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What are the four primary fucnctions of hardware
input, processing, output, and storage
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Why is all data stored in a computer in binary form
Binary is the fromat that the computer "understands" not a programming language or a human language. All instructions between hardware and software in a computer are reduced to a simple yes or no a state of on or off
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What are the two main input devices and two main output devices
- the two main input devices are the keyboard and the mouse
- the two main output devices are the monitor and the printer
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what three things do electronic hardware divices need in order to function
- a method for the cpu to communicate with the device
- software to instruct and control the device
- and electricity to power the device
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how many bits are in a byte
8 bits in a byte
4 bits are a nibble
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what is the purpose of an expansion slot on a motherboard
an expansion slot on a motherboard is used for an expansion card, wich enables a device that is not on the motherboard to communicate with the cpu
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wich component on the motherboard is used primarily for processing
the cpu (central processing unit) also called the processor
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what are some cpu manufacters
intel amd cyrix ibm
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what techonology is most often used today to manufacture microchips
CMOS- complementray metal-oxide semiconductor
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what are some other names for the system bus
memory bus, host bus, front side bus, external bus
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what are two other names for the motherboard
main board, system board
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what are the two basic types of cables found inside a computer case and what are their basic functions
a data cable used for passing data between devices and a power cable used to supply power to a device
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what are types of ports that are often found coming directly off the motherboard to be used by external devices
- serial port, parallel port, USB port, network port, Fire Wire or 1394 port, mouse port, keyboard port, S/PDIF port,
- sound port, wirelenss LAN antenna port
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what is the purpose of the S/PDIF port
the S/PDIF port connects to an wxternall home theater audio system, providing digital output and the best signal quality
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kinds of memory modules
SIMMS (single inline mimory modules) DIMMs (dual inline memory modules) RIMMs
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what is the diffrence between volatile and nonvolatile memory
- volatile memory is temporary and needs a constatn elelctrial charge to hold data
- nonvolatile memory is permanent and holds memory even when electricity is turned off
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of the two types of storage in a system wich type is generally faster and holds data and instructions while the data is being processed
primary storage
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wich type of storage in a system is generally slower but more permament
secondary storage
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what techonology standard provides for up to four devices on a system, including the hard drive as one of those devices what are two common industry names loosely used to describe this standard
ATA (AT attachment) also called EIDE (enhanced integrated drive electronics) or IDE
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what is the size of the data path on most system buses today
64 bits
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what is the measurment of frequency of a system bus and cpu
wich is faster the system bus or the cpu
- frequency is generally measured in Hz, MHz, or GHz
- the cpu is faster than the system bus
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types of buses that are likely to be on a motherboard today
PCI (peripheral component interconnect) AGP (accelerated grpahics port) ISA (industry standard architecture) system bus, PCI express
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a power supply recives 120 volts of -what- power from a wall outlet and convertis it to 3.3 5 and 12 volts
of -what- power
AC, DC
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ROM BIOS or firmware chips that can be upgraded without replacing the chips are called
flash ROM
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CMOS setup allows a technician to change configuration settings on a motherboard stoed in
CMOS RAM
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examples of secondary storage devices
CD drive, hard drive, floppy frive, DVD drive, Zip drive
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a hertz
one cycle per second
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megahertz
one million cycles per second
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gigahertz
one billion cycles per second
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an AGP slot is normaally used for a -what- expansion card
video
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how many sizes of PCI Express slots are currently maufactured for personal computers
four
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the three purposes the motherboard ROM BIOS serves
the BIOS is used to manage simple devices (system BIOS) to start the computer (startup BIOS) and to change settings on the motherboard (CMOS setup)
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where does CMOS RAM recive its power
CMOS RAM is powerd by a trickle of electricity from a small battery located on the motherboard or comoputer case
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