CompTIA A+ Hardware/OS - 9/29/2005

Class today consisted of discussions of motherboards and power supplies.  Some key concepts to make sure you know:

• Know the differences between AT and ATX motherboards.  


• Know why ATX motherboards had to come about


• Know about the “in-between” boards like LPX and NLX


• Be able to describe soft power


• Be able to tell me about the three main chips that are in a motherboard’s chipset and what each does (Northbridge, Southbridge and Super I/O)


• Know the steps in choosing a new motherboard


• Know about basic troubleshooting a motherboard


• Know about the different types of electrical current and which one comes before and after the power supply


• Be able to differentiate between AT and ATX power supplies


• Be able to tell me what a molex connector is


• Know what each wire coming from the power supply does and how much voltage it carries


• Know both types of power switches found on an AT power supply (plunger and rocker)


• Be able to tell me what ESD is and why its bad news for a computer.


• Be able to describe different types of UPS systems

We also had hot dogs.

Homework:

• Chapter 7: Questions 1-10


• Chapter 8: Questions 1-10

Remember!  Test next week over Chapters 1-8!!!