3.1 Cases and Form Factors
· • Why must the case be matched to the motherboard?
· • How does the ATX form factor differ from the ITX form factor?
· • What are the characteristics of the ATX form factor?
· • What is the main difference between a Micro-ATX tower and a Micro-ATX slim tower case?
· • What is the most common ITX form factor?
3.2 Power Supplies
· • How does the case form affect the type of power supply you purchase?
· • What is the function of the red toggle switch on a power supply? Why is this so important?
· • What rating determines the number of internal components a computer can handle?
· • What is soft power?
· • Why must you be careful when using a proprietary power supply?
3.3 Motherboards and Buses
· • What factors should you consider when selecting a motherboard?
· • What chipset functionalities have moved to the CPU on newer systems?
· • What are the basic steps of installing a motherboard?
· • How can you add peripheral devices to a system?
· • How are PCI and PCIe different?
3.4 Motherboard Troubleshooting
· • What are the symptoms of system power problems? How do you troubleshoot system power problems?
· • How do you interpret BIOS/UEFI error codes generated during POST?
· • What are the symptoms of system overheating? How do you troubleshoot overheating issues?
· • What are the symptoms of internal and external device failures? How do you troubleshoot internal and external device failures?