EEST 107

An interface on a computer to which you connect an audio device

Audio Port

A set of computer instructions in firmware which control input and output operations.

BIOS

A collection of wires through which data is transmitted as electrical pulses from one part of the computer to of the computer

Bus

It is a technology used to produce integrated circuits. These circuits are found in several types of electronic components, including computer motherboards, microprocessors, batteries, and digital camera image sensors. It also contains a battery which is a CR2032

CMOS

It is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that drive a computer

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

A special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device

Cache

A number of integrated circuits designed to perform one or more related functions

Chipset

It is a brand name for the multi-GPU technology by Advanced Micro Devices, originally developed by ATI Technologies. The technology allows up to four GPUs to be used in a single computer to improve graphics performance

Crossfire

A type of SDRAM that supports data transfers on both edges of the clock cycle (The rising and falling edges). Effectively doubling the memory chip's data throughput

DDR memory

It is the connection or interface that is used between monitors and computers or home theater systems. It is used to interface with an LCD, LED, or CRT monitor display with digital video output

DVI

a video standard interface developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). It can work in combination with other standards like Thunderbolt and USB. It has high resolutions, faster refresh rates and deeper color depths. It is backward and forward extensible with display adapters available for legacy display types.

DisplayPort

A type of physical memory used in most personal computers. The memory must be constantly refreshed (reenergized) or it will lose its content

Dynamic memory

a read-only memory whose contents can be erased and reprogrammed using a pulsed voltage

EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory)

A printed circuit board that you can insert into a computer and give it added capabilities and functionality

Expansion Card

It is a socket on the motherboard that is used to insert an expansion card (or circuit board), which provides additional features to a computer such as video, sound, advanced graphics, Ethernet or memory. It is generally located on the back of a PC and provides an electrical connection to the motherboard.

Expansion Slot

It is an electronic (solid-state) non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. They are named after the NAND and NOR logic gates

Flash Memory

The physical size and shape of a device. It is often used to describe the size of circuit boards

Form Factor

The bus that connects the CPU to the main memory on the motherboard

Front Side Bus

It is the first industry - supported uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)

is used in Personal Computers [PCs] as a hard-drive or peripheral bus to interconnect the PC mother board and a hard drive. The bus is a Parallel bus. With a maximum of 2 devices on the bus. Using PIO Modes 0, 1 or 2. Performed no bus error correction. The specification was released in 1994, and was withdrawn in 1999.

Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)

A metal bridge that is encased in plastic that closes an electrical circuit, usually through pins or posts

Jumper

It is an interface on a device, in which these devices can connect to a wired network

LAN/Ethernet port

It is formerly known as (NGFF) Next Generation Form Factor. The format is technically a replacement for the mSATA standard, which was popular with manufacturers of super-compact laptops and other small gadgets. It is primarily used as an interface for super-fast SSD's. both for laptops and desktops

M.2 Form Factor

It is a hardware component that allows a computer or another device, such as a router or switch, to connect to the Internet. It converts or "modulates" an analog signal from a telephone or cable wire to digital data (1s and 0s) that a computer can recognize. Similarly, it converts digital data from a computer or other device into an analog signal that can be sent over standard telephone lines.

Modem

To blend data into a carrier signa

Modulation

The main circuit board of a microcomputer. It contains the connectors for attaching additional boards or components

Motherboard

It is a scalable and high performing host controller interface with command set and streamlined register interface. It is capable of accessing more data per CPU cycle.

NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)

A type of memory that retains its content when the power is turned off

Non-volatile memory

is one of the two chips in the core logic chipset architecture on a PC motherboard. It is connected directly to the CPU via the front-side bus (FSB) and is thus responsible for tasks that require the highest performance

Northbridge

It is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process for reading or writing data to or from discs

Optical Drive (CD/DVD)

A local expansion bus developed by Intel for additional cards

PCI

An I/O interconnect bus standard (which includes a protocol and a layered architecture) that expands on and doubles the data transfer rate of the original PCI bus. It is a two - way serial connection that carries data along two pairs of point to point data lanes

PCIe (PCI Express)

It is a 6-pin connector used to connect peripheral devices, usually a mouse or keyboard, with a computer. Its name comes from the IBM series of personal computers. It doesn't support hot plugging.

PS/2 port

Refers to the process where data occurs simultaneously

Parallel

It is a physical point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable element in an all points addressable display device

Pixel

It is a type of data storage used in computers that is generally located on the motherboard. This type of memory is volatile and all information that was stored is lost when the computer is turned off.

RAM

It is a computer bus interface used to connect host bus adapters with mass storage devices like optical drives and hard drives. This interface is commonly used to connect hard disk drives to a host system such as a computer motherboard. It was introduced in 2005. In 2010, it was updated to use a data cable with seven conductors made up of three grounds and four active two-pair data lines with wafer connectors at each end.

SATA

It is a type of DRAM that can run at much higher clock speeds than conventional memory and actually synchronizes itself with the CPU's bus

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM)

It is a technology developed by NVIDIA that allows multiple graphics cards to work together in a single computer system. This enables faster graphics performance than what is possible with a single card.

SLI

Transmits data one bit at a time

Serial

A port or interface that can be used for communications, in which the communications is transmitted only one bit at a time

Serial (RS-232)

is a type of nonvolatile storage media that stores persistent data on solid-state flash memory. Two key components make up this technology, a flash controller and NAND flash memory chips

Solid State Drive (SSD)

It is a chipset that handled all of a computer's I/O functions, such as USB, audio, serial, the system BIOS, the ISA bus, the interrupt controller and the IDE channels

Southbridge

the contents of computer memory that remain fixed until written to or until the power is turned off

Static Memory

A substance that dissipates heat, usually placed under a heat sink

Thermal Compound

it is intended to enhance plug-and-play and allow hot swapping. Plug-and-play enables the operating system (OS) to spontaneously configure and discover a new peripheral device without having to restart the computer. As well, hot swapping allows removal and replacement of a new peripheral without having to reboot. is a common interface that enables communication between devices and a host controller such as a personal computer (PC). It connects peripheral devices such as digital cameras, mice, keyboards, printers, scanners, media devices, external hard drives and flash drives. Because of its wide variety of uses, including support for electrical power, it has replaced a wide range of interfaces like the parallel and serial port.

USB port (Universal Serial Bus)

It is a graphics display system for PC's developed by IBM and has become a standard for analog video for PC's

Video Graphics Array (VGA)

Memory that loses its contents when the power is turned off

Volatile Memory

It is a mechanical storage device that reads and writes magnetically on disks called platters in sections called registers

hard disk drive (HDD)

Computer memory on which data has been pre recorded. Once data has been written it cannot be removed and can only be read

read-only memory (ROM)