# PC Building Terms Defined | 90+ Essential Tips **URL:** \ **Category:** Tutorials & Methods\ **Tags:** freebies, tips-tricks, data-recovery, windows\ **Created:** [February 5, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/pc-building-terms-defined-90-essential-tips/232368 "2023-02-05T19:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Prometheus](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/prometheus/32/34950_2.png) [@Prometheus](https://onehack.st/u/Prometheus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/pc-building-terms-defined-90-essential-tips/232368/1 "2023-02-05T19:25:00Z")
To help you on your way, we’ve created this list of PC building terms and their definitions. Whether you’ve built a PC before or not, there’s always more to learn, so keep this guide handy. ## PC Building Terms and Definitions | Term | Definition | | --- | --- | | **4K** | A high definition resolution, commonly measured as 3840 x 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 x 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 premium 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 x 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 x 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. | ### Final Words While this PC building glossary isn’t going to help you complete your build, it will certainly assist you in being able to understand a lot more. Whether this is your first attempt, or you want to make a career out of building custom PCs, knowing the terminology will help you avoid common PC building mistakes—like buying the wrong size motherboard or incompatible hardware. **Happy learning!** ---
**Author:** ![Virus\_exe](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/virus_exe/32/38851_2.png) [@Virus\_exe](https://onehack.st/u/Virus_exe)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 8:12am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/pc-building-terms-defined-90-essential-tips/232368/2 "2023-02-06T08:12:53Z")
This is a great resource for PC Building. Thanks for posting it.!!! 🤩 🤩