-: In this section of the course,
we're going to cover what a motherboard is,
the various form factors they come in,
and the different types of processors and expansion cards
that connect directly into that motherboard.
Now, a motherboard is a printed circuit board
that contains the principle components of a computer
and provides connectors into which other circuit boards
can be slotted or connected.
A motherboard is essentially the computer's
central communication backbone connectivity point,
and it's going to be used by all the other components
and external peripherals to interconnect and transfer data
back and forth between themselves.
Now, before we dive in depth into motherboards
in this section of the course,
it's important for us to take a quick look
at the four basic functions of any computer.
These are input, output, processing, and storage.
To accomplish these four functions,
different peripherals and components
are going to be connected to the motherboard,
which acts as a central hub for all of the communications.
The first function is known as input.
Input is the process of accepting data in a form
that the computer can use.
If you're using a desktop computer right now,
you're probably using a keyboard and a mouse
to input instructions into your computer
like skipping forward to the next video.
If you're using a tablet or a smartphone,
then you're probably using your fingers
as that input mechanism
by tapping things on the screen instead.
Either way though, the computer accepts this input,
translates it into things that it can use,
and then passes it to the processor using that motherboard.
For example, on my desktop, I can use a Bluetooth keyboard
to enter diontraining.com into my web browser
and visit my website.
This is a form of input and it's communicated
to the motherboard using a wireless protocol
known as Bluetooth if your motherboard
has a Bluetooth transceiver connected to it.
The second function is known as output.
Now, output is the process of displaying
or showing a user the process data or information
in a form that they can use.
In the case of visiting a website,
you expect the output to be displayed
onto your monitor or display.
For example, as you're watching this video,
it's being output visually to your screen
and audibly to your speakers.
Both of these are forms of output
that are being sent to you from the processor
through the motherboard to the screen or to the speakers.
Alternatively, you could also send the output
to a physical medium,
something like a piece of paper by using a printer
that's connected to that motherboard
using a USB cable or a network connection.
The third function is known as processing.
Now processing is the actions performed
by the central processing unit or CPU
when it receives information and takes actions upon it.
For example, if I ask my computer
to take two numbers as input,
such as the numbers three and four,
and then multiply them together to display the answer,
that multiplication action
is the processing function at work.
Now, everything in a computer requires processing,
from outputting a visual to the screen, such as this video,
to preparing a word processing document for printing.
All of this takes processing,
and processing is usually conducted by the CPU
for most things or by a specialized GPU,
which is a graphics processing unit
if you're using a dedicated video processing chip
for more extensive video output operations,
such as if you're playing a 3D video game.
Now the fourth function we have is known as storage.
Storage is the process of saving or retaining digital data
either temporarily or permanently.
When we talk about temporary storage,
we're talking about things like cache memory
inside of the central processing unit
or the system memory, which we call RAM,
random access memory.
Now, temporary storage is also referred to
as non-persistent storage
because the data that's held in this type of storage
is going to be lost anytime the computer is powered off.
You may hear this type of storage referred to as temporary,
non-permanent, or volatile storage.
All three of these terms mean the same thing.
Now, on the other hand,
when we talk about permanent storage,
we're talking about things like hard disk drives,
solid state drives, USB flash drives, tape backup drives,
old school floppy disk drives,
and other methods of storing data outside of the CPU or RAM.
These types of persistent storage devices
are considered permanent types of storage
because the data is preserved
even if the computer is powered off.
Note though that the data can be deleted
or overwritten by you, the user, if you so desire.
But what makes this persistent is that the data is retained
even if the computer is powered off.
You may hear this type of storage referred to
as permanent, persistent, or non-volatile storage.
All three of these mean the same thing.
Now, when it comes to the motherboard,
we're going to measure the speed of the data
being transferred across the motherboard
in either megahertz or gigahertz.
which is written as MHz or GHz.
Now each of the different connections on a motherboard
is going to operate at a different speed
as represented by a multiplication factor
of the main bus speed for that motherboard.
When we're dealing with more volatile storage devices,
like the CPU's cache memory or the system's RAM,
we're often going to see these operating speeds
measured by gigahertz because it's volatile storage,
and volatile storage devices tend to be very fast.
On the other hand, as we move into non-volatile
or persistent storage,
the speeds are going to decrease pretty rapidly,
And the buses that connect these devices to the motherboard
are going to operate at a slower speed
that's measured in megahertz.
All right, now that we've covered some of the basics,
we're ready to move into this section of the course,
which is going to be focused on hardware
or domain three for the exam.
Now we're going to spend our time in this section
focusing on motherboards, form factors, CPUs,
and the different connections on the motherboard,
as well as expansion cards and other things like that.
This section is going to cover most of objective 3.4,
and this states that given a scenario,
you must be able to install and configure motherboards,
central processing units or CPUs, and add-on cards.
As we begin this section, we're going to first take a look
at the different form factors that a motherboard can have
since this is going to control almost everything else
that you can install and use for a given computer.
Next, we're going to discuss the different architectures
associated with CPUs,
the different socket types used
to install a CPU into a motherboard,
and the different features
of the various CPUs on the market.
Then we'll move into our coverage of the different types
of motherboard connections that exist
on a typical motherboard.
This includes PCI, PCIe, power connectors,
SATA, eSATA, headers and M.2 connections.
Next, we'll move into our coverage
of the different uses for expansion cards
and the different types that you may come across
in the field as a technician.
Finally, we're going to start building a computer together
by installing a motherboard and a CPU into a new case
so you can learn the proper way to handle
and install these components.
So if you're ready,
let's jump into our lessons on motherboards.