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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 4K | A high definition resolution, commonly measured as 3840 × 2160 pixels. |
| AIO (All-in-One) | Often refers to a computer that houses all its components in the monitor, though can also refer to other equipment like printers and CPU coolers. |
| Air cooler | CPU coolers that use a heat sink and fans to move hot air away from the CPU (different from liquid cooling). |
| AMD | A leading brand in CPU and GPU hardware, including Ryzen CPUs and Radeon graphics cards. |
| Aspect ratio | The ratio of horizontal pixels to vertical pixels (e.g., 16:9 or 4:3). |
| ASRock | Manufacturer known for motherboards, GPUs, and industrial PCs. |
| ASUS | Manufacturer known for GPUs, motherboards, and monitors. |
| ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) | The most common motherboard form factor. ATX motherboards tend to be known as full-sized motherboards, compared to microATX or Mini ATX. |
| be quiet! | Manufacturer of low-noise power supplies, cases, and cooling hardware (like CPU coolers). |
| BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) | Firmware used to initialize hardware during the booting process. If no operating system is installed on a computer, you will see the BIOS screen. |
| Boot drive | The drive that the operating system is installed on. |
| Bottleneck | When a component in a PC reaches its performance limit and other hardware is unable to perform at maximum capacity as a result. |
| Case | Used to house PC components. They come in different form factors and designs. |
| Case fan | Fans that screw into a PC case to help pull cold air into the case, and push hot air out. |
| Chip | Silicon component used in many components, like CPUs and GPUs, allowing them to function. |
| Chipset | A motherboard’s firmware, used to determine compatibility with other components. |
| Clock speed | The speed at which components run, often measured in MHz or GHz. |
| CMOS (Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor) | Built-in memory on a motherboard that stores BIOS settings. |
| Cooler | A component designed to reduce temperatures of other components inside a PC case. |
| Corsair | One of the leading PC component and peripheral brands, known for its RGB flair. |
| CPU (Central Processing Unit) | The main processor that controls a PC. It interacts with other components like the GPU. |
| DDR (Double Data Rate) | Followed by a number (e.g., DDR4 or DDR5), this represents the generation of RAM. |
| DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module) | A circuit board containing memory chips, usually known as RAM. |
| DIMM slot | The slots on a motherboard that house RAM. |
| DisplayPort | A digital interface that sends audio and video in one cable. It supports higher refresh rates over HDMI. |
| DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) | NVIDIA technology that’s used for video rendering to enhance images and upscale them. |
| EATX (Extended ATX) | Motherboards that are larger than ATX motherboards, often used for very high-end PCs. |
| EVGA | Manufacturer known for components like PSUs and GPUs. |
| FHD (Full High Definition) | A video resolution measuring 1920 × 1080 pixels. |
| Firmware | Software embedded into the read-only memory of hardware. |
| Flash | The process of updating a chip’s firmware. You can flash a BIOS to update it to the latest version, for example. |
| Form factor | Referred to as the shape or size of a component. Motherboards, for example, come in different sizes, as do PC cases. |
| FPS (Frames per Second) | The number of individual frames outputted per second on a display. |
| FreeSync | Adaptive synchronization technology from AMD that support dynamic refresh rates. |
| G.Skill | Hardware manufacturer known for its RAM. |
| GHz (Gigahertz) | Often used to refer to clock speeds. 1GHz is equal to 1,000,000,000Hz. |
| Gigabyte | Hardware manufacturer known for motherboards and graphics cards. |
| GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) | The chip that produces images you see on a monitor. Some CPUs come with integrated graphics, but most require a dedicated graphics card. |
| Graphics card | The component that houses the GPU, which produces the on-screen image. Often used to mean GPU, though the two are technically different. |
| G-Sync | NVIDIA’s variable refresh rate technology. |
| GTX (Giga Texel Shader eXtreme) | A line of NVIDIA graphics cards, often used in mid-range PCs. |
| HDD (Hard Disk Drive) | A mechanical storage device capable of holding lots of data, though they are slower than an SSD. |
| HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) | A common digital interface for connecting devices to displays. It sends audio and video together. |
| Hz (Hertz) | A unit of frequency, typically used to describe refresh rates. |
| I/O (Input/Output) shield | Included with the motherboard, this metal plate clips into the side of a case to cover the motherboard ports. |
| Integrated graphics | Graphics that are built in to a CPU, enabling the production of an image on-screen without a dedicated graphics card. |
| Intel | One of the leading CPU manufacturers known for its Core CPU line. |
| Liquid cooling | Also known as water cooling, this is a method of using liquid to reduce computer temperature, rather than fans. |
| M.2 | A form factor for SSDs and replaces the mSATA standard. |
| microATX | A motherboard form factor. Smaller than ATX boards, but often the cheapest form factor you can purchase. |
| MHz (Megahertz) | Often refers to RAM and GPU clock speeds. 1MHz is equal to 1,000,000Hz. |
| Modular | Components (often power supplies) with detachable cables. |
| Monitor | The screen that a computer connects to. |
| Motherboard | The board that connects all the components together, distributing power to them and allowing them to interact with each other. |
| MSI | A popular component manufacturer known for graphics cards, motherboards, PSUs, and gaming laptops. |
| Noctua | A ρrémíùm air cooler manufacturer, developing low-noise solutions. |
| NVIDIA | One of the leading graphics card manufacturers, known for its GTX and RTX line of cards. |
| NVMe (Nonvolatile Memory Express) | A storage protocol used for SSDs, offering fast transfer speeds. |
| NZXT | Manufacturer of PC cases, peripherals, and cooling. |
| ODD (Optical Disc Drive) | A disc reader that can be installed in a PC to read CDs and DVDs. |
| OS (Operating System) | The software that’s installed on a PC and allows you to manage files and access applications. The most common operating systems include Windows, Linux, and macOS. |
| Overclocking | Increasing the speed at which a component can run at to improve performance. For example, you can overclock RAM to run at higher speeds than you get as standard. |
| PCB (Printed Circuit Board) | A board that connects electronic components. The motherboard is a PCB. |
| PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) | A slot type in the motherboard, like PCIe x16. The number reflects the amount of PCIe lanes. |
| Peripheral | A component that isn’t part of a PC, but can be used with it, like a keyboard, mouse, and webcam. |
| Phanteks | Hardware manufacturer known for CPU coolers, cases, and fans. |
| PNY | Component manufacturer known for graphics cards and NVMe drives. |
| POST (Power-on Self-test) | Once power is provided to the motherboard, a POST is run by the BIOS to ensure everything is running correctly. |
| Pre-built | A computer that has been assembled prior to the customer receiving it. |
| PSU (Power Supply Unit) | Provides electricity (power) to all of the components connected to a motherboard. |
| PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) | Some fans are equipped with this technology, allowing them to adjust speed based upon component temperature. |
| QHD (Quad High Definition) | Monitors or displays with a 2560 × 1440 resolution. |
| RAM (Random Access Memory) | Often referred to as just memory, RAM holds data temporarily and stores it short-term until the CPU needs it. |
| Ray tracing | Realistic rendering graphics technology that’s used for lighting. |
| Razer | One of the most popular PC component manufacturers, known for its gaming keyboards and mice. |
| Resolution | The number of pixels displayed on a screen, often expressed in a width by height measurement. |
| RTX | A line of NVIDIA graphics cards like the 5000 and 6000 series. |
| Samsung | One of the largest chip manufacturers, also well-known for producing NVMe SSDs. |
| SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) | An interface that connects adapters to mass storage devices like hard drives. |
| SFF (Small Form Factor) | Refers to smaller components or PCs. |
| SFX | A smaller PSU, different from a standard (ATX) form factor. |
| Socket type | The type of socket (pin connector) that a motherboard uses. Some sockets only support specific hardware models. |
| SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) | A smaller version of DIMM, often used in laptops. |
| SSD (Solid-state Drive) | A non-mechanical, flash-based storage drive. SSDs are faster than HDDs, but are more expensive per gigabyte. |
| SteelSeries | Popular peripheral manufacturer known for its headphones and keyboards. |
| Stock cooler | The CPU cooler that comes with the CPU; often less powerful and efficient at cooling than aftermarket CPUs. |
| TB (Terabyte) | 1TB is equal to 1,024 gigabytes (GB), which is made up of 1,024 megabytes (MB). |
| TBW (Terabytes Written) | An estimate of the total bytes that you can write to an SSD in its lifetime. |
| TDP (Thermal Design Power) | The amount of heat a component will produce or dissipate. |
| Thermal paste | A paste applied between the CPU and its cooler, designed for creating optimal heat transfer. |
| Thermal throttling | When a component reduces its clock speed for safety, based on how much heat is being generated. |
| TKL (Tenkeyless) | Keyboards that don’t include a number pad and are smaller than full-size keyboards. |
| Tower | Another term for a PC case. |
| U.2 | An interface standard for connecting SSDs to a computer. |
| UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) | The interface between the operating system and computer firmware. It’s a BIOS replacement. |
| UHD (Ultra HD) | Refers to monitors with a 3840 × 2160 resolution, also known as 4K. |
| Ultrawide | Ultrawide monitors come with higher than normal aspect ratios, like 21:9 rather than 16:9. |
| USB (Universal Series Bus) | A common connection type for connecting components like keyboards, mice, headsets, and other peripherals. |
| VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) | Regulates the amount of voltage sent to hardware like the CPU and GPU. |
| Wi-Fi | A type of network connection that allows wireless internet connectivity. |
| XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) | A pre-defined memory profile for simple overclocking of RAM. |