Chapter 1

There are four major versions of PCIe currently specified

1.x, 2.x, 3.0, and 4.0

HDD/SSD

100s-1000s of GB

What year did Intel Develop ATX?

1900s

What is the maximum size of Mobile-ITX?

2.4" × 2.4"

L2 cache

256KB

What is the maximum size of Pico-ITX?

3.9" × 2.8"

RAM

4-16GB

What is the maximum size of Nano-ITX?

4.7" × 4.7"

L3 cache

4MB-12MB

What is the maximum size of Mini-ITX?

6.7" × 6.7"

L1 cache

64KB

What is a chipset?

A collection of chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor.

What are the three System boards?

ATX, micro ATX, and ITX

Used in small-configured computer systems and has a maximum size of 6.7 inch by 6.7 inch. The mini-ITX motherboard has four mounting holes that line up with three or four of the holes in the ATX and micro ATX form factors.

Micro ATX

Follows the ATX principle of component placement for enhanced cooling over pre-ATX designs but with a smaller footprint. It designs to fit into full size ATX cases.

Mini-ITX (Information Technology Extended)

What are the four factors on ITX's family?

Mini-ITX, Nano-ITX, Pico-ITX, Mobile-ITX

Chipsets can be divided into two major functional groups

Northbridge and Southbridge

What are the two types of chipsets?

Northbridge and Southbridge

What is Firmware?

Any software that is encoded in hardware, usually a read-only memory (ROM) chip, and it can be run without extra instructions from the operating system.

has the advantage of being faster than AGP while maintaining the flexibility of PCI.

PCIe Expansion Slots

uses the concept of lanes, which are the switched point-to-point signal paths between any two PCIe components.

PCIe Expansion Slots

To prevent CMOS from losing its rather important information, motherboard manufacturers include a small battery called

CMOS battery

The "brain" of any computer

CPU

control and direct all the activities of the computer using both external and internal buses. It is a processor chip consisting of an array of millions of transistors. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are the two largest PC-compatible CPU manufacturers.

CPU

easiest component to identify on the motherboard. It is usually the component that has either a fan or a heat sink (usually both) attached to it

CPU

This collection of chips is usually the circuitry that provides interfaces for memory, expansion cards, and onboard peripherals, and it generally dictates how a motherboard will communicate with the installed peripherals.

Chipsets

is a collection of chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for the processor.

Chipsets

It improves parallelization of computations (doing multiple tasks at once) performed on microprocessors. The operating system must support SMP (Simultaneous multithreading) in order to take advantage of HTT.

HTT (Hyper-Threading Technology)

Some expansion devices that might be installed in these slots include video, network, sound, and disk interface cards.

Expansion Slots

These are small plastic slots, usually from 1 to 6 inches long and approximately 1/2-inch wide. As their name suggests, these slots are used to install various devices in the computer to expand its capabilities.

Expansion Slots

given to any software that is encoded in hardware

Firmware

What is the micro ATX?

Follows the ATX principle of component placement for enhanced cooling over pre-ATX designs but with a smaller footprint. Some trade-offs come with this smaller form. For the compact use of space, you must give up quantity

Error-correcting code (ECC)

If memory supports ECC, check bits are generated and stored with the data. An algorithm is performed on the data and its check bits whenever the memory is accessed. If the result of the algorithm is all zeros, then the data is deemed valid and processing continues.

What is the ITX

Line of motherboard form factors was developed by VIA as a low-power, small form factor (SFF) board for specialty uses, such as home-theater systems and embedded components.

These slots are designed for the modules that hold memory chips that make up primary memory, which is used to store currently used data and instructions for the CPU.

Memory or random access memory (RAM)

It is a single computing component with two or more independent processing units (called "cores") that read and execute program multiple instructions such as add, move data, and branch at the same time increasing overall speed for programs.

Multicore

directly connected to the Southbridge

Northbridge

responsible primarily for communications with integrated video using PCIe, for instance, and processor-to-memory communications.

Northbridge

subset of a motherboard's chipset is the set of circuitry or chips that performs one very important function: management of high-speed peripheral communications.

Northbridge

What are the main types of expansion slots used in PC today?

PCI, PCIe, PCI-X

Version 2.0 introduced the current—and likely final—maximum, 533MHz. With an 8-byte (64-bit) bus, this translates to maximum throughput of 4266MBps, roughly 4.3GBps.

PCI-Extended (PCI-X)

They are easily recognizable because they are only around 3-inches long and classically white, although modern boards take liberties with the color.

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots

expansion buses operate at 33MHz or 66MHz (version 2.1) over a 32-bit (4-byte) channel, resulting in data rates of 133MBps and 266MBps, respectively, with 133MBps being the most common, server architectures excluded.

Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots

Parity checking

Rudimentary error-checking scheme that offers no error correction. Parity checking works most often on a byte, or 8 bits, of data. A ninth bit is added at the transmitting end and removed at the receiving end so that it does not affect the actual data transmitted.

What is POST?

Series of system checks performed by the system BIOS and other high-end components, such as the SCSI BIOS and the video BIOS, known collectively as option ROMs.

basically flat and have several columns and rows of holes or pins arranged in a square

Sockets

Puts the processor and memory in line with the fan output of the power supply, allowing the processor to run cooler. The ATX motherboard has the processor and memory slots at right angles to the expansion cards. ATX (and its derivatives) is the primary motherboard in use today.

Standard ATX (Advanced Technology Extended)

What is the northbridge chipset?

Subset of a motherboard's chipset is the set of circuitry or chips that performs one very important function: management of high-speed peripheral communications. The Northbridge is responsible primarily for communications with integrated video using PCIe, for instance, and processor-to-memory communications.

What is the southbridge chipset?

Subset of the chipset is responsible for providing support to the slower onboard peripherals (PS/2, parallel ports, serial ports, Serial and Parallel ATA, and so on), managing their communications with the rest of the computer and the resources given to them.

How is the ATX set up?

The processor and memory slots at right angles to the expansion cards.

It allows a computer CPU to lower its frequency for a time, to prevent overheating or to save power. It is very common in processors for mobile devices, where heat generation and system battery drain are key issues of full power usage.

Throttling

What is the Function of the Chipset?

Usually the circuitry that provides interfaces for memory, expansion cards, and onboard peripherals, and it generally dictates how a motherboard will communicate with the installed peripherals.

set of signal pathways between the CPU and Level 2 or Level 3 (external) cache memory.

backside bus (BSB)

software that boots the system and allows the operating system to interact with certain hardware in the computer in lieu of requiring a more complex device driver to do so

basic input/output system (BIOS) chip

What is an example of firmware?

basic input/output system (BIOS) routine

Where does a PC keep Mandatory PC Settings such as DATE, TIME, MEMORY, SECURITY, ETC

complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory chip

Your PC has to keep certain settings when it's turned off and its power cord is unplugged: Date Time Hard drive/optical drive configuration Memory CPU settings, such as overclocking Integrated ports (settings as well as enable/disable) Boot sequence Power management Virtualization support Security (passwords, Trusted Platform Module settings, LoJack)

complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory chip

The communications between the CPU and memory occur over what is known as

frontside bus (FSB)

A major function of the BIOS is to perform a process known as

power-on self-test (POST)

What is the major function of BIOS?

power-on self-test (POST)

series of system checks performed by the system BIOS and other high-end components, such as the SCSI BIOS and the video BIOS, known collectively as option ROMs.

power-on self-test (POST)

verifies the integrity of the BIOS itself. It also verifies and confirms the size of primary memory.

power-on self-test (POST)

What is the of the CPU?

to control and direct all the activities of the computer using both external and internal buses. It is a processor chip consisting of an array of millions of transistors.