Chapter 2: Motherboards, CPUs, and RAM

Labs you will perform in this chapter:

• Lab 2.1: PC Motherboard Architecture

• Lab 2.2: PC Bus Architecture

• Lab 2.3: Optimizing DOS Memory

• Lab 2.4: Examining Windows 98 Memory Areas

• Lab 2.5: Examining Windows 2000/XP Memory Areas

This chapter will guide you further in recognizing the major components of a PC: the CPU, RAM, and peripherals. We will begin with the motherboard architecture. You need to become familiar with where the CPU and RAM are located. Additionally, you need to know where and how peripheral devices connect to the motherboard. Several categories of peripheral devices have developed—everything from the original 8-bit ISA devices and slots to special ports for video cards and 32-bit PCI devices and slots.

The physical memory (RAM) is one of the primary components of the motherboard, and each operating system uses RAM differently. This chapter will cover how to check the memory from DOS, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

Note

For more information, see Chapters 1 and 2 of David Groth’s A+ Complete Study Guide (Sybex, 2003).