Computer Hardware Questions (One Word)

• The main circuit board connecting all hardware — Motherboard
• Slots used for RAM modules — DIMM slots
• Connector providing power from PSU — ATX connector
• Function of PCIe slot — Expansion for GPU and cards
• ATX refers to — Motherboard form factor
• CMOS battery function — Maintains BIOS settings and clock
• Bus for high‑speed components — PCI Express
• VRM function — Regulates CPU voltage
• Smaller form factor — Micro‑ATX
• I/O shield purpose — Protects and aligns rear ports
• Chipset role — Controls communication between components
• Northbridge function — CPU–RAM communication
• Southbridge function — Manages I/O devices
• Northbridge replaced by — Integrated memory controller in CPU
• Chipset importance — Ensures compatibility
• POST meaning — Power‑On Self‑Test
• BIOS stands for — Basic Input/Output System
• BIOS replaced by — UEFI firmware
• BIOS purpose — Hardware initialization during boot
• Safe BIOS update — Flashing via manufacturer tool
• Jumpers function — Configure hardware settings
• SATA ports — Connect storage drives
• M.2 slot — Supports NVMe SSDs/Wi‑Fi cards
• Front panel header — Connects power/reset buttons and LEDs

• Heat sinks — Dissipate heat from components

• Primary CPU function — Processing instructions
• Unit performing arithmetic/logical operations — ALU
• Clock speed measures — Operation frequency
• Multi‑core vs single‑core — Multiple vs one processing unit
• Fastest cache level — L1 cache
• Hyper‑threading enables — Parallel thread execution
• Component fetching instructions — Control Unit
• RISC vs CISC — Simple vs complex instruction sets
• Register holding next instruction address — Program Counter
• Thermal throttling — Speed reduction to prevent overheating
• CPU socket — Connects CPU to motherboard
• Overclocking — Running above rated speed
• Underclocking — Running below rated speed
• CPU cache — Stores frequently used data
• CPU core — Independent processing unit
• Thread — Sequence of instructions executed by a core
• 32‑bit vs 64‑bit — Data width and address space
• Instruction pipeline — Speeds up execution
• CPU architecture — Design of instruction set
• Control unit — Directs operations
• ALU — Performs calculations
• Cache hierarchy — L1, L2, L3 levels
• Microcode — Low‑level instruction translation
• Intel socket type — LGA

• AMD socket type — AM series

• Northbridge role — CPU and memory communication

• Southbridge role — Handles I/O devices

• Northbridge replaced by — Integrated controller in CPU

• Chipset importance — Defines CPU compatibility

• PCH stands for — Platform Controller Hub

• PCH function — Manages I/O and peripherals

• System bus — Transfers data between components

• DMI link — Connects CPU to PCH (Intel)

• Memory controller — Manages RAM access

• I/O controller hub — Controls USB, SATA, PCIe

• Firmware interface — Connects hardware and OS

• Super I/O chip — Manages legacy ports

• Clock generator — Synchronizes timing

• Bus controller — Manages data flow

• DMA controller — Direct memory access

• Interrupt controller — Handles hardware interrupts

• Power management — Controls sleep/wake states

• BIOS chip — Stores firmware

• Embedded controller — Manages keyboard and battery

• TPM chip — Provides hardware security

• BIOS — Basic Input/Output System
• UEFI — Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
• POST — Power‑On Self‑Test
• Secure Boot — Prevents unauthorized OS loading
• Key to enter BIOS — DEL or F2
• BIOS purpose — Initialize hardware
• BIOS vs UEFI — UEFI supports GUI and large drives
• CMOS — Stores BIOS settings
• Flashing BIOS — Updating firmware
• BIOS update risk — Corruption if interrupted
• Boot order — Sequence of devices checked for OS
• Legacy mode — Supports older OS
• Fast boot — Skips hardware checks
• BIOS password — Restricts access
• Firmware function — Interface between hardware and OS
• HDD — Hard Disk Drive
• SSD — Solid State Drive
• HDD vs SSD — Mechanical vs flash storage
• NVMe — High‑speed SSD protocol
• SATA — Serial ATA interface
• RAID — Redundant Array of Independent Disks
• RAID 0 — Striping for speed
• RAID 1 — Mirroring for redundancy
• RAID 5 — Parity‑based redundancy
• GPU — Graphics Processing Unit
• PSU — Power Supply Unit
• Cooling fan — Dissipates heat
• Heat sink — Absorbs and disperses heat
• Optical drive — Reads/writes CDs and DVDs
• Network card — Enables network connectivity