CompTIA Practice Test Hardware 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A user's system freezes randomly and blue-screens. Memory diagnostics pass but the issue persists. What should the technician investigate NEXT?
- Reinstall the operating system immediately
- Check CPU temperature and thermal paste condition (Correct answer)
- Replace the keyboard and mouse
- Update the monitor's firmware
Correct answer: Check CPU temperature and thermal paste condition
After ruling out RAM, thermal throttling or CPU overheating due to dried thermal paste or a failing cooler is the next most common cause of random BSODs and freezes.
Question 2: Which BIOS feature, when enabled, allows the operating system to manage CPU power states and reduce power consumption at idle?
- Secure Boot
- XMP/EXPO profile
- EIST / SpeedStep / Cool'n'Quiet (Correct answer)
- CSM (Compatibility Support Module)
Correct answer: EIST / SpeedStep / Cool'n'Quiet
Intel EIST (SpeedStep) and AMD Cool'n'Quiet/CPB are CPU power management features that dynamically lower clock speed and voltage at idle to reduce power draw.
Question 3: A technician needs to connect an older VGA monitor to a new laptop that only has a USB-C port. What is the correct adapter path?
- USB-C to HDMI, then HDMI to VGA active adapter
- USB-C to VGA active adapter directly (Correct answer)
- USB-C to DVI, then DVI to VGA passive adapter
- USB-C to DisplayPort, then passive DisplayPort to VGA cable
Correct answer: USB-C to VGA active adapter directly
A USB-C to VGA active adapter handles the digital-to-analog conversion directly, providing the cleanest and simplest connection path.
Question 4: What is the purpose of a write-blocker device when a technician is performing forensic imaging of a hard drive?
- It accelerates write speeds during the imaging process
- It prevents any writes to the evidence drive, preserving its integrity (Correct answer)
- It blocks unauthorized users from reading the drive
- It compresses data written during the imaging process
Correct answer: It prevents any writes to the evidence drive, preserving its integrity
A write-blocker is a forensic tool that passes read commands to a drive while blocking all write commands, ensuring the evidence drive remains unaltered.
Question 5: A workstation has four RAM slots and 32GB installed as 2x16GB. The user wants 64GB total. What upgrade path maintains dual-channel operation?
- Add a single 32GB module to one empty slot
- Add two 16GB modules to the two empty slots (Correct answer)
- Remove existing RAM and install a single 64GB module
- Add four 8GB modules to fill all remaining slots
Correct answer: Add two 16GB modules to the two empty slots
Adding two matched 16GB modules to the remaining two slots creates a 4x16GB configuration (64GB total) that maintains dual-channel across all four populated slots.
Question 6: Which connector on a power supply is specifically designed to provide additional power to high-end CPUs beyond what the 24-pin ATX connector supplies?
- Molex 4-pin peripheral connector
- SATA power connector
- EPS 8-pin (or 4+4-pin) CPU connector (Correct answer)
- PCIe 6+2-pin connector
Correct answer: EPS 8-pin (or 4+4-pin) CPU connector
The EPS 8-pin (or 4+4-pin) connector, also called the ATX12V connector, supplies dedicated 12V power to the CPU voltage regulators on the motherboard.
Question 7: A technician is asked to replace a failed drive in a RAID 5 array while the server remains online. What is this capability called?
- Cold swap
- Warm swap
- Hot swap (Correct answer)
- Live migration
Correct answer: Hot swap
Hot swap allows a drive to be replaced while the system is running and fully powered, without interrupting server operations or unmounting the array.
CompTIA Practice Test Hardware 5
A user's system freezes randomly and blue-screens.
Memory diagnostics pass but the issue persists.
What should the technician investigate NEXT?