Scott Mueller is the president of Mueller Technical Research (MTR), an international research and corporate training firm. Since 1982, MTR has produced the industry’s most in-depth, accurate, and effective seminars, books, articles, videos, and FAQs covering PC hardware and data recovery. MTR maintains a client list that includes Fortune 500 companies, U.S. and foreign governments,

major software and hardware corporations, as well as PC enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Scott’s seminars have been presented to several thousands of PC support professionals throughout the world.

Scott personally teaches seminars nationwide covering all aspects of PC hardware (including troubleshooting, maintenance, repair, and upgrade), A+ Certification, and data recovery/forensics. He has a knack for making technical topics not only understandable, but entertaining; his classes are never boring! If you have ten or more people to train, Scott can design and present a custom seminar for your organization.

Although he has taught classes virtually nonstop since 1982, Scott is best known as the author of the longest-running, most popular, and most comprehensive PC hardware book in the world, Upgrading and Repairing PCs, which has become the core of an entire series of books, including Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Upgrading and Repairing Laptops, and Upgrading and Repairing Windows.

Scott’s premiere work, Upgrading and Repairing PCs, has sold more than two million copies, making it by far the most popular and longest-running PC hardware book on the market today. Scott has been featured in Forbes magazine and has written several articles for PC World magazine, Maximum PC magazine, the Scott Mueller Forum, various computer and automotive newsletters, and the Upgrading and Repairing PCs website.

Contact MTR directly if you have a unique book, article, or video project in mind or if you want Scott to conduct a custom PC troubleshooting, repair, maintenance, upgrade, or data-recovery seminar tailored for your organization:

Mueller Technical Research:

Web: [...]

Email: [...]

Forum: [...]

Scott has a forum exclusively for his readers at [...] Anybody can view the forum, but posting is available only to registered members.

If you have suggestions or comments about the book or new book or article topics you would like to see covered, send them to [...].

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Development of the PC 5

Computer History: Before Personal Computers 5

Timeline 5

Electronic Computers 10

Modern Computers 11

From Tubes to Transistors 11

Integrated Circuits 14

History of the PC 15

Birth of the Personal Computer 15

The IBM Personal Computer 16

The PC Industry 34 Years Later 17

Chapter 2 PC Components, Features, and System Design 21

What Is a PC? 21

Who Controls PC Software? 23

Who Controls PC Hardware? 26

White-Box Systems 28

System Types 29

System Components 30

Chapter 3 Processor Types and Specifications 33

Microprocessor History 33

The First Microprocessor 33

PC Processor Evolution 36

16-Bit to 64-Bit Architecture Evolution 39

Processor Specifications 40

Data I/O Bus 48

Address Bus 48

Internal Registers (Internal Data Bus) 49

Processor Modes 49

Processor Benchmarks 54

Comparing Processor Performance 55

Cache Memory 58

Processor Features 65

System Management Mode 65

Superscalar Execution 66

MMX Technology 67

Dynamic Execution 69

Dual Independent Bus Architecture 70

HT Technology (Hyperthreading) 70

Multicore Technology 72

Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Support 73

Processor Manufacturing 74

PGA Chip Packaging 78

Single Edge Contact and Single Edge Processor Packaging 80

Processor Socket and Slot Types 81

Socket LGA775 84

Socket LGA1156 85

Socket LGA1366 86

Socket LGA1155 87

Socket LGA2011 87

Socket LGA1150 89

Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+ 89

Socket F (1207FX) 91

Socket FM1 92

Socket FM2 92

Socket FM2+ 92

Socket AM1 (Socket FS1B) 92

CPU Operating Voltages 93

Math Coprocessors (Floating-Point Units) 94

Processor Bugs and Steppings 94

Processor Code Names 95

P1 (086) Processors 95

P2 (286) Processors 97

P3 (386) Processors 98

P4 (486) Processors 99

P5 (586) Processors 100

AMD-K5 102

Intel P6 (686) Processors 103

Pentium Pro Processors 103

Pentium II Processors 104

Pentium III 106

Celeron 107

Intel Pentium 4 and Extreme Edition Processors 108

Intel Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition 110

Intel Core Processors 112

Intel Core 2 Family 112

Intel (Nehalem) Core i Processors 116

AMD K6 Processors 121

AMD K7 Processors 122

AMD Athlon 122

AMD Duron 123

AMD Athlon XP 124

Athlon MP 124

AMD K8 Processors 124

AMD Athlon 64 and 64 FX 124

AMD Sempron 128

AMD Athlon X2, 64 X2, and 64 FX 128

AMD K10 Processors (Phenom, Phenom II, Athlon II, Athlon X2, Sempron) 130

AMD Bulldozer, Piledriver, Steamroller, and Excavator FX Processors 134

AMD Fusion/HSA APUs 137

Processor Upgrades 139

Overclocking 142

Quartz Crystals 142

Modern PC Clocks 145

Overclocking Tips 147

Unlocking Cores 148

Bus Speeds and Multipliers 149

Processor Cooling 152

Heatsinks 152

Liquid Cooling 158

Thermally Advantaged Chassis 159

Processor Troubleshooting Techniques 161

Chapter 4 Motherboards and Buses 165

Motherboard Form Factors 165

Obsolete Form Factors 166

ATX and Other Modern Form Factors 177

Processor Sockets/Slots 189

Chipsets 192

Chipset Evolution 193

Intel Chipsets 195

Intel Chipset Model Numbers 195

Intel Integrated Graphics Architecture 197

AMD Integrated Graphics Architecture 197

Traditional North/southbridge Architecture 197

Hub Architecture 199

HyperTransport and Other Processor/Chipset Interconnects 201

Intel's Early 386/486 Chipsets 201

Fifth-Generation (P5 Pentium Class) Chipsets 202

Sixth-Generation (P6 Pentium Pro/II/III Class) Chipsets 203

Seventh/Eighth-Generation (Pentium 4/D, Core2, and Core i) Chipsets 207

Intel 915 Family 215

Intel 925X Family 215

Intel 945 Express Family 216

Intel 955X and 975X Family 217

Intel 96x Series 217

Intel 3x and 4x Series Chipsets 218

Intel 5x Series Chipsets 220

Intel 6x Series Chipsets 224

Intel 7x Series Chipsets 225

Intel 8x Series Chipsets 227

Intel 9x Series Chipsets 229

Third-Party Chipsets for Intel Processors 231

SiS Chipsets 231

ULi Electronics Chipsets 231

ATI Chipsets 231

VIA Chipsets 232

NVIDIA Chipsets for Intel Processors 232

Chipsets for AMD Processors 232

AMD Athlon Chipsets 233

AMD Athlon 64 Chipsets 234

AMD 8000 (8151) Chipset 234

AMD (Formerly ATI) Chipsets for Athlon 64, Sempron, Phenom 235

Third-Party Chipsets for AMD Processors 242

VIA Chipsets 242

SiS Chipsets 242

NVIDIA Chipsets 243

Super I/O Chips 244

Motherboard Connectors 244

System Bus Types, Functions, and Features 255

The Processor Bus (FSB) 261

Types of I/O Buses 262

The ISA Bus 262

The Micro Channel Bus 262

The EISA Bus 263

Local Buses (VESA, PCI, PCI Express, AGP) 263

System Resources 270

Interrupts 271

DMA Channels 276

I/O Port Addresses 276

Motherboard Selection Criteria (Knowing What to Look For) 278

Chipset Documentation 279

Chapter 5 BIOS 281

BIOS Basics 281

Motherboard ROM BIOS 285

ROM Hardware 285

ROM Shadowing 287

ROM Chip Types 287

ROM BIOS Manufacturers 291

BIOS Hardware/Software 292

Upgrading the BIOS 292

Where to Get Your BIOS Update 293

Determining Your BIOS Version 293

Backing Up Your BIOS 293

Backing Up Your BIOS Setup (CMOS RAM) Settings 294

Upgrading a Flash BIOS 295

Motherboard CMOS RAM Addresses 303

Preboot Environment 305

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface 307

UEFI and BIOS Limitations 307

UEFI Support 309

BIOS Setup 309

Running or Accessing the BIOS Setup Program 310

BIOS Setup Menus 310

Maintenance Menu 311

Main Menu 313

Exit Menu 345

AMD-Specific BIOS Settings 346

PnP BIOS 347

PnP Device IDs 347

ACPI 347

BIOS/MBR Error Messages 348

BIOS Boot Error Messages 349

MBR Boot Error Messages 352

Chapter 6 Memory 355

Memory Basics 355

ROM 357

DRAM 357

Cache Memory: SRAM 359

Memory Standards 361

Speed and Performance 362

Fast Page Mode DRAM 365

Extended Data Out RAM 366

SDRAM 367

DDR SDRAM 368

DDR2 SDRAM 370

DDR3 SDRAM 372

DDR4 SDRAM 374

RDRAM 375

Memory Modules 375

Registered Modules 382

SDR DIMM Details 383

DDR DIMM Details 384

DDR2 DIMM Details 384

DDR3 DIMM Details 384

DDR4 DIMM Details 384

Determining a Memory Module's Size and Features 385

Memory Banks 387

Memory Module Speed 388

Parity and ECC 388

Parity Checking 390

How Parity Checking Works 391

ECC 391

RAM Upgrades 392

Upgrade Options and Strategies 393

Purchasing Memory 395

Replacing Modules with Higher-Capacity Versions 397

Installing Memory Modules 397

Troubleshooting Memory 399

Memory Defect Isolation Procedures 403

The System Logical Memory Layout 405

Chapter 7 The ATA/IDE Interface 409

An Overview of the IDE Interface 409

Precursors to IDE 409

IDE Origins 410

Origins of ATA 411

ATA Standards 412

ATA-1 (ATA Interface for Disk Drives) 414

ATA-2 (ATA Interface with Extensions-2) 415

ATA-3 (ATA Interface-3) 415

ATA/ATAPI-4 (ATA with Packet Interface Extension-4) 416

ATA/ATAPI-5 (ATA with Packet Interface-5) 417

ATA/ATAPI-6 (ATA with Packet Interface-6) 417

ATA/ATAPI-7 (ATA with Packet Interface-7) 418

ATA/ATAPI-8 419

PATA 419

PATA I/O Connector 419

PATA I/O Cable 423

Longer or Rounded Cables 425

PATA Signals 425

PATA Dual-Drive Configurations 426

PATA PIO Transfer Modes 429

PATA DMA Transfer Modes 429

SATA 431

SATA Standards and Performance 431

SATA Express 432

SATA Cables and Connectors 434

eSATA 439

SATA Configuration 443

Advanced Host Controller Interface 444

Non-Volatile Memory Express 445

SATA Transfer Modes 445

ATA Features 446

ATA Commands 446

ATA Security Mode 447

Host Protected Area 448

ATAPI 449

ATA Drive Capacity Limitations 450

Prefixes for Decimal and Binary Multiples 451

BIOS Limitations 451

CHS Versus LBA 452

CHS/LBA and LBA/CHS Conversions 453

BIOS Commands Versus ATA Commands 454

CHS Limitations (the 528MB Barrier) 455

CHS Translation (Breaking the 528MB Barrier) 457

The 2.1GB and 4.2GB Barriers 459

LBA-Assist Translation 462

The 8.4GB Barrier 465

The 137GB Barrier and Beyond 466

Operating System and Other Software Limitations 468

GPT and the 2.2TB Barrier 470

PATA/SATA RAID 471

Software RAID 474

Chapter 8 Magnetic Storage 475

Magnetic Storage 475

History of Magnetic Storage 475

How Magnetic Fields Are Used to Store Data 476

Read/Write Head Designs 479

Ferrite 480

Metal-In-Gap 480

Thin-Film 480

Magneto-Resistive Heads 481

Giant Magneto-Resistive Heads 482

Head Sliders 483

Data-Encoding Schemes 486

Frequency Modulation Encoding 487

Modified FM Encoding 487

Run Length Limited Encoding 488

Encoding Scheme Comparisons 489

Partial-Response, Maximum-Likelihood Decoders 490

Capacity Measurements 491

Areal Density...