Hardware and Mobile Devices

• Motherboard


  • For connecting all components
  • Form factors: ATX, microATX, and ITX
  • Types of expansion buses: PCI Express (PCIe) and PCI
  • Intel chipsets link to CPU via DMI or QPI
  • AMD CPU-to-chipset connection is HyperTransport
• Central processing unit (CPU)


  • Handles most calculations
  • Each core contains L1/L2 cache
  • The entire CPU shares L3 cache
  • Intel CPUs use these sockets: LGA775, 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011
  • AMD CPUs use these sockets: AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2
• Random Access Memory (RAM)

  • RAM DIMMs include DDR (184 pins), DDR2 (240 pins), DDR3 (240 pins) and DDR4 (288 pins)
  • RAM SODIMMs include DDR (200 pin), DDR2 (200 pin), DDR3 (204 pin), and DDR4 (260 pin)
  • Dual-channel: 2× width of 128-bit bus
  • Triple-channel: 3× width of 192-bit bus
  • Quad-channel: 4× width of 256-bit bus
  • Latency measured as CL or CAS
• Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)


  • Consists of a 15-pin power connection and a 7-pin data connector
  • Revisions: Rev 1 (1.5 Gb/s), Rev 2 (3 Gb/s), Rev 3 (6 Gb/s), Rev 3.2 (SATA Express) (16 Gb/s), Rev 3.2 (SATA Express) (16 Gb/s)
  • mSATA = mini-SATA
• Hard disk drive (HDD)


  • Speeds: 5,400 RPM, 7,200 RPM, 10,000 RPM, 15,000 RPM
  • Form factors: 3.5", 2.5"
• Solid-state drive (SSD)


  • Communication interfaces: Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), SATA, Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe): x1, x2, x8, x16
  • Form factors: M.2, mSATA
• Solid-state media


  • Examples: SSDs, USB flash drives, CompactFlash, Secure Digital (SD) cards
• Redundant Array of Independent/Inexpensive Disks (RAID)


  • RAID 0 = striping; not fault-tolerant
  • RAID 1 = mirroring. RAID 1 + two disk controllers = disk duplexing
  • RAID 5 = striping with parity
  • RAID 10 = mirrored sets in a striped set
• Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)


  • Modern SCSI standards: Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), Internet SCSI IPS
• In-plane switching (IPS)


  • Possesses wider viewing angle
• Optical media


  • Optical disc drives use changeable media to store and retrieve data
  • Versions: read-only memory (ROM), write-once (R), rewritable/write-many (RW)
• Compact Disc (CD)


  • Capacity: 650–700 MB
• Digital video/versatile disc (DVD)


  • Special formats: DL: dual-layered, DS: double-sided
  • Capacity: 4.37 – 17 GB
  • Recording technologies: DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW
• Blu-ray disc (BD)


  • For games and HD movies
  • Capacity: 25–128 GB(Mini-disc capacity: 7.8 or 15.6 GB)
• Laptop


  • Portable miniaturized versions of desktop computers
  • Uses M.2, Mini PCIe, and Mini PCI (internal) and ExpressCard /34 and /54 (external)
  • Replaceable components: Keyboards, Touchpads, SODIMM RAM, Screens, Inverters, Batteries, Optical disc drives, Smart card readers, Hard drives (SSD, HDD, or hybrid)
• Heat sink


  • When installing a heat sink, use thermal paste or pads for filling in gaps and increasing thermal conductivity between CPU and heat sink
  • Liquid-based cooling systems have higher thermal transfer capabilities than air cooling
• Power supply unit (PSU)

  • To minimize overheating, a "dual-rail" power supply unit (PSU) separates and controls the current in each wire
• Sound card


  • Links as x1 PCIe (or PCI cards) and will typically have PC 99 color-coded 1/8" mini-jacks for I/O and speakers and optical I/Os known as S/PDIF
• Video card


  • You link them to motherboards through x16 PCIe or PCI expansion slots
  • Video connector types and cables: DVI, VGA, HDMI, Mini-HDMI, DisplayPort, Mini Display Port, S-Video, Component Video/RGB, Composite
  • Typical color depths: 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit
  • Typical resolutions (aspect ratio): 1280×720 (720p, 16:9), 1920×1080 (1080p, 16:9), 1366×786 (16:9), 1680×1050 (WSXGA+, 8:5), 1920×1200 (WUXGA, 8:5), 640×480 (VGA, 4:3)
• Image processing of laser printing

  1. Processing

  2. Charging

  3. Exposing

  4. Developing

  5. Transferring

  6. Fusing

  7. Cleaning
• Printer configuration settings


  • Duplexing: printing on both sides
  • Collation: printing many jobs in a row
  • Orientation: portrait/landscape
  • Quality: 600 or 1200 DPI
• BIOS/UEFI

  • Locates, tests, and initializes components and boots to the hard drive, optical disc, USB flash drive, or network by PXE
  • CMOS stores time/date and passwords
  • A CR2032 lithium battery powers the CMOS
• BIOS/UEFI configurations


  • Time/date
  • Boot device order
  • Passwords
  • Power management
  • WOL
  • Monitoring
  • Clock and bus speeds
  • Virtualization support (Intel VT or AMD-V)
  • Enable/disable devices
  • Diagnostics
  • Security
  • Intrusion detection