Datasheet
Identifying Motherboards
47
Exam Essentials
Know what the BIOS does. This is a ROM chip on the motherboard. It contains the BIOS
software that tells the processor how to interact with the hardware in the computer. The
BIOS chip tells the motherboard how to start up, check itself and its components, and pass
off control to the operating system.
Know the different types of memory. DRAM is dynamic random access memory. SRAM
is static random access memory. ROM stands for read-only memory, and it’s normally used
to store the computer’s BIOS. CMOS is a special kind of memory that holds the BIOS con-
figuration settings.
Understand the differences between PCI, PCIe, and AGP. Know the bus widths and
speeds, and be able to select the best bus type for a given device.
Know what factors go into making memory compatible with a PC. These factors can
include physical size, capacity, technology, speed, and compatibility with existing RAM
in the system.
Understand the processor’s job. The processor is the brain of the PC. Most actions per-
formed by the PC require use of the processor to accomplish their task.
Understand the differences between the classes of Pentium chips. The Intel Pentium
has gone through several changes since its release. You’ll need to understand the differ-
ences between the various classes in terms of their physical packaging, speeds, voltages,
and caches.
Know the differences between RAM types. Make sure you can differentiate between all
the acronyms, such as SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, DDR/DDR2/DDR3 and RAMBUS.
Understand the different RAM packaging. Be able to differentiate between SIMMs and
DIMMs, including the number of pins each has and their bit widths.
Know the purpose of parity in RAM. Understand how a parity bit is used for error
correction.
Know the motherboard form factors. Understand the differences between BTX, ATX,
micro ATX, and NLX.
Know what the CMOS Setup utility does. The CMOS Setup utility allows you to configure
the characteristics of certain portions of the PC.
Understand RAID levels. Know that RAID 0 is performance enhancement with no fault
tolerance, RAID 1 is fault tolerance with no performance enhancement, and RAID 5 offers
fault tolerance and enhances performance.
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