Computer terms and definitions. If you have one or two to add post here.
EEPROM = Electrically Erasable, Programmable Read-only Memory A type of ROM that can be erased electronically and reprogrammed in-circuit (or with a device programmer). Short for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. From the programmer's perspective, EEPROM is very similar to flash memory. The biggest difference is that the bytes (words) of an EEPROM can be erased individually.
sdram = Synchronous dynamic random access memory delivers bursts of data at high speeds using a synchronous interface. Its is actually SDR SDRAM (single data rate SDRAM) but is usually used to referred to as just "SDRAM."
ddr = Double Data Rate ram Double data rate is a type of SDRAM in which data is sent on both the rising and falling edges of clock cycles in a data burst. It is usually referred to as DDR as opposed to DDR SDRAM.
cpu = Abbreviation of central processing unit Pronounced as separate letters. The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.
Bios = Basic Input/Output System The BIOS runs at the startup sequence where it configures devices and then boots the operating system. The function of the BIOS is so vital that the information on the BIOS is stored on a ROM chip separate from the hard drive to protect it from potential crashes.
psu = Power Supply Unit This is the box which supplies power to the rest of your computer. A PSU is rated to a certain number of watts. If your PSU dosent supply enough watts, your computer may become instable
Comment:
The amount of watts a PSU has is the amount it can deliver on a peak like when your pc starts up or does something very big. so even if you have a Sweex(Never ever buy that brand) 1000Watt PSU It may deliver 600Watts at startup but when you would play a game and it wouldn't stop asking for 600Watts the PSU would kick the bucket.
So don't always look at the Watts, but look at the amount of amps on the back of the box to
i/o = input/output Reception (read) or transmission (write) of computer signals; the entire connection path between the CPU bus and the disk drives. describes any operation, program, or device that transfers data to or from a computer. Typical I/O devices are printers, hard disks, keyboards, and mouses. In fact, some devices are basically input-only devices (keyboards and mouses); others are primarily output-only devices (printers); and others provide both input and output of data (hard disks, diskettes, writable CD-ROMs).
Floppy = 3.5 inch computer disk One of several types of magnetic storage media. The term "floppy" refers to any disk that is made of a flexible material, such as Mylar, instead of some type of metal. Almost all floppy disks used now are 3 ? inch (which hold a maximum of 1.44 megabytes). The smaller, higher capacity disks have become the industry standard, with their older, larger counterparts disappearing into obscurity.
pci = Peripheral Component Interconnect A high-speed connection for devices including SCSI cards, video cards, sound cards, modems, video capture cards, etc. This is the primary way of adding devices to your computer. It is faster than ISA, so is preferred for devices such as sound cards and SCSI cards. It is slower than AGP which is for graphics cards only, so AGP graphics cards tend to be better than PCI ones. Default PCI speed is 33 MHz.
isa = Industry Standard Architecture ISA is an older technology for connecting computer peripherals (stands for Industry Standard Architecture). Common current devices include modems and sound cards. ISA is much slower than PCI, so PCI devices are generally better if you have a choice. ISA is starting to fade and eventually will be removed entirely. Most motherboards still come with at least one or two ISA slots on them.
vga = Video Graphics Array An analog computer video signal format or equipment to produce or display same, using 480 visible scan lines each normally representing 640 pixels. The significance of this format is that the video signal is made up of the same total number of scan lines (525) transmitted at the same rate (scan rate) as NTSC video converted to a progressive scan format. If not confined to a broadcast channel, an (interlaced) NTSC video signal can also hold the detail of 640 or more pixels across.
agp = Accelerated Graphics Port Short for Accelerated Graphics Port, an interface specification developed by Intel Corporation. AGP is based on PCI, but is designed especially for the throughput demands of 3-D graphics. Rather than using the PCI bus for graphics data, AGP introduces a dedicated point-to-point channel so that the graphics controller can directly access main memory. The AGP channel is 32 bits wide and runs at 66 MHz
fsb = Front Side Bus which denotes the speed at which your processor interacts with the components on the motherboard. Typically the FSB is 100Mhz or 133Mhz, but overclockers often manipulate this value to increase the speed at which their processor runs. ie 100Mhz FSB X 5.0 clock multiplier = 500Mhz processor.
Multiplier The multiplier together with the fsb makes up the speed of a processor.
A multipler is a constant usualy between 5 and 20 that is multiplied with the fsb to get the processor speed.
As described at fsb
If you have a fsb of 266 and a multiplier of 10 (Thats with an amd 3800+) you'd get a 2,6 Ghz processor.
You used to be able to change the processor but AMD and Intel locked them.
Sometimes you stil can change it by drawing a pencil line on a certain circuit.
PCI-E = PCI Express
A high-speed peripheral interconnect from Intel introduced in 2002. Note that although sometimes abbreviated "PCX," PCI Express is not the same as "PCI-X". As a result of the confusion, "PCI-E" or "PCIE" is the accepted abbreviation.
Initially used for high-speed display adapters, and intending to eventually replace the PCI and AGP buses entirely, PCI Express was designed to match the higher speeds of today's CPUs. It can accommodate Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet and even support chip-to-chip transfers.
