memory Access

(DMA) for speed, and uses the AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) to accommodate optical drives

and tape drives on the EIDE bus. An EIDE interface uses a 40-pin connector.

PATA – Parallel ATA refers to the parallel version of the ATA drive controller interface.

SATA – Serial ATA refers to the serial version of the ATA drive controller interface. A SATA uses a 7-pin

data connector.

eSATA – External Serial ATA provides a hot-swappable, external interface for SATA drives. The eSATA

interface connects an external SATA drive using a 7-pin connector. The cable can be up to two meters

(6.56 ft.) in length.

SCSCI – Small Computer System Interface is a drive controller interface that can connect up to 15

drives, SCSI can connect both internal and external drives. An SCSI interface uses a 50-pin, 68-pin, or

80-pin connector.

RAID Data Storage Methods

Parity – A method used to detect data errors.

Striping – A method used to write data across multiple drives.

Mirroring - A method of storing duplicate data to a second drive.