Test your basic knowledge |

Comptia A +: Hardware

Subjects : certifications, comptia-a-+, it-skills

Instructions:

Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. Joystick or MIDI device (game port) - High Density DB-15 - VGA/SVGA monitor - 6-pin Mini-DIN - PS/2-style keyboard or mouse - By convention - purple connectors are used for the keyboard - and green connectors are used for the mouse.
Componentization
9-pin serial
discharge the capacitors by touching and connecting the phase with the ground plug and then the neutral to the ground plug with an insulated screwdriver or pliers.
DB-15

2. The actual speed of the CPU is governed by a _______ setting called the clock rate.
Space on the HD that the RAM uses as an overflow area and as a backup copy of the contents in case of power failure.
a mini DIN Tip Sleeve Ring (TSR) 3.5 millimeter jack
BIOS
order Boot sequence - Integrated devices - drive controllers - power supply settings

3. Video cameras (most common) Less commonly - similar devices that use USB connectors such as printers or external drives
the motherboard
40 or 80
BIOS
Firewire 6-pin

4. Spike
4
Redundant Array of Independant (Inexpensive) Disks.
Very Brief time (milliseconds) of too much voltage
Componentization

5. How many pins is a DDR3 DIMM?
9-pin serial
PS/2-style mouse
240
Serial

6. Parity is a method of ____________. It is used when the reliability of the data is more important than the speed at which it is written or read. When the data is read or received - the bytes should still be even. If not - the data is corrupt.
ECC
Storage
verifying data integrity.
they plug into the motherboard to allow further expansion. 1. Magnetic Disk 2. Tape 3. Laser 4. Solid State Flash

7. A serial mouse connects to a computer with this connector.
Coaxial
9-pin serial
VGA/SVGA monitor
PCIe - PCI - AGP - ESIA - and ISA

8. What does LCD stand for?
Liquid Crystal Display
800 x 600
its used as 'Endlessly' rewritable and used primarily as surveillance camera footage.
Serial

9. What is the formal name of the 'headphone jack'?
a mini DIN Tip Sleeve Ring (TSR) 3.5 millimeter jack
5.25
Componentization
184

10. RAID 5 has at least ___ hard drives.
ECC
they plug into the motherboard to allow further expansion. 1. Magnetic Disk 2. Tape 3. Laser 4. Solid State Flash
3
discharge the capacitors by touching and connecting the phase with the ground plug and then the neutral to the ground plug with an insulated screwdriver or pliers.

11. What are the two types of RAM?
800 x 600
PCIe - PCI - AGP - ESIA - and ISA
Dynamic and Static - Dynamic - loses info in the absence of power. Static - retains info like a hard drive.
50 - 68 - or 80

12. A working PC is a combination of many different parts - also called a Field-Replaceable Unit (FRU) - can be replaced when faulty or upgraded to provide additional functionality.
2048 x 1536
Componentization
50 - 68 - or 80
Input

13. Both Parity and _______ decrease efficiency - but increase reliability in RAM.
ECC
1. jumper 2. dip switch 3. push button switch 4. and configured with a separae SCSI BIOS
Processing
Power failure

14. The physical components that work together to make a computer system or network: - Keyboard - mouse - monitor - printer - Connectors and cables - Drives - Circuit boards
PS/2-style mouse
BIOS
Hardware
the CPU

15. An example of a device that uses a TRS connector.
charged coupled device (CCD)
detects and fixes corrupt data in RAM.
Speaker
removable chips on the motherboard

16. An example of a device that uses a high-density (three-row) DB-15 connector.
order Boot sequence - Integrated devices - drive controllers - power supply settings
VGA/SVGA monitor
USB Type A
Liquid Crystal Display

17. SDRAM sands for _______.
DB-15
Synchronous Dynamic RAM. Data transfer is timed to the system clock. DDR replaced 168 SDRAM
DSD and SSD (DSD - Dynamic State Drives SSD - Solid State Drives)
Reduced Instruction - Set - Chips - Used in data collection - sensors - routers - and graphics processors.

18. RAID 1+0 and 0+1 require ____ disks which are two disks that are striped and then mirrored or vise vera.
4
charged coupled device (CCD)
Joystick
Output

19. Serial ports have this many pins.
9
removable chips on the motherboard
DB-25 parallel
USB Type A

20. The BIOS is stored on the _______ chip that is on the motherboard.
CMOS
40 or 80
9
Very Brief time (milliseconds) of too much voltage

21. Before sending a power supply to the recycling facility...
Power failure
ECC
discharge the capacitors by touching and connecting the phase with the ground plug and then the neutral to the ground plug with an insulated screwdriver or pliers.
184

22. Multicore CPUs share a common ____ _____ _____. Which can cause traffic bottlenecks as competing cores communicate on the main system bus.
1. jumper 2. dip switch 3. push button switch 4. and configured with a separae SCSI BIOS
Front Side Bus.
Software
Zero Insertion Force. a physical interface that lets you set the CPU into the array - and then use actuate a lever to make actual contact.

23. A dime sized component of the camera head into which light enters and is converted into and electronic or video signal
Speaker
order Boot sequence - Integrated devices - drive controllers - power supply settings
charged coupled device (CCD)
CMOS

24. ZIF stands for ______.
200
Zero Insertion Force. a physical interface that lets you set the CPU into the array - and then use actuate a lever to make actual contact.
9-pin serial
Random Access Memory (RAM)

25. External modems most commonly connect to this port.
Zero Insertion Force. a physical interface that lets you set the CPU into the array - and then use actuate a lever to make actual contact.
the CPU
240
Serial

26. What does SIMM stand for?
ATX - BTX - Micro ATX - ITX - NLX - and LPX
Single Inline Memory Module - has 30 or 72 contacts on only one side.
Hardware
ECC

27. SCSI code is set by a 4 things - what are they?
Serial
Front Side Bus.
800 x 600
1. jumper 2. dip switch 3. push button switch 4. and configured with a separae SCSI BIOS

28. What is VRAM used for?
video ram for the use of the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU). Not related to Virtual RAM.
Output
ECC
Too much voltage

29. 10Base-5 Ethernet and game ports use this cable
5.25
DB-15
1. jumper 2. dip switch 3. push button switch 4. and configured with a separae SCSI BIOS
PS/2-style mouse

30. The process of the computer presenting - displaying - or otherwise giving data. These devices include: - Video - Audio - Printing
Output
2048 x 1536
the CPU
Componentization

31. A special RAM chip powered and maintained by a small battery that holds basic configuration data a computer needs to start.
Processing
CMOS
Network communications
800 x 600

32. Parallel devices connect to this connector.
Front Side Bus.
240
144
DB-25

33. The act of keeping or maintaining data. These devices include: - Hard disk drive - Floppy disk drive - Optical drives (CD-ROM - DVD) - Flash drive
Storage
a mini DIN Tip Sleeve Ring (TSR) 3.5 millimeter jack
Front Side Bus.
Cathode Ray Tube

34. What does RIMM stand for?
RAMBUS Inline Memory Module - Comes in 184 and 232-pin slot
CMOS
Hardware
Random Access Memory (RAM)

35. What is a Brownout?
video ram for the use of the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU). Not related to Virtual RAM.
Too little voltage
9
the CPU

36. An area of memory that holds recently-accessed data.
VGA/SVGA monitor
1024 x 786
USB Type A
Cache

37. What is a Sag?
200
1. jumper 2. dip switch 3. push button switch 4. and configured with a separae SCSI BIOS
they plug into the motherboard to allow further expansion. 1. Magnetic Disk 2. Tape 3. Laser 4. Solid State Flash
Very brief time (milliseconds) of too little voltage

38. Serial mouse or external modem
B-9 serial
Standardization
Too much voltage
PCIe - PCI - AGP - ESIA - and ISA

39. UXGA is _____x_____
Liquid Crystal Display
RJ-45
ECC
1600 x 1200

40. Printers
Coaxial
DB-25 parallel
Networking and Communications
Firmware

41. PGA stands for
Synchronous Dynamic RAM. Data transfer is timed to the system clock. DDR replaced 168 SDRAM
Complex -Instruction - Set - Chips - Used in General Purpose PCs
RJ-45
Pin Grid Array

42. The event of a program being loaded - retrieved - transmitted - or executed. Major components include: - CPU (Central Processing Unit) - RAM
DB-15
Processing
CMOS
800 x 600

43. What does ECC stand for?
Error Correction Code.
2048 x 1536
3
ATX - BTX - Micro ATX - ITX - NLX - and LPX

44. Multiple core allow the PC to simultaneously process multiple ______.

45. How many pins is a DDR DIMM?
184
Networking and Communications
Coaxial
240

46. What does SODIMM stand for?
1600 x 1200
Small Outline DIMM
PCIe - PCI - AGP - ESIA - and ISA
Coaxial

47. Level two cache is located on _______.
34
the motherboard
1024 x 786
Zero Insertion Force. a physical interface that lets you set the CPU into the array - and then use actuate a lever to make actual contact.

48. LGA stands for ______.
Line Grid Array
the CPU
144
they plug into the motherboard to allow further expansion. 1. Magnetic Disk 2. Tape 3. Laser 4. Solid State Flash

49. What does ECC do?
its used as 'Endlessly' rewritable and used primarily as surveillance camera footage.
CMOS
detects and fixes corrupt data in RAM.
Firewire 6-pin

50. XGA is ____x_____
detects and fixes corrupt data in RAM.
1024 x 786
PS/2-style mouse
the motherboard