PC Hardware Glossary

PC Hardware Glossary

PC hardware is full of acronyms and technical terms that can be overwhelming. This glossary covers the most common terms you’ll encounter, explained in plain English.

A

AIO (All-in-One): A self-contained liquid cooling solution with a pump block, tubes, and radiator.

ATX: The most common motherboard form factor (305 × 244mm). Also refers to the standard PSU form factor.

B

Bandwidth: The rate at which data can be transferred. Measured in GB/s for RAM and storage.

BIOS / UEFI: The firmware interface that initialises hardware before the OS loads. UEFI is the modern replacement for legacy BIOS.

Boost clock: The maximum speed a CPU or GPU can reach under load, above its base clock.

C

Cache: Fast on-chip memory used by the CPU to store frequently accessed data. L1, L2, and L3 refer to cache levels.

Chipset: The silicon on the motherboard managing communication between CPU, RAM, storage, and peripherals.

CMOS: A small battery-backed chip storing BIOS settings. Clearing CMOS resets BIOS to defaults.

Core: An individual processing unit within a CPU. More cores = better multitasking and multi-threaded performance.

D

DDR (Double Data Rate): The type of RAM used in modern PCs. DDR4 and DDR5 are current standards — not interchangeable.

DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling): NVIDIA’s AI-based upscaling technology that improves frame rates with minimal visual quality loss.

E

ECC (Error-Correcting Code): RAM that detects and corrects single-bit memory errors. Used in servers and workstations.

EXPO (Extended Profiles for Overclocking): AMD’s RAM speed profile standard for AM5 platforms. Equivalent to Intel’s XMP.

F

Form factor: The physical size and shape standard of a component. Common motherboard form factors: ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX.

FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution): AMD’s open-source upscaling technology. Works on any GPU.

G

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit): The processor responsible for rendering images, video, and 3D graphics.

H

Heatsink: A passive metal component that absorbs and dissipates heat from a CPU or GPU via fins and airflow.

HDD (Hard Disk Drive): Traditional spinning magnetic storage. High capacity, low cost, but much slower than SSDs.

I

IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader): The metal lid on top of a CPU that spreads heat from the die to the cooler.

ITX (Mini-ITX): The smallest common motherboard form factor (170 × 170mm). Used for compact builds.

L

Latency: The delay between a request and a response. Lower is better. RAM latency is expressed as CL timings (e.g. CL30).

LGA (Land Grid Array): A CPU socket type where the pins are on the motherboard. Used by Intel and AMD AM5.

M

M.2: A compact form factor slot for NVMe SSDs and some Wi-Fi cards.

mATX (Micro-ATX): A smaller motherboard form factor (244 × 244mm). Fewer expansion slots than ATX.

N

NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express): A high-speed storage protocol for SSDs using PCIe lanes. Much faster than SATA.

P

PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express): The high-speed interface connecting GPUs, NVMe SSDs, and expansion cards to the motherboard.

PGA (Pin Grid Array): A CPU socket type where the pins are on the CPU. Used by AMD AM4.

POST (Power-On Self-Test): The diagnostic process the motherboard runs when powered on before loading the OS.

PSU (Power Supply Unit): Converts mains AC power to the DC voltages required by PC components.

R

Ray tracing: A rendering technique that simulates realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections.

RGB: Red, Green, Blue — refers to addressable lighting on PC components and peripherals.

S

SATA (Serial ATA): An older storage interface used by 2.5” SSDs and HDDs. Slower than NVMe.

Socket: The physical interface on the motherboard that accepts the CPU. Must match the CPU’s socket type.

SSD (Solid State Drive): Flash-based storage with no moving parts. Much faster and more reliable than HDDs.

T

TBW (Terabytes Written): The total amount of data an SSD can write over its lifetime before wear becomes a concern.

TDP (Thermal Design Power): The maximum heat a CPU or GPU generates under sustained load, in watts.

Thread: A virtual processing unit within a CPU core. Hyper-Threading (Intel) and SMT (AMD) allow each core to handle two threads.

V

VRAM (Video RAM): Dedicated memory on a GPU used to store textures, frame buffers, and graphics data.

X

XMP (Extreme Memory Profile): Intel’s standard for RAM speed profiles. Enables RAM to run at its rated speed when enabled in BIOS.