1.7. Exam Essentials

Know the types of system boards.

Know the characteristics of and differences between ATX, micro ATX, NLX, and BTX motherboards.

Know the components of a motherboard.

Be able to describe motherboard components, such as chipsets, expansion slots, memory slots, and external cache; CPU and processor slots or sockets; power connectors; onboard disk drive connectors; keyboard connectors; peripheral ports and connectors; BIOS (firmware) chips; CMOS batteries; jumpers; and DIP switches.

Understand the purposes and characteristics of processors.

Be able to discuss the different processor packaging, old and new, and know the meaning of the terms hyperthreading, multi-core, throttling, microcode, overclocking, cache, speed, and system ...

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