What is the advantage of a motherboard having a ZIF socket?
A) It provides the ability of upgrading a computer’s BIOS through downloadable software updates
B) It enables the installation and removal of CPU chips without requiring tools or excessive pressure
C) It allows the installation of option cards through standardized bus interfaces
D) It provides for easy installation and upgrade of standard memory modules
The answer: B) It enables the installation and removal of CPU chips without requiring tools or excessive pressure
ZIF is an abbreviation for Zero Insertion Force, and it references a specific type of CPU socket where the CPU chip can be inserted and removed without any pushing or pulling. Since the motherboard is relatively thin and the pressure of inserting chips with hundreds of pins might cause a cracking of the circuit leads, the ZIF socket was a welcome change to the traditional CPU slots or dual inline chips.
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The incorrect answers:
A) It provides the ability of upgrading a computer’s BIOS through downloadable software updates
The upgradable BIOS process is enabled through flash memory on the motherboard.
C) It allows the installation of option cards through standardized bus interfaces
There are standardized bus interfaces on most computers, but those bus interfaces are very different than the CPU ZIF sockets.
D) It provides for easy installation and upgrade of standard memory modules
Memory modules have standardized packages, but they’re a different set of sockets than the ZIF sockets.
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Want to know more? Watch “CPU Sockets.”The configurations of CPUs onto a motherboard consist of a diverse set of slots, sockets, and connections. In this video, we’ll highlight some of these sockets types and show how a pin grid array processor fits into the zero insertion force sockets of today’s motherboards. |