D316 CompTIA A+ Core 1 All Topics complete questions with expert solutions + rationales

What is the bandwidth of a PCIe v2.0 x16 graphics adapter?

8 GBps in each direction (full-duplex). PCIe v2 supports 500 MBps per lane.

What type of motherboard socket is used to install a system memory?

(DIMM)

Dual Inline Memory Module

How many storage devices can be attached to a single SATA port?

One

You have a x8 PCIe storage adapter card-- can you fit this in a x16 slot?

Yes

-this is referred to as up-plugging. On some motherboards it may only function as a x1 device though.

You are labeling spare parts for inventory. What type of motherboard is displayed here?

Both Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX are square form factors, but Mini-ITX is 6.7 inches square, while Micro-ATX is 9.6 inches x 9.6 inches.

You have another part to label for inventory. What category of adapter card is shown in the exhibit?

This is a sound card. It can be identified by the distinctive 3.5 mm audio jacks for connecting microphones and speakers.

You are labeling systems for inventory. What two types of display cabling can be connected to this laptop?

The image shows a 15-pin D-shell type video graphics array (VGA) port and a beveled high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port. The port in between them is an RJ45 network port, and the two ports on the right are USB Type A ports.

Which ports are present on the graphics card shown below?

The port on the left is digital visual interface (DVI). The pattern of pins identifies it specifically as dual link DVI-I, which supports both digital and analog signaling. The port on the right is a DisplayPort interface.

Which interfaces does the adapter cable shown below support?

DVI-D (left) and HDMI.

Question:

A support technician manages mostly digital displays but has some older computers with video cards that can support both analog and digital monitors. What type of video interface do these older computers have?

A. HDMI

B. DVI

C. VGA

D. DisplayPort

B. DVI

Question:

A support technician is working on a motherboard that is 12" x 9.6" and has seven expansion slots. Which form factor is the technician working with?

A. ATX

B. mATX

C. SFF

D. Mini-ITX

A. ATX

Question:

A support technician needs to install a legacy peripheral component interconnect (PCI) sound card. Which of the following statements about PCI is NOT true?

A.PCI Express supersedes PCI.

B.PCI uses parallel communications.

C.The PCI card can fit into the PCIe slot.

D.PCI is software compatible with PCIe.

C. The PCI card can fit into the PCIe slot.

Question:

A support technician is installing a PCIe card that will use a combination of system memory and dedicated memory. What type of card is the tech installing?

A.Graphics

B.Sound

C.NIC

D.Wi-Fi

A. Graphics

Question:

A computer is processing software instructions on the central processing unit. How is all computer software broken down to be processed?

A.Bus

B.Binary

C.RAM

D.System clock

B. Binary

Question

A support technician needs to connect the USB port on a portable monitor to an HDMI port on a laptop to extend the laptop's display. What kind of cable will the technician use to accomplish this?

A.SCSI

B.Adapter

C.EIDE

D.DVI

B. Adapter

A support technician opened a PC case and observed a modern small computer system interface (SCSI) connector plugged into the motherboard. What can the technician know to be true about the connector?

A.It connects the hard disk.

B.It's using serial communications.

C.It transfers data 1 bit at a time.

D.It only supports 1 device at a time.

A. It connects the hard disk.

Question

A support technician needs to install an optical disk drive in a new tower. Which panel should be removed so that the technician can gain access to the optical drive and connect the cables?

A.Through the top panel

B.Through the side panel

C.Through the rear panel

D.Through the bottom of the rear panel

B. Through the side panel

Which of the following statements regarding most connectors and ports is NOT true?

A.They use edge contacts.

B.They use internal connection points.

C.They sometimes use keying.

D.They can be reversible.

B. They use internal connection points.

Question

A support technician is installing a new SATA hard drive on a new computer. What is the best type of cable connector the technician will plug in to supply power to the drive?

A.15-pin connector

B.7-pin connector

C.4-pin connector

D.USB connector

A. 15-pin connector

Question

A manager directs a support technician to plug a device into the communications (COM) port. What port is the manager referring to?

A.IDE

B.SCSI

C.USB

D.Serial

D. Serial

A support technician opened the case to a PC and saw a square socket component. What component has the support tech located?

A.RAM

B.Adapter

C.CPU

D.Drive

C. CPU

A video production company uses removable media to transport multimedia files to partner and customer sites. Often, the media has to be prepared with only very short notice. In the past, the time taken to transfer files from the development workstations has resulted in delays and missed appointments. To mitigate this issue, the company has procured USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 storage devices and Windows PC workstation expansion cards. The devices and expansion cards support multiple USB hardware port types. Which of the following adapter cables will enable the devices to take full advantage of the highest transfer rate?

A.Type A to Type A with USB 3 compatibility (denoted by a blue tab)

B.Type B Micro to Type A with USB 3 compatibility (denoted by a blue tab)

C.Lightning to Type A

D.Type C to Type C

D. Type C to Type C

A support technician opened a PC case and observed a modern small computer system interface (SCSI) connector plugged into the motherboard. What can the technician know to be true about the connector?

A.It connects the hard disk.

B.It's using serial communications.

C.It transfers data 1 bit at a time.

D.It only supports 1 device at a time.

A. It connects the hard disk.

A support technician is connecting an extended integrated drive electronics (IDE) cable to a PC's motherboard and knows that pin 1 on the cable must match up with pin 1 on the port. How can the tech know where pin 1 is on the cable?

A.Pin 1 has a blue stripe.

B.Pin 1 has a black stripe.

C.Pin 1 has a red stripe.

D.Pin 1 has a grey stripe.

C. Pin 1 has a red stripe.

Question

A support technician plugged a monitor with a USB C cable connector into a USB C port on the computer, but the monitor would not function. Why would the monitor not work?

A.It was not an HDMI cable.

B.It was not a DisplayPort cable.

C.It was not a Lightning cable.

D.It was not a Thunderbolt cable.

D. It was not a Thunderbolt cable.

What is the significance of a PSU's wattage rating when you are designing a custom-build PC?

It determines the CPU model and number and type of memory modules, expansion cards, and storage devices that can be installed. The PSU's wattage rating must be higher than the sum of the power requirements of all the PC's components.

Your company has recently closed a foreign branch office, and you are repurposing some PCs that were shipped from the old location. What feature of the PSUs must you check before powering the systems on?

You must check that the voltage selector I set to the correct voltage or, if there is no selector, that the PSU is suitable for the voltage used by the building power circuit.

One of the PCs has a faulty CPU, and one has a faulty power supply. You can use the CPU from one machine in the other. You have opened the case and taken antistatic precautions. What steps must you perform to access the CPU?

First, you will remove power cables from the motherboard and CPU. Then, you will have to remove the fan and heat-sink assembly, disconnect the fan's power connector, release the pins or screws that attach the assembly to the motherboard, and remove the assembly (a gentle twisting motion may be required if the thermal paste has stuck the heat sink firmly to the CPU).

The repurposed PC is put into service, but later that day the PCs user contacts you to say that the system has been displaying numerous alerts about high temperature. What do you think might be the cause?

You would need to open the case to investigate the problem. Perhaps when the upgrade was performed, one of the fan power connectors was not attached properly, or there could be a fault in the fan on the PSU.

You are configuring four 120 GB drives in a RAID 5 array. How much space will be available?

360 GB.

True or false? A solid-state drive (SSD) attached to an M.2 port must be using the non-volatile memory host controller interface specification (NVMHCI) or NVM Express (NVMe).

False. M.2. is a physical form factor and can support both SATA and NVMe interfaces

True or false? A memory card reader is needed to attach a thumb a thumb drive to a PC.

False- a thumb or pen drive will plug into a USB port.

What is the minimum number of disks required to implement RAID 10, and how much of the disks' total capacity will be available for the volume?

RAID 10 requires at least four disks (two mirrored pairs) and comes with a 50% capacity overhead, so the volume will only be half the total disk capacity.

If you have a computer with three hard disks, what type of RAID fault-tolerant configuration will make best use of them?

RAID 5 (striping with parity). RAID 0 is not fault tolerant. RAID 1 and RAID 10 require an even number of disks.

What basic factor might you look at in selecting a high-performance hard disk drive?

Revolutions per minute (RPM)-the speed at which it spins. The top-performing drives are 15,000 (15K) or 10,000 (10K).

What RAID level is shown?

Is this RAID level redundant?

Is this RAID level fault tolerant?

RAID 1

YES

YES

What RAID level is shown?

Is this RAID level redundant?

Is this RAID level fault tolerant?

RAID 5

YES

YES

What RAID level is shown?

Is this RAID level redundant?

Is this RAID level fault tolerant?

RAID 1+0

YES

YES

What RAID level is shown?

Is this RAID level redundant?

Is this RAID level fault tolerant?

RAID 0

NO

NO

What is number 1?

I/O Connections

What is number 2?

RAM Slot

What is number 3?

Main PSU Power

What is number 4?

CPU/CPU Socket

What is number 5?

PCIe x16 Slot

What is number 6?

SATA Port

What is number 7?

PCIe x1 Slot

What is number 8?

CMOS Battery

What type of connector is pictured?

What are the Rated Voltages?

3.3V__ 5V__ 12V__

EPS 12V

12V

What type of connector is pictured?

What are the Rated Voltages?

3.3V__ 5V__ 12V__

Molex KK

5V & 12V

What type of connector is pictured?

What are the Rated Voltages?

3.3V__ 5V__ 12V__

Molex

5V & 12V

What type of connector is pictured?

What are the Rated Voltages?

3.3V__ 5V__ 12V__

SATA

3.3V & 5V & 12V

What type of connector is pictured?

What are the Rated Voltages?

3.3V__ 5V__ 12V__

P1

3.3V & 5V & 12V

You are configuring a different workstation with dual-channel memory. You have two modules and there are four slots. How would you determine which slots to use?

Check the vendor's setup/service manual. Many systems will use the slots marked A1 and B1, but it's best not to proceed without consulting the vendor's documentation.

Consulting the vendor documentation, you find that this system uses DDR4 error-correcting code (ECC) RDMIMMs. The spares you have are DDR4 ECC UDIMMs. Can they be used for the upgrade?

No. If the vendor documentation specifies registered memory (RDIMMs), you must use RDIMM modules. Unbuffered DIMMs (UDIMMs) will not be compatible even if they are ECC.

You need to upgrade the system RAM on a PC. The motherboard has two 8 GB modules of DDR3 RAM installed and two free slots. You have two spare 16 GB DDR4 modules in your stores. Can these be used for this upgrade?

No. The DDR generation of the motherboard slot and modules must match. You can only use DDR3 modules.

What type of memory technology supports paging?

Virtual RAM or virtual memory. The operating system creates a virtual address space for each process. This address space can use physical system random-access memory (RAM) modules and swap space or paging files stored on fixed disks (hard drives and SSDs). Paging moves data between system RAM and the swap space required.

Why can cache improve performance?

A CPU tends to repeat the same routines and access the same data over and over again. If these routines are stored in fast cache RAM, they can be accessed more quickly than instructions and data stored in system memory.

A workstation has a multi-socket motherboard but only a single LGA 1150 socket is populated. The installed CPU is a Xeon E3-1220. You have a Xeon E3-1231 CPU in store that also uses the LGA 1150. Should this be used to enable symmetric multiprocessing and upgrade system performance?

No. The CPU models must be identical. If the CPUs are not identical, the system is unlikely to boot. Even if the system boots, it is not likely to operate reliably.

You are specifying a computer for use as a software development workstation. This will be required to run multiple virtual machines (VMs). Can any x64-compatible CPU with sufficient clock speed be used?

No. You must verify that the CPU model supports virtualization extensions.

What must you check when inserting a PGA form factor CPU?

You must check that pin 1 is aligned properly and that the pins on the package are aligned with the holes in the socket. Otherwise, you risk damaging the pins when the locking lever is secured.

Question

A technician is installing new RAM in a company’s workstations. The IT supervisor wants all computers to have ECC RAM to ensure high levels of reliability. Which features are not associated with ECC RAM? (Select all that apply)

A.The motherboard and the CPU must support ECC operation for it to be enabled.

B.Most motherboards support either UDIMMs or RDIMMs, but not both.

C.If a motherboard supports UDIMM, you can use both types synchronously.

D.Mixing non-ECC UDIMMs and ECC UDIMMs will work with each other.

C. If a motherboard supports UDIMM, you can use both types synchronously.

D. Mixing non-ECC UDIMMs and ECC UDIMMs will work with each other.

A hardware technician is purchasing more servers for an organization and needs to ensure the power supply units in the data center have the correct output to support them. What is a power supply unit's output capability measured as?

A.Power

B.Voltage

C.Watts

D.Wattage rating

D. Wattage rating

An employee is leaving the company and must return any removable storage devices they may have. What devices will the employee most likely return? (Select all that apply.)

A.Wireless card

B.USB flash drive

C.SD card

D.RAM

B. USB flash drive

C. SD card

Question

A hardware technician is working on a new desktop that can send 128 bits of data per transfer rather than 64 bits. What is this referred to as?

A.Single channel

B.Dual channel

C.Triple channel

D.Quadruple channel

B. Dual channel

Question

A hardware technician installed a new power supply unit (PSU) in a workstation and removed any unnecessary power connector cables. What type of PSU did the technician install?

A.Modular

B.Redundant

C.ATX

D.ATX12V

A. Modular

A software developer is creating an application that will run multiple parallel threads through the central processing unit (CPU) at the same time to reduce the amount of "idle time" the CPU spends waiting for new instructions to process. What type of process is the developer taking advantage of?

A.Multi-socket

B.Multithreading

C.Multicore

D.Processor extensions

B. Multithreading

Question

A hardware technician is ordering power supply units (PSUs) for the organization's desktop computers. What type of form factor is the technician looking for the PSUs to have from the list below?

A.ATX

B.SFF

C.PCIe

D.Mini-ITX

A. ATX

A hardware technician is reinstalling a heat sink with a central processing unit (CPU). Which of the following steps should the technician take to reinstall the heat sink without damaging the socket? (Select all that apply.)

A.Clean it.

B.Thermal paste.

C.Pop up the CPU at a 45º angle.

D.Wear an ESD wrist strap.

A. Clean it

B. Thermal Paste

D. Wear an ESD wrist strap

A hardware technician is upgrading a device with multiple, identical central processing unit (CPU) packages. What class of computer is the technician most likely upgrading?

A.Workstation

B.Mobile

C.Desktop

D.Server

D. Server

A technician loans a laptop to employees when they go on travel and each time an employee returns the laptop the technician reformats it and reloads the operating system and all the software. After several years of following this process, the laptop is sluggish and often freezes. What is most likely to cause this to happen?

A.Motherboard

B.SSD

C.RAM

D.CDs

B. SSD

A student is learning about computer hardware and the instructor selects them to identify the component that executes program instruction code. How should the student respond?

A.CPU

B.RAM

C.Cache

D.HDD

A. CPU

Question

To mitigate the heat a high-end gaming system will generate, an engineer is using a liquid-based cooling system in the design. Which of the following components are NOT a part of an open-loop, liquid-based cooling system?

A.Fans

B.Heat sinks

C.Water blocks

D.Water loop

B. Heat Sinks

Question

A system engineer is configuring fault tolerance with a configuration that uses a logical striped volume with two mirrored arrays. What redundant array of independent disks is the engineer using?

A.RAID 0

B.RAID 1

C.RAID 5

D.RAID 10

D. RAID 10

Question

A hardware technician is inspecting the notches on a dual inline memory module (DIMM) edge. What will the notches on the edge connector help the hardware technician determine? (Select all that apply.)

A.The DDR generation

B.If it is compatible with the slot

C.How to insert it properly

D.If it has a heat sink

A. The DDR generation

B. If it is compatible with the slot

C. How to insert it properly

Question

Which of the following central processing unit (CPU) architectures implements a system-on-chip (SoC) where all the controllers, including video, sound, networking, and storage, are part of the CPU?

A.IA-32

B.x86

C.x64

D.ARM

D. ARM

An engineer is designing a new computer system and wants to provide active cooling to improve airflow and dissipate heat from around the components. What will the engineer use in the system?

A.Heat sinks

B.Fans

C.Thermal paste

D.Thermal pads

B. Fans

A hardware technician is building a server that will process financial data in real time and wants to use error correcting code (ECC) RAM that will detect and correct errors, if possible. What other considerations will the technician need to include to support the ECC RAM? (Select all that apply.)

A.Heat sinks

B.Extra processor chip

C.72-bit data bus

D.Two 64-bit data buses

B. Extra processor chip

C. 72-bit data bus

A hardware technician is purchasing mass storage devices and tells the salesperson that they must use flash memory technology. What type of devices will the salesperson show the technician?

A.HDD

B.SSD

C.RAM

D.CDs

B. SSD

A hardware technician is scanning a computer's non-volatile storage devices for errors and infections. Which of the following will the technician include in the scanning? (Select all that apply.)

A.Hard disk drives

B.Solid-state drives

C.Random access memory

D.Mass storage devices

A. Hard disk drives

B. Solid-state drives

D. Mass storage devices

A hardware technician is tearing apart a non-functioning computer to salvage parts and pulls out a memory stick that synchronizes its speed to the motherboard system clock. What type of memory has the technician removed?

A.DDR SDRAM

B.Dynamic RAM

C.SDRAM

D.ECC RAM

C. SDRAM

You are dealing with a support request and think that you have identified the probably cause of the reported problem. What should be your next troubleshooting step?

Test the theory to determine the cause.

What should you do if you cannot determine the cause of a problem?

You could consult a colleague, refer to product documentation, or search the web. It might also be appropriate to escalate the problem to more senior support staff.

If you must open the system case to troubleshoot a computer, what should you check before proceeding?

You should check that data on the PC has been backed up. You should always verify that you have a backup before beginning any troubleshooting activities.

You think you have discovered the solution to a problem in a product Knowledge Base, and the solution involves installing a software patch. What should be your next troubleshooting step?

You should identify any negative consequences in applying the software patch, then devise an implementation plan to install the file. You need to schedule the work so as to minimize disruption. You should also make a plan to roll back the installation, should that prove necessary.

After applying a troubleshooting repair, replacement, or upgrade, what should you do next?

You should test that the fix works and that the system as a whole is functional. You might also implement preventative measures to reduce the risk of the problem occurring again.

Name three keys commonly used to run a PC's BIOS/UEFI system setup program.

Esc, Del, F1, F2, F10, or F12.

True or false? A TPM provides secure removable storage so that encryption keys can be used with different computers.

False. A trusted platform module (TPM) provides secure storage for a single computer as it is an embedded function of the CPU or motherboard chipset. The term hardware security module (HSM) is sometimes used to describe a secure USB thumb drive for storing encryption keys on portable media.

What widely supported boot method is missing from the following list? HDD, optical, USB.

Network/PXE (Pre-eXecution Environment)--obtaingin boot information from a specially configured server over the network.

When you are configuring firmware-enforced security, what is the difference between a supervisor password and a user password?

The user password allows the boot sequence to continue, while a supervisor password controls access to the firmware setup program.

You receive a support call from a user of one of the company's computer-aided design (CAD) workstations. The user repots that a notification "RAID utility reports that the volume is degraded" is being displayed. A recent backup has been made. What should you do to try to restore the array?

A degraded volume is still working but has lost one of its disks. In most RAID configurations, another disk failure would cause the volume to fail, so you should add a new disk as soon as possible (though do note that rebuilding the array will reduce performance).

You are trying to install Windows from the setup disc, but the computer will not boot from the DVD. What should you do?

Check that the boot order in system setup is set correctly. If the boot order is correct, check that the disc is not dirty or scratched. If the disc loads in another computer, check that the optical drive data and power cables are connected.

A user reports that there is a loud clicking noise when she tries to save a file. What should be your first troubleshooting step?

Determine whether a data backup has been made. If not, try to make one.

You have been servicing a computer, but when you have finished you find that it will not turn on. There was no power problem before, and you have verified that the computer is connected to a working electrical outlet. What is the most likely explanation?

It is most likely that one or more power connectors have not been reconnected. Check the P1 motherboard connector, a 4-pin CPU connector, and all necessary SATA or Molex device connectors. Also, the cable connecting the power button to a motherboard header could have been disconnected.

A user reports hearing noises from the hard disk-- does this indicate it is failing and should be replaced?

Not necessarily. Hard disks do make noises, but they are not all indicators of a problem. Question the user to find out what sort of noises are occurring or inspect the system yourself.

Following a power cut, a user reports that their computer will not boot. The message "BCD missing" is shown on the screen. The computer does not store data that needs to be backed up. What is the best first step to try to resolve the issue?

Use a system recovery disk to try to repair the disk drive's boot information.

Additional memory was installed in a user's system, and now it will not boot. What steps would you take to resolve this job ticket?

Use the vendor's system setup guide to verify that the correct memory type was installed on the system and in the correct configuration (consider whether dual-channel memory was installed in the correct slots). Check that the new memory module is seated properly in its slot. Try swapping memory around in the memory slots.

You receive a support call from a lecturer. A projector is only displaying a very dim image. Which component should you prioritize for investigation?

You should rule out a simple configuration issue, such as the brightness control being turned all of the way down.

What cause might you suspect if a PC experiences intermittent lockups?

Assuming the cause is not related to software or device drivers, then thermal or power problems are most likely. Loose connections, faulty system components (motherboard, CPU, and memory), and corruption of OS files due to bad sectors/blocks are also possibilities.

True or false? Running the fans continually at maximum speed is the best way to prevent overheating.

False. This is likely to damage the fans and draw more dust into the case. It will also cause a lot of excess noise. To prevent overheating, the PC should be setup in a suitable location (away from direct sunlight and other heat sources) and cleaned and maintained on a schedule.

Ticket 1: A user is reporting that they have a dim screen. To solve this, you can adjust the brightness and ____ controls.

Contrast