PC Building Glossary

Term Definition
A high definition resolution, commonly measured as 3840 x
4K
2160 pixels.
Often refers to a computer that houses all its components in
AIO (All-in-One) the monitor, though can also refer to other equipment like
printers and CPU coolers.
CPU coolers that use a heat sink and fans to move hot air
Air cooler
away from the CPU (different from liquid cooling).
A leading brand in CPU and GPU hardware, including Ryzen
AMD
CPUs and Radeon graphics cards.
The ratio of horizontal pixels to vertical pixels (e.g., 16:9 or
Aspect ratio
4:3).
Manufacturer known for motherboards, GPUs, and industrial
ASRock
PCs.

ASUS Manufacturer known for GPUs, motherboards, and monitors.

The most common motherboard form factor. ATX

ATX (Advanced
motherboards tend to be known as full-sized motherboards,
Technology eXtended)
compared to microATX or Mini ATX.
Manufacturer of low-noise power supplies, cases, and
be quiet!
cooling hardware (like CPU coolers).
Firmware used to initialize hardware during the booting
BIOS (Basic Input/Output
process. If no operating system is installed on a computer,
System)
you will see the BIOS screen.

Boot drive The drive that the operating system is installed on.

When a component in a PC reaches its performance limit and

Bottleneck other hardware is unable to perform at maximum capacity as
a result.
Used to house PC components. They come in different form
Case
factors and designs.
Fans that screw into a PC case to help pull cold air into the
Case fan
case, and push hot air out.
Silicon component used in many components, like CPUs and
Chip
GPUs, allowing them to function.
A motherboard's firmware, used to determine compatibility
Chipset
with other components.
The speed at which components run, often measured in MHz
Clock speed
or GHz.
CMOS (Complementary
Metal-oxide- Built-in memory on a motherboard that stores BIOS settings.
semiconductor)
A component designed to reduce temperatures of other
Cooler
components inside a PC case.
One of the leading PC component and peripheral brands,
Corsair
known for its RGB flair.
CPU (Central Processing The main processor that controls a PC. It interacts with other
Unit) components like the GPU.
Followed by a number (e.g., DDR4 or DDR5), this represents
DDR (Double Data Rate)
the generation of RAM.
DIMM (Dual In-line Memory A circuit board containing memory chips, usually known as
Module) RAM.

DIMM slot The slots on a motherboard that house RAM.

A digital interface that sends audio and video in one cable. It

DisplayPort
supports higher refresh rates over HDMI.
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DLSS (Deep Learning Super NVIDIA technology that's used for video rendering to
Sampling) enhance images and upscale them.
Motherboards that are larger than ATX motherboards, often
EATX (Extended ATX)
used for very high-end PCs.

EVGA Manufacturer known for components like PSUs and GPUs.

FHD (Full High Definition) A video resolution measuring 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Firmware Software embedded into the read-only memory of hardware.

The process of updating a chip's firmware. You can flash a

Flash
BIOS to update it to the latest version, for example.
Referred to as the shape or size of a component.
Form factor Motherboards, for example, come in different sizes, as do PC
cases.
The number of individual frames outputted per second on a
FPS (Frames per Second)
display.
Adaptive synchronization technology from AMD that support
FreeSync
dynamic refresh rates.

G.Skill Hardware manufacturer known for its RAM.

Often used to refer to clock speeds. 1GHz is equal to

GHz (Gigahertz)
1,000,000,000Hz.
Hardware manufacturer known for motherboards and
Gigabyte
graphics cards.
The chip that produces images you see on a monitor. Some
GPU (Graphics Processing
CPUs come with integrated graphics, but most require a
Unit)
dedicated graphics card.
The component that houses the GPU, which produces the
Graphics card 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 A line of NVIDIA graphics cards, often used in mid-range
eXtreme) PCs.
A mechanical storage device capable of holding lots of data,
HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
though they are slower than an SSD.
HDMI (High-Definition A common digital interface for connecting devices to
Multimedia Interface) displays. It sends audio and video together.

Hz (Hertz) A unit of frequency, typically used to describe refresh rates.

Included with the motherboard, this metal plate clips into the
I/O (Input/Output) shield
side of a case to cover the motherboard ports.
Graphics that are built in to a CPU, enabling the production
Integrated graphics
of an image on-screen without a dedicated graphics card.
One of the leading CPU manufacturers known for its Core
Intel
CPU line.
Also known as water cooling, this is a method of using liquid
Liquid cooling
to reduce computer temperature, rather than fans.

M.2 A form factor for SSDs and replaces the mSATA standard.

A motherboard form factor. Smaller than ATX boards, but

microATX
often the cheapest form factor you can purchase.
Often refers to RAM and GPU clock speeds. 1MHz is equal to
MHz (Megahertz)
1,000,000Hz.

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Modular Components (often power supplies) with detachable cables.

Monitor The screen that a computer connects to.

The board that connects all the components together,

Motherboard distributing power to them and allowing them to interact with
each other.
A popular component manufacturer known for graphics
MSI
cards, motherboards, PSUs, and gaming laptops.
A premium air cooler manufacturer, developing low-noise
Noctua
solutions.
One of the leading graphics card manufacturers, known for
NVIDIA
its GTX and RTX line of cards.
NVMe (Nonvolatile Memory A storage protocol used for SSDs, offering fast transfer
Express) speeds.

NZXT Manufacturer of PC cases, peripherals, and cooling.

A disc reader that can be installed in a PC to read CDs and

ODD (Optical Disc Drive)
DVDs.
The software that's installed on a PC and allows you to
OS (Operating System) manage files and access applications. The most common
operating systems include Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Increasing the speed at which a component can run at to
Overclocking improve performance. For example, you can overclock RAM
to run at higher speeds than you get as standard.
A board that connects electronic components. The
PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
motherboard is a PCB.
PCIe (Peripheral
A slot type in the motherboard, like PCIe x16. The number
Component Interconnect
reflects the amount of PCIe lanes.
Express)
A component that isn't part of a PC, but can be used with it,
Peripheral
like a keyboard, mouse, and webcam.
Hardware manufacturer known for CPU coolers, cases, and
Phanteks
fans.
Component manufacturer known for graphics cards and
PNY
NVMe drives.
Once power is provided to the motherboard, a POST is run
POST (Power-on Self-test)
by the BIOS to ensure everything is running correctly.
A computer that has been assembled prior to the customer
Pre-built
receiving it.
Provides electricity (power) to all of the components
PSU (Power Supply Unit)
connected to a motherboard.
PWM (Pulse Width Some fans are equipped with this technology, allowing them
Modulation) to adjust speed based upon component temperature.

QHD (Quad High Definition) Monitors or displays with a 2560 x 1440 resolution.

RAM (Random Access Often referred to as just memory, RAM holds data
Memory) temporarily and stores it short-term until the CPU needs it.
Realistic rendering graphics technology that's used for
Ray tracing
lighting.
One of the most popular PC component manufacturers,
Razer
known for its gaming keyboards and mice.
The number of pixels displayed on a screen, often expressed
Resolution
in a width by height measurement.
A line of NVIDIA graphics cards like the 5000 and 6000
RTX
series.

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 One of the largest chip manufacturers, also well-known for
Samsung
producing NVMe SSDs.
SATA (Serial Advanced An interface that connects adapters to mass storage devices
Technology Attachment) like hard drives.

SFF (Small Form Factor) Refers to smaller components or PCs.

SFX A smaller PSU, different from a standard (ATX) form factor.

The type of socket (pin connector) that a motherboard uses.

Socket type
Some sockets only support specific hardware models.
SODIMM (Small Outline
Dual In-line Memory A smaller version of DIMM, often used in laptops.
Module)
A non-mechanical, flash-based storage drive. SSDs are
SSD (Solid-state Drive)
faster than HDDs, but are more expensive per gigabyte.
Popular peripheral manufacturer known for its headphones
SteelSeries
and keyboards.
The CPU cooler that comes with the CPU; often less
Stock cooler
powerful and efficient at cooling than aftermarket CPUs.
1TB is equal to 1,024 gigabytes (GB), which is made up of
TB (Terabyte)
1,024 megabytes (MB).
An estimate of the total bytes that you can write to an SSD in
TBW (Terabytes Written)
its lifetime.
TDP (Thermal Design
The amount of heat a component will produce or dissipate.
Power)
A paste applied between the CPU and its cooler, designed
Thermal paste
for creating optimal heat transfer.
When a component reduces its clock speed for safety, based
Thermal throttling
on how much heat is being generated.
Keyboards that don't include a number pad and are smaller
TKL (Tenkeyless)
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 The interface between the operating system and computer
Firmware Interface) firmware. It's a BIOS replacement.
Refers to monitors with a 3840 x 2160 resolution, also known
UHD (Ultra HD)
as 4K.
Ultrawide monitors come with higher than normal aspect
Ultrawide
ratios, like 21:9 rather than 16:9.
A common connection type for connecting components like
USB (Universal Series Bus)
keyboards, mice, headsets, and other peripherals.
VRM (Voltage Regulator Regulates the amount of voltage sent to hardware like the
Module) CPU and GPU.
A type of network connection that allows wireless internet
Wi-Fi
connectivity.
XMP (Extreme Memory A pre-defined memory profile for simple overclocking of
Profile) RAM.

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