220-1101 Hardware Practice Test 10 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician installs a new CPU and cooler in a desktop computer. After powering on, the system starts but shuts down abruptly after about 10 seconds. The technician has verified that the CPU cooler fan is spinning and the CPU is correctly seated in the socket. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Check the application of thermal paste between the CPU and cooler. The system shutting down after 10 seconds, despite the CPU cooler fan spinning and the CPU being seated correctly, strongly indicates thermal overload protection (TjMax) is being triggered. The most likely cause is insufficient or improperly applied thermal paste, which prevents effective heat transfer from the CPU die to the cooler's cold plate, causing the CPU to rapidly reach critical temperature and initiate an emergency shutdown.

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Verify that the power supply voltage switch is set correctly for the local mains voltage

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Replace the CMOS battery on the motherboard

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Test the RAM modules in different slots

Question 2

A technician is building a new desktop PC from components. After installing the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and power supply, the technician needs to connect the front panel power switch to the motherboard. Which of the following motherboard headers should the technician connect the power switch cable to?

Accepted Answer

PWR_BTN (Power Button) or POWER_SW header. The front panel power switch cable must be connected to the motherboard header labeled PWR_BTN or POWER_SW. This header completes a momentary contact circuit that signals the power supply to turn on when the switch is pressed, initiating the system boot sequence.

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PWR_LED (Power LED) header

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RESET (Reset Button) header

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SPEAKER header

Question 3

A technician is building a new PC using an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU and an Asus TUF GAMING B550-PLUS motherboard. When powering on, the motherboard's Q-LED indicator shows a solid red light for the CPU. The CPU fan spins, and all other fans and LEDs appear normal. The technician has carefully reseated the CPU and verified there are no bent pins. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the CPU error light?

Accepted Answer

The BIOS version is too old to support the CPU. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is based on the Zen 3 architecture, which requires a BIOS version that supports Vermeer CPUs. The Asus TUF GAMING B550-PLUS motherboard may ship with an older BIOS that only supports Zen 2 (Matisse) processors. A solid red CPU Q-LED indicates the motherboard cannot initialize the CPU, typically due to an incompatible BIOS version. Updating the BIOS to a version that includes support for Ryzen 5000 series CPUs resolves this issue.

Answer

The CPU is not on the motherboard's Qualified Vendor List (QVL)

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The power supply unit is insufficient for the CPU

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The CPU cooler is not making proper contact with the CPU

Question 4

A technician installs a new M.2 SATA SSD into a desktop motherboard. The SSD is not detected in the BIOS. The technician has verified that the SSD is compatible with the motherboard and that it is fully seated. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The M.2 slot shares bandwidth with a SATA port that is in use. The most likely cause is that the M.2 SATA SSD shares bandwidth with a specific SATA port on the motherboard. When an M.2 SATA SSD is installed, it often disables one or more SATA ports (commonly SATA port 5 or 6) because the M.2 slot and those SATA ports share the same PCIe/SATA lanes from the chipset. If a hard drive or optical drive is already connected to that shared SATA port, the M.2 SSD will not be detected in the BIOS, even though it is compatible and properly seated.

Answer

The SSD needs to be formatted

Answer

The BIOS does not support SATA SSDs

Answer

The motherboard requires a firmware update

Question 5

A technician builds a PC with a CPU that supports PCIe 4.0, a motherboard with PCIe 4.0-capable slots, and a PCIe 4.0 GPU. After installation, the GPU is running at PCIe 3.0 speeds according to GPU-Z. The technician has updated the motherboard BIOS to the latest version and installed the latest chipset drivers. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the GPU not running at PCIe 4.0?

Accepted Answer

A. The GPU is installed in a secondary PCIe slot that is limited to PCIe 3.0. The most likely cause is that the GPU is installed in a secondary PCIe slot that is limited to PCIe 3.0. Even though the motherboard supports PCIe 4.0, not all slots on the board are necessarily wired for PCIe 4.0; secondary slots often run at PCIe 3.0 or lower due to chipset lane limitations. Installing the GPU in the primary (top) x16 slot, which is directly connected to the CPU, would allow PCIe 4.0 speeds.

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B. The GPU firmware (vBIOS) is outdated

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C. The power supply unit does not provide enough wattage

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D. The GPU is not fully seated in the PCIe slot

Question 6

A technician builds a new PC and installs two 8GB DDR4 RAM modules from the same kit into the appropriate slots on the motherboard. The system boots and the BIOS reports only 8GB of total memory. The technician has reseated the modules and verified they are fully inserted. The motherboard manual indicates that the slots used are correct for dual-channel configuration. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

One of the RAM modules is defective.. The system detects only 8GB of total memory despite having two 8GB modules installed. Since both modules are from the same kit and the slots are confirmed correct, the most likely cause is that one of the modules is defective. A faulty module will not be recognized by the BIOS, resulting in half the expected capacity.

Answer

The RAM modules are not compatible with the CPU.

Answer

The motherboard's memory slot is damaged.

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The RAM is running at the wrong voltage.

Question 7

A technician is upgrading a desktop PC with a new graphics card that requires two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. The existing power supply unit (PSU) has two 6+2 pin PCIe cables. The technician connects both 6-pin connectors from the cables to the card. The system powers on, but the graphics card is not detected, and its fans spin briefly then stop. The technician has verified that the card is properly seated in the PCIe slot and that the PSU is rated for 500W, which should be sufficient for the system. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The PSU's +12V rail cannot provide enough current for the graphics card under load.. The 6+2 pin PCIe cables are electrically identical to 6-pin connectors when the extra 2 pins are detached, so they are fully compatible. The brief fan spin followed by stop indicates the graphics card is detecting insufficient power delivery, likely because the PSU's +12V rail cannot sustain the required current under load, causing the card's protection circuitry to shut down.

Answer

The 6+2 pin PCIe cables are not designed for the new card's power requirements.

Answer

The graphics card requires a single 12-pin connector, not two 6-pin connectors.

Answer

The motherboard does not have a PCIe x16 slot that supports the card.

Question 8

A technician is upgrading a desktop computer with a new CPU. The motherboard uses an LGA1700 socket, and the technician installs an Intel Core i7-12700K CPU correctly, lowering the retention arm without force. The system powers on, the fans spin, but the monitor remains black and there are no POST beeps. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

A. The CPU is not supported by the current motherboard BIOS version. The Intel Core i7-12700K (Alder Lake) requires a motherboard with an LGA1700 socket and a BIOS that supports 12th-gen CPUs. If the motherboard's BIOS was manufactured before the CPU's release, it may lack the microcode needed to initialize the processor, resulting in a black screen and no POST beeps despite power and fan activity.

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B. The CPU cooler is not installed

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C. The RAM is incompatible with the new CPU

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D. The power supply is insufficient

Question 9

A technician is building a new PC using an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU and an Asus TUF GAMING B550-PLUS motherboard. After installing all components, the system powers on, the CPU and GPU fans spin, but the monitor remains black and there are no POST beeps. The technician has already reseated the RAM and GPU, and verified that the 8-pin EPS12V power connector is connected. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard BIOS needs to be updated to support the Ryzen 5 5600X. The Ryzen 5 5600X is based on the Zen 3 architecture, which requires a BIOS version that supports AGESA ComboV2 1.1.0.0 or later. The Asus TUF GAMING B550-PLUS motherboard may ship with an older BIOS that only supports Zen 2 (Ryzen 3000 series) CPUs. Without the updated BIOS, the motherboard cannot initialize the CPU, resulting in a black screen and no POST beeps despite fans spinning.

Answer

The power supply unit wattage is insufficient for the CPU and GPU

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The RAM is installed in the wrong slots for dual-channel mode

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The CPU cooler is not making proper contact with the CPU

Question 10

A technician is building a high-performance gaming PC for a client. The technician installs a motherboard that supports DDR4-3200, an Intel Core i7-10700K CPU, and 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) of DDR4-3600 RAM rated at 1.35V. The system boots normally, but the BIOS reports the RAM running at 2133 MHz. The technician enables XMP Profile 1 in the BIOS, but the system fails to POST and must be reset via CMOS clear. After clearing CMOS, the system boots again at 2133 MHz. The technician has verified that the CPU and motherboard support DDR4-3200. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the failure?

Accepted Answer

The RAM speed is higher than the motherboard's supported maximum. The motherboard supports DDR4-3200, but the installed RAM is rated at DDR4-3600, which exceeds the motherboard's maximum supported speed. When XMP Profile 1 is enabled, it attempts to run the RAM at 3600 MHz, causing the system to fail POST because the motherboard's memory controller cannot reliably handle that speed. The CMOS clear restores default settings, returning the RAM to the JEDEC standard 2133 MHz.

Answer

The RAM modules are not installed in the correct slots for dual-channel mode

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The XMP profile requires a higher voltage than the motherboard can provide

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The CPU does not support any RAM speed above 2133 MHz

Question 11

A technician is building a new desktop PC. After installing the CPU, cooler, RAM, and graphics card, the technician powers on the system. The fans spin, but the monitor remains black and the computer emits a series of short, repeated beeps. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The RAM modules are not fully seated in the memory slots.. The series of short, repeated beeps is a standard Power-On Self-Test (POST) code indicating a memory failure. Since the CPU, cooler, and graphics card are installed, but the RAM may not be fully seated in the slots, the system cannot initialize memory and halts with this specific beep pattern. This is the most common cause of such beeps on a new build.

Answer

The graphics card is not properly seated in the PCIe slot.

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The CPU is not compatible with the motherboard.

Answer

The power supply unit does not provide enough wattage.

Question 12

A technician is rebuilding a desktop PC after a motherboard failure. The technician installs a new motherboard that supports DDR4-3200, an Intel Core i5-11400 CPU, and 2x8GB of DDR4-3200 RAM. The system powers on for about 10 seconds, then shuts down and immediately restarts, repeating this cycle indefinitely. The technician has verified that the CPU cooler is properly mounted with thermal paste and that the RAM is fully seated in the correct slots (A2 and B2). Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

CPU power connector is not fully seated. The most likely cause is that the CPU power connector (typically the 4+4 pin 12V EPS connector) is not fully seated. Without proper power delivery to the CPU, the system will attempt to start, fail the Power-On Self-Test (POST) due to a CPU initialization error, and then automatically reboot in a continuous loop. The technician has already verified RAM seating and cooler installation, making an incomplete CPU power connection the primary suspect.

Answer

RAM modules are not installed in the correct slots

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The motherboard BIOS does not support the Intel Core i5-11400 CPU

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Power supply wattage is insufficient for the new components

Question 13

A technician is building a new desktop computer. After installing the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and power supply, the technician connects the main 24-pin ATX power cable and the 8-pin EPS12V CPU power cable. When the power button is pressed, the system fans spin briefly and then stop immediately. The motherboard power LED does not light up. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The 24-pin motherboard power connector is not fully seated.. The brief spin and immediate stop of the fans, combined with the motherboard power LED not lighting, indicates that the power supply is entering a protection state (overcurrent or short-circuit protection). This is most commonly caused by the 24-pin ATX connector not being fully seated, which prevents the power supply from receiving the proper 'power good' signal from the motherboard, causing it to shut down to protect components.

Answer

The RAM modules are not seated properly.

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The power supply is not connected to the wall outlet.

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The CPU is not supported by the motherboard.

Question 14

A technician is upgrading the CPU in a desktop computer from an older generation to a newer one. The motherboard is several years old but the manufacturer's website indicates it supports the new CPU with a BIOS update. The technician installs the new CPU, applies thermal paste, attaches the cooler, and powers on the system. The system fans spin, but the monitor remains black and the motherboard's CPU diagnostic LED glows solid red. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The BIOS has not been updated to support the new CPU. The motherboard's CPU diagnostic LED glowing solid red indicates a CPU initialization failure. Since the manufacturer's website confirms the new CPU is supported only after a BIOS update, the most likely cause is that the technician skipped the required BIOS update. Without the updated firmware, the motherboard's UEFI/BIOS lacks the microcode necessary to recognize and initialize the newer CPU, leaving the system stuck in a pre-POST state.

Answer

The CPU is not seated correctly

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The RAM is incompatible with the new CPU

Answer

The power supply is insufficient

Question 15

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that emits three short beeps and then repeats after the power button is pressed. The monitor remains black and the system does not display any video. The motherboard uses an AMI BIOS. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The RAM is not properly seated or is faulty. AMI BIOS uses three short beeps to indicate a base memory (first 64KB) read/write error, which almost always points to a RAM issue. Since the system fails POST before any video output, the RAM being improperly seated or faulty is the most likely cause.

Answer

The CPU has failed

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The graphics card is not seated correctly

Answer

The CPU cooler is loose and causing overheating