Computer system specifications describe the key components that determine a computer's performance, including the processor, RAM, graphics system, and hard drive. The processor speed and architecture, amount of RAM, graphics card capabilities, and hard drive speed and capacity all impact how well a computer can perform. The BIOS or UEFI firmware installed on the motherboard initializes these hardware components and allows the operating system to boot. Updating the BIOS/UEFI firmware can provide improvements and support for newer hardware.

1. COMPUTER
SYSTEM
SPECIFICATIONS

2. SPECIFICATION OR SPECS
-Is a list of the key components that make up the computer.
It is provided by retailers to help buyers decide which PC,
and which combination of features they need.

3. SAMPLE SPECS OF YOUR PC

4. Computer system specifications are technical descriptions of
the computer's components and capabilities.
The performance of a computer depends
on four factors:
• The speed and architecture of its
processor or "central processing unit"
(CPU),
• How much random access memory
(RAM) it has,
• Its graphics system, and
• Its internal hard drive speed and
capacity.

5. PROCESSOR SPEED & ARCHITECTURE
• The speed of a computer's processor chip is measured in gigahertz (GHz)
and Megahertz (MHz).
• The architecture of a processor is the most important factor to determine its
performance, and refers to its basic design and complexity.
• Intel (for example) producing "basic" processors called Celerons and
Pentiums, as well as more powerful processors under its "Core Series"
processor family. The later include the Core 2, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 &
Core i9, with the last of these being the most powerful.

6. How to check the Processor of your PC
:

7. RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)
• RAM -- or "random access memory" -- is the temporary storage space that a
computer loads software applications and user data into when it is running.
• To a large extent, the more RAM a computer has the faster and more
effectively it will operate. (Modern computer used DDR 2 RAM).
• RAM is measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). Just how much
RAM a computer needs depends on the software it is required to run
effectively.

8. GRAPHICS SYSTEM (VIDEO CARD)
• A computer's graphics system determines how well it can
work with visual output.
• Graphics systems can either be integrated into a
computer's motherboard, or plugged into the motherboard
as a separate "video card". Graphics systems integrated
into the motherboard (also known as "onboard graphics")
• Graphics cards connect to what is known as either a "PCI
Express" or an "AGP" slot on a computer's motherboard.

9. HARD DRIVE SPEED AND CAPACITY
• Hard disk drives are the high capacity storage devices inside a
computer from which software and user data are
loaded.(minimum of 80 gb and maximum of 200 gb).
• Two key factors determine the speed of Hard Drive: Rotational
velocity and Interface
• for users seeking ultimate performance, there is now the option of
installing a computer's operating system, programs and data on a
solid state drive (SSD).

10. SOLID STATE DRIVE (SSD).

11. CONFIGURING
BASIC INPUT
OUTPUT SYSTEM
(BIOS)

12. Configuration is the way a system is set up, or the
assortment of components that make up the system.
(Basic Input Output System) is a software usually built onto the
motherboard that shows the major hardware components of your
computer with the operating system. The BIOS includes instructions
on how to load basic computer hardware. It also includes a test
referred to as a POST (Power-On Self-Test) that helps verify the
computer meets requirements to boot up properly.

13. Steps of BIOS setup using flash drive:
1. Press the Power button of computer.
2. During the initial startup screen, press Delete or F2 key. (Depending on the company that
created your version of BIOS, a menu may appear.)
3. When you choose to enter BIOS Set-up, the set-up utility page will appear.
4. Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select the BOOT tab. All of the available system
devices will be displayed in order of their boot priority. You can reorder the devices here.
5. Move USB to be first in the boot sequence.
6. Save the change and then exit the BIOS Set-up.
7. The computer will restart using the new settings, booting from your USB drive.

14. The following list shows the things you
can do in most BIOS systems:
1. Change the Boot Order 6. Load BIOS Setup Defaults
2. Remove a BIOS Password 7. Create a BIOS Password
3. Change the Date and Time 8. Change Floppy Drive Settings
4. Change Hard Drive Settings 9. Change CD/DVD/BD Drive Setting
5. View Amount of Memory Installed

15. Main menu
The main BIOS settings: time and date, drives’
parameters and system information.

16. Boot menu
Here can find parameters for appropriate procedure of
devices and some other booting settings.

18. Exit menu
This section usually contains the following
commands:
• Exit & Save Changes – exit with saving all changes
• Exit & Discard Changes – exit without saving any
changes
• Discard Changes – cancel all changes

20. Direction : Read the following statement carefully. Write
TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it’s not.
Write your answer on the space provided before the
number.
___________1. Computer processor can be measured in gigahertz
(GHz).
___________2. The more RAM a computer has the faster and more
effectively it will operate.
___________3. All of the graphic systems are onboard or built-in.
___________4. For Hard disk drives, it is said that the faster the disk
spins, the quicker data can be read from or written to it,
hence the faster the disk the better.
___________5. SATA interface is the most modern and commonly used
on new PCs nowadays.

21. Direction: Arrange the following sequence of steps of BIOS
setup using flash drive. Write numbers 1-5 on the blank line.
_____ Save the change and then exit the BIOS Set-up.
_____ Press the Power button of computer.
_____ Move USB to be first in the boot sequence.
_____ Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select the BOOT tab.
_____ During the initial start-up screen, press Delete or F2 key.

22. Direction: Identify and choose the answer on the box. Write
the answer on the blank space.
_________1. A menu consists of time and date, drives’ parameters and system information.
_________2. This helps to verify the computer system requirements to boot up properly.
_________3. Contains the commands like save and discard changes.
_________4. A software usually built onto the motherboard that shows the major hardware
components of your computer with the operating system.
_________5. This menu consists of option for devices and some other booting settings.
Power menu
POST
Exit menu BIOS
Boot menu
Main menu

23. Flash Update
BIOS/UEFI

24. What Is a UEFI BIOS?
• BIOS stands for the basic input and output system, and the BIOS chip
must configure the other components on your PC, such as the CPU,
GPU, and motherboard chipset.
• Yet a few years back, motherboard makers, in collaboration with
Microsoft and Intel, launched a replacement for standard BIOS chips
called UEFI.

25. The UEFI (United Extensible Firmware Interface) is the most
recent version of the BIOS. UEFI BIOS shares many similar features
with old-school — often referred to as legacy — BIOS versions. The
greatest breakthrough of the UEFI BIOS is its clickable and more open
user interface (UI).
`UEFI BIOS also offers fantastic additional functionality such as device
debugging, more easy overclocking usability, overclocking profiles, and
faster flashing capability.

26. How to update/flash your PC
BIOS
1. Find the latest version of the BIOS. Make sure that you are
actually downloading a new version before updating the BIOS. The best
way to find your BIOS edition is by typing msinfo into the Windows
search bar to open the Device Details app. Your BIOS version will
appear in the window that opens to the right, under your processor
speed. Type your version number and date, then compare it to the new
version available on the support page of the manufacturer's website on
your motherboard.

27. 2. Enter the UEFI BIOS: After booting your PC, you will see
text that tells you which button to press to access the UEFI
BIOS. (The exact button needed, and the actual UEFI control
panel configuration of each motherboard varies, so these
instructions would be more guideposts than step-by - step
instructions.)

28. 3. Boot into the UEFI control panel (where possible): While not all
motherboards provide this feature, you can boot into the UEFI control
panel on some models and use an integrated update tool to connect to
the internet and flash the new firmware from the server of the
manufacture. This incredibly pleasant function makes the upgrading
as painless as possible to newer firmware revisions.

29. 4. Find the latest BIOS update from the support page of
your motherboard: go to the support page on the website of
the manufacturer for your motherboard. In the support and
downloads area, the new BIOS update should be available.
5. Download and unzip the update file for BIOS.

30. 6. Reboot your PC to the UEFI control panel.
7. Start the firmware upgrade tool or flashing tool of
UEFI and back up to your flash drive the current
firmware of your PC: this will protect you if something goes
wrong.

31. 8. Using the same UEFI tool to pick the new firmware file you
saved on the flash drive: running the firmware update tool should
take just a few minutes, just make sure you don't shut down your PC
during this phase. This is crucial.
9. Restart your system until the flashing cycle is finished: Your
modified computer BIOS is ready to rock.

32. BIOS vs. UEFI

33. UEFI is the abbreviation of Unified Extensible Firmware
Interface, which is a computer firmware interface that acts
as a "middleman" to connect a firmware of a device to the
operating system. This is used to configure components of
the hardware and to launch the operating system that is
stored on the hard disk drive when the device begins.

34. BIOS is short for Basic Input / Output Order, also known as System
BIOS, ROM BIOS, or PC BIOS. It is a firmware installed on the
motherboard of the computer device. BIOS firmware is pre-installed on
a PC's mainboard. It is a non-volatile firmware which ensures that even
after the power off, the settings won't vanish or change.

35. UEFI vs. BIOS
Compared with BIOS, UEFI has the following advantages:
• UEFI requires consumers to handle drives bigger than 2 TB while the
previous legacy BIOS could not accommodate massive hard drives.
• UEFI supports a GUID Partition Table of more than 4 main partitions.
• Computers using UEFI hardware have a speedier boot cycle than the BIOS.
Different modifications and improvements within UEFI will help you boot the
device faster than ever.
• UEFI encourages stable initialization, which ensures it is easy to test the integrity
of the operating system and ensure no malware tampers with the startup
process. (Safe booting )
• UEFI provides networking feature inside the UEFI firmware itself, which allows
remote troubleshooting and UEFI setup.
• UEFI has a better graphical user interface, and the configuration menus are
much richer than the old BIOS.

36. Breaking free of size limits
The BIOS uses the Master Boot Record (MBR) to store
data about the hard drive while the GUID partition table
(GPT) is used by UEFI. The major difference between the two
is that in its table, MBR uses 32-bit entries which restrict the
total physical partitions to only 4. That partition can only
have a maximum size of 2 TB because GPT uses 64-bit
entries in its table which significantly expands the support
for the hard drive's size possibilities.

37. Speed and Performance
As UEFI is separate from the processor, it may
be able to increase the computer's boot time and
speed. This is particularly the case when you've
built huge hard drives on your computer. This
enhancement would rely on how you setup UEFI
to work. UEFI can do well when the hardware
modules are initialized.

38. Security
Safe boot is a UEFI feature introduced by Windows 8
and is now standard for Windows 10. UEFI 's greater
advantage is its protection over BIOS. UEFI can only
allow the loading of authentic drivers and services at
boot time, ensuring that no malware can be loaded at
computer startup.

39. Why Choose UEFI?
• Languages: BIOS is written in assembler while UEFI is written in simplified C
language.
• Drives: UEFI supports smaller HDDs and narrower SDDs. The potential size limit
of UEFI for bootable drives is more than nine zettabytes, while BIOS can only boot
2.2 terabytes or less from drives.
• Drivers: UEFI has complex and separate drivers while BIOS has ROM (readonly
memory) drivers. For BIOS, hardware upgrades allow the ROMs to be retuned for
reliability. This standard refers to UEFI drivers which are individually written and
upgradable.
• Boot time: UEFI provides the operating system with a faster boot time in most
situations.

40. • Protection: UEFI allows for improved security functionality. "Free
Boot" does not require the machine to boot from encrypted or
unauthorized applications. A visible key must be in the OS. A PC is
vulnerable to malware corrupting the startup process, without Secure
Boot enabled.
• Data processors: UEFI runs in either 32-bit or 64-bit mode. BIOS only
operates in 16-bit mode, and can only use 1 MD of executable
memory.
• GUI: UEFI offers a more intuitive graphical user interface which, unlike
BIOS, you can access with a mouse and keyboard.

41. Why Choose BIOS?
• BIOS is best because you don't need to have precise control of how the computer
functions.
• If you only have small drives or partitions, BIOS is sufficient too. Although several
newer hard drives surpass the 2-terabyte limit of the BIOS, not every user wants that
amount of space.
• The "Safe Boot" functionality of UEFI could allow OEM manufacturers to prohibit
users from running other operating systems on their hardware. If you stick to BIOS,
you are going to side-step this issue.
• BIOS provides access to the interface's hardware information, though not every UEFI
implementation does. Hardware specifications are nevertheless available inside the
OS.

42. POST TEST
Direction: Write T on the line if the statement is correct and F if the statement is
wrong.
___1. The UEFI is intended to replace BIOS completely and put in several new features
and improvements that couldn't be introduced via BIOS.
___2. BIOS firmware is pre-installed on a PC's mainboard. It is a non-volatile firmware
which ensures that even after the power off, the settings won't vanish or change.
___3. The UEFI requires consumers to handle drives bigger than 4 TB while the
previous legacy BIOS could not accommodate massive hard drives.
___4. BIOS encourages stable initialization, which ensures it is easy to test the
integrity of the operating system and ensure no malware tampers with the startup
process.

43. ___5. UEFI has a better graphical user interface, and the configuration menus
are much richer than the old BIOS.
___6. The BIOS uses the Master Boot Record (MBR) to store data about the hard
drive while the GUID partition table (GPT) is used by UEFI.
___7. The potential size limit of BIOS for bootable drives is more than nine
zettabytes.
___8. As UEFI is separate from the processor, it may be able to increase the
computer's boot time and speed.
___9. The UEFI allows for improved security functionality. "Free Boot" does not
require the machine to boot from encrypted or unauthorized applications.
___10. UEFI allows for improved security functionality. "Free Boot" does not
require the machine to boot from encrypted or unauthorized applications.