IT Vocab PC 4 Flashcards
Special area of RAM that stores the data most frequently accessed from the hard drive
cache
Third RAM cache accessed by the CPU. Much larger and slower than other cache
Level 3 (L3) Cache
Storage area inside the CPU used by the onboard logic to perform calculations
Register
Memory that can be accessed at random-that is, memory that you can write to or read from without touching the preceding address
random access memory (RAM)
Speed at which a CPU executes instructions, measured in MHz or GHz
clock speed
A special wire that, when charged, tells the CPU that another piece of information is waiting to be processed
Clock Wire
Small, highly portable computing devices with tightly integrated components designed to be worn or carried
Mobile device
Crystal that provides the speed signals for the CPU and the rest of the systems
System Crystal
Binary Instruction code that is understood by the CPU
machine language
The voltage differential between any two objects, one of which is frequently ground or earth, resulting in a degree of attraction for the electrons to move from one object to another
Electrical potential
Before inserting the heat sink, you need to add a small amount of ______
Thermal paste
Single charge to the clock wire of a CPU
clock cycle
A method of cooling a PC that works by running some liquid-usually water- through a metal block that sits on top of the CPU, absorbing heat
liquid
Flat piece of circuit board that resides inside your computer case and has a number of connectors to it. Every device in a PC connects directly or indirectly to the motherboard
motherboard
Socket for CPUs that enables insertion of a chip without the need to apply pressure
zero insertion force (ZIF)
Computer that shares its resources, such as printers and files, with other computers on a network
Server
Number system with a base of 2, unlike the number system most of us that have bases of 10 (decimal numbers), 12 (measurement in feet and inches), and 60 (time)
binary numbers
Chip that handles memory requests from the CPU. Although once a special chip, it has been integrated into the chipset or CPU
memory controller chip (MCC)
Processing methodology where multiple calculations take place simultaneously by being broken into a series of steps
pipeline
Number of colors a video card is capable of producing
bit depth
CPU feature that enables a single pipeline to run more than one thread at once
Hyper-Threading
Complex binary file used to store configuration data about a particular Windows systems
Registry
Single binary digit. Any device that can be in an on or off state
bit
To run a CPU or video processor faster than its rated speed
overclocking
First RAM cache accessed by the CPU, which stores only the absolute most accessed programming and data used by currently running threads
Level 1 Cache
Unit of 8 bits; fundamental data unit of personal computers. Storing the equivalent of one character
byte
