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C. He needs to install a third RAM stick to enable dual-channel memory.

D. He needs to move one of the installed sticks to a different slot to activate dual-channel memory.

7. Motherboards that support more than four sticks of RAM may require what to function properly?

A. Buffered RAM

B. ECC RAM

C. Dual-channel RAM

D. DDR2 RAM

8. What is the best way to determine the total capacity and specific type of RAM your system can handle?

A. Check the motherboard book.

B. Open the case and inspect the RAM.

C. Check the Device Manager.

D. Check the System utility in the Control Panel.

9. Gregor installed a third stick of known-good RAM into his Core i7 system, bringing the total amount of RAM up to 3 GB. Within a few days, though, he started having random lockups and reboots, especially when doing memory intensive tasks such as gaming. What is most likely the problem?

A. Gregor installed DDR RAM into a DDR2 system.

B. Gregor installed DDR2 RAM into a DDR3 system.

C. Gregor installed RAM that didn’t match the speed or quality of the RAM in the system.

D. Gregor installed RAM that exceeded the speed of the RAM in the system.

10. Cindy installs a second stick of DDR2 RAM into her Core 2 Duo system, bringing the total system memory up to 2 GB. Within a short period of time, though, she begins experiencing Blue Screens of Death. What could the problem be?

A. She installed faulty RAM.

B. The motherboard could only handle 1 GB of RAM.

C. The motherboard needed dual-channel RAM.

D. There is no problem. Windows always does this initially, but gets better after crashing a few times.

Answers

1. A. Steve failed to seat the RAM properly.

2. D. Scott needs to know if the system can handle that much RAM.

3. B. The input/output speed of DDR2 RAM is faster than DDR RAM (although the latency is higher).

4. C. Latency is the term for the delay in the RAM’s response to a request from the MCC.

5. D. RDRAM-based motherboards require empty slots to be filled with CRIMMs for termination.

6. D. Motherboards can be tricky and require you to install RAM in the proper slots to enable dual-channel memory access. In this case, Silas should move one of the installed sticks to a different slot to activate dual-channel memory. (And he should check the motherboard manual for the proper slots.)

7. A. Motherboards that support more than four sticks of RAM may require buffered RAM to function properly.

8. A. The best way to determine the total capacity and specific type of RAM your system can handle is to check the motherboard book.

9. C. Most likely, Gregor installed RAM that didn’t match the speed or quality of the RAM in the system.

10. A. If you have no problems with a system and then experience problems after installing something new, chances are the something new is at fault.

CHAPTER 7

BIOS and CMOS

In this chapter, you will learn how to

Explain the function of BIOS

Distinguish among various CMOS setup utility options

Describe option ROM and device drivers

Troubleshoot the power-on self test (POST)

Maintain BIOS and CMOS properly

In Chapter 5, “Microprocessors,” you saw how the address bus and external data bus connect RAM to the CPU via the memory controller chip (MCC) to run programs and transfer data. Assuming you apply power in the right places, you don’t need anything else to make a simple computer. The only problem with such a simple computer is that it would bore you to death—there’s no way to do anything with it! A PC needs devices such as keyboards and mice to provide input, and output devices such as monitors and sound cards to communicate the current state of the running programs to you. A computer also needs permanent storage devices, such as hard drives and optical drives, to store programs and data when you turn off the computer.

Historical/Conceptual

We Need to Talk

Simply placing a number of components into a computer is useless if the CPU can’t communicate with them. Getting the