Motherboards
This term describes the physical size and layout of a motherboard, such as ATX or Micro-ATX.
What is a Form Factor?
Often called the "brain" of the computer, CPU stands for this.
What is the Central Processing Unit?
Unlike an SSD, a traditional HDD uses these spinning magnetic disks to store data.
What are Platters?
A rectangular port which is used for everything from keyboards to thumb drives.
What is USB?
This two-letter command is the way to change your current location in the file system.
What is cd?
This small, circular battery on the motherboard keeps the real-time clock running when the PC is unplugged.
What is the CMOS battery?
This measurement indicates how many cycles a CPU can perform per second.
What is Clock Speed?
This is the standard measurement for how fast an HDD's internal disks spin
What is RPM?
This is the most common output device used to see the visual interface of an operating system.
What is a Monitor?
This command "lists" or provides a "directory" of all files and folders in your current path.
What is dir?
This set of electronic components manages data flow between the processor, memory, and peripherals.
What is the Chipset?
To prevent overheating, this substance is applied between the CPU die and the heat sink.
What is Thermal Paste?
This modern connection interface replaced the older, bulky IDE ribbons for connecting drives to the motherboard.
What is SATA?
This type of peripheral, like a scanner or a microphone, sends data into the computer.
What is an Input device?
This command is used to "list" the contents of a directory.
What is ls?
These slots allow you to add extra functionality to a motherboard, such as a high-end graphics card or sound card.
What are PCIe (PCI Express) slots?
Modern CPUs use these "mini-processors" within a single chip to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
What are Cores?
This is the smallest physical storage unit on a hard drive platter, traditionally holding 512 bytes or 4 KB of data.
What is a Sector?
This high-definition interface carries both uncompressed video and audio data in a single cable.
What is HDMI?
This command is most commonly used to quickly display the entire text contents of a file directly in the terminal.
What is cat?
This firmware, replaced by UEFI in modern boards, is the first software to run when you power on the computer.
What is BIOS?
This high-speed, volatile memory is built directly into the CPU to provide fast access to frequently used data.
What is Cache (L1, L2, or L3)?
This is the small mechanical arm that hovers just nanometers above the spinning platter to access or store data.
What is the Read/Write Head?
This is the collective term for any external hardware device that provides input and output for the computer, such as printers, mice, and external drives.
What are Peripherals?
This powerful command allows a user to search for specific files or folders within a directory hierarchy based on names or attributes.
What is find?