To pass this unit, please study the 15 vocabulary words below.
- BIOS (basic input output system)
- chipset
- coprocessor
- graphics card
- GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
- microprocessor
- motherboard
- NIC (network interface card)
- PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
- PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express)
- power supply
- SATA (Serial ATA)
- sound card
- spec (specification)
- USB (Universal Serial Bus)
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a computer's built-in firmware program, which initializes various system components during bootup, and prepares them for later use by the OS
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"The technician needed to upgrade the BIOS before installing a faster processor in the workstation."
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a collection of integrated circuits on the motherboard designed to perform certain tasks such as controlling components and system buses
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"Speccing a low-end chipset is not a good way to save money when building a new PC."
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any computer processor or portion of the CPU which assists the main processor with a highly specialized task
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"Many older microprocessors included a coprocessor to speed up floating-point calculations."
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a component of a computer which is designed to convert a binary image stored in memory to a display medium
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"The latest and greatest games normally require the latest and greatest graphics cards."
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a specialized coprocessor designed to handle graphical calculations such as 3D modeling and games
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"Most computers come specced with a weak GPU embedded into the motherboard and designed for business applications and simple 2D games."
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an electronic device constructed from microscopic transistors on a single integrated circuit
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"The microprocessor is often thought to be the central brain of a computer because it performs most of the calculations."
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the main circuit board in a computer that carries the system buses, sockets for processors, memory modules, etc
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"The processor, RAM, and PCI cards plug directly into the motherboard."
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a wired or increasingly wireless PCI or USB device that connects a computer to a network
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"Almost every computer that ships today has some sort of NIC, so it can attach to a network."
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a standard 32-bit bus running at 132 MB/s
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"The network card used a PCI bus connector which snapped into the motherboard."
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a newer bus type used mainly for graphic cards and running at speeds up to 16,000 MB/s
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"The boy grinned ear-to-ear when he received a new PCI Express graphics card for Christmas."
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a separate unit or part of a circuit that supplies the correct amount of electrical current to a computer system
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"Nick upgraded to a 600 watt power supply when he added a new graphics card and two more hard drives."
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a widely used bus for connecting hard disk drives and similar devices to the motherboard
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"The SSD storage device came with a SATA connection running at 6 Gbit/s."
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a hardware component which allows a computer to play and record audio
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"The musician installed a dedicated sound card to replace the cheap one that came with his computer."
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a clear set of technical or quantitative requirements
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"The lead technician became angry when his assistant bought equipment outside the specification."
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a fast and convenient computer technology allowing the connection of common peripherals, such as digital cameras, scanners, external hard drives, etc
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"USB technology is so fast and easy to use, it is hard to even remember what similar connection types existed before it."