Rambus DRAM (RDRAM)
Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) is a proprietary memory technology, designed by the Rambus Corporation, that is found in some Pentium III and Pentium 4 systems built between 2000 and 2002. When it was introduced it run at faster speed than conventional SDRAM. When DDR SDRAM was released, RDRAM became obsolete. More ...
CompTIA Strata Study Guide
Because many jobs in the IT field don't require the in-depth knowledge required for CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ or CompTIA Security+ certification, CompTIA has developed the Strata certification. More ...
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is a wireless technology designed for short range data communications Two or more Bluetooth devices establish a connection and form a small network known as a Piconet. More ...
Understanding The Speed Of New Pci Express Data Bus
PCIe is intended to be used as a local interconnect only. As it is based on the existing PCI system, cards, and systems can be adapted to PCI Express without any change in software. The higher speeds on PCIe allow it to replace almost all existing buses. More ...
Hardware Resources Explained
Hardware devices, such as modems, network circuits, sound circuits, and so on, require system resources such as Interrupt Request (IRQ) lines, Input/Output Port (I/O) addresses, Direct Memory Access Channels (DMA), and a range of Memory Addresses for storing code and data. Each device needs its own set of resources. If two devices attempt to use the same resource, your system may lock up or crash. More ...
Understanding the Software Layers of a Computer
You select File | Print in the menu and the printer comes to life, feeding out a copy of your document on paper. It seems like a simple process, but in reality your request passed through many layers of software before reaching your printer. More ...
Understanding Your PC's CPU Clock Speed and Front Side Bus
The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the brains of any computer and the two major manufacturers are Intel and AMD or Advanced Micro Devices. For many years Intel CPUs were found in nearly all PCs. And now the Intel is found in most systems but the newer Athlon class CPU from AMD have taken a large chunk of the CPU market. More ...
How Does Wireless Internet Work?
Just as we broke free from phone lines, we can now access the Internet from just about anywhere via a wireless connection. Wireless Internet access is really much simpler than most people think. This article briefly explains how it works. More ...
VIA Chipsets
Via was founded in 1997. Via introduced the VP1 chipset to compete with Intel's 430 series. The VP1 offered support for EDO, BEDO and SDRAM as well as UltraDMA ahead of Intel. Today Via is one of the worlds largest chipset manufacturers. More ...
Anatomy of a Hard Drive
A hard drive contains a spinning metal disk. The surfaces of the disk have a magnetizable coating. An actuator arm with a read/write head on its end is passed over the surface of the spinning disk. More ...
Understanding Computer Memory
Understanding computer memory is important because your computer's memory is where the action is. Sure your computer's central processing unit (CPU) may be the computer's brain, but what good is a brain without memory? More ...
A Definitive Guide on How to Choose Your New PC
There are lots of PC buying guides out there but they're often too high level and only explain the very simplest of specification details and the minute a sales rep gives you other options you're lost. This guide is aimed at the novice to moderately experienced PC user. More ...
The Hard Disk Drive vs. The Solid State Disk
Much has been written about solid state disks (SSDs) becoming the next big thing1 in the IT industry. But as to whether or not we have enough knowledge of how it will revolutionize the industry is a different question. How much do we really know about SSDs? More ...
The RS-232 Serial Port
The RS-232 serial port was used to connect a mouse, modem, and/or printer. The RS-232 serial port is now totally obsolete. I would be very surprised if you ever run into a PC with an RS-232 serial port except possibly in a third-world country. However, I'll briefly describe the it in this article because you may run into a question about it in the CompTIA A+ Certification Exam. More ...
