PC hardware glossary
81 terms · Updated 2026-10-19
0–9
- 4K-QAM (4096-QAM)
- A modulation scheme that encodes 12 bits per symbol, used by Wi-Fi 7. It raises peak data rates about 20 percent over 1024-QAM but needs a strong, clean signal. Read the guide
- 12V-2x6
- A 16-pin graphics card power connector rated for up to 600 W, defined in PCIe CEM 5.1 and adopted by ATX 3.1. It improves on 12VHPWR with longer power contacts and shorter sense pins so a partly inserted plug limits power. Read the guide
- 80 PLUS
- A certification program for power supply efficiency at 20, 50 and 100 percent load, with Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium tiers. Read the guide
- 320 MHz channel
- The widest Wi-Fi channel, introduced with Wi-Fi 7 and available only in the 6 GHz band. It doubles peak throughput compared with 160 MHz channels. Read the guide
A
- AIO cooler
- An all-in-one liquid cooler combining a pump, cold plate, tubing and radiator in a sealed loop that needs no maintenance. Read the guide
- AM5
- AMD's LGA1718 desktop socket introduced in 2022 for Ryzen 7000 and later processors, supporting DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 only. Read the guide
- ATX
- The Intel-originated specification that defines standard PC motherboard sizes, mounting and power supply connectors. ATX 3.x revisions cover modern GPU power delivery. Read the guide
B
- Bifurcation (PCIe)
- Splitting one PCIe slot's lanes into several independent links, such as x16 into four x4 links, so multiple devices can share a slot. It requires BIOS support. Read the guide
- Boost clock
- The highest frequency a processor or GPU reaches automatically when power, current and temperature limits allow. Read the guide
C
- CAS latency (CL)
- The number of memory clock cycles between a read command and the first data being available. In nanoseconds: CL × 2000 ÷ MT/s. Read the guide
- Cat6a
- Augmented Category 6 twisted-pair cable rated for 10GBASE-T over the full 100 m channel length. Read the guide
- Chipset
- The motherboard controller connected to the CPU that provides additional PCIe lanes, USB, SATA and networking, and determines features such as overclocking support. Read the guide
- CMR
- Conventional magnetic recording: hard drive tracks are written side by side without overlapping, giving consistent write performance. Recommended for NAS and RAID. Read the guide
- CUDIMM
- Clocked unbuffered DIMM: a DDR5 desktop module with an on-board clock driver that regenerates the clock signal for stable operation at very high speeds. Read the guide
D
- DDR5
- The fifth generation of DDR SDRAM (JEDEC JESD79-5, 2020), with two 32-bit subchannels per module, on-module PMIC and speeds from 4800 MT/s. Read the guide
- DisplayPort Alt Mode
- A USB-C mode that carries native DisplayPort video over the connector's high-speed lanes. Read the guide
- DMI
- Direct Media Interface, Intel's link between the CPU and chipset. All chipset-attached devices share its bandwidth. Read the guide
- DRAM cache (SSD)
- DRAM on an SSD that stores the logical-to-physical mapping table for fast lookups, typically about 1 GB per terabyte of flash. Read the guide
- DSC
- Display Stream Compression, a visually lossless VESA compression standard that lets high-resolution, high-refresh video fit within DisplayPort or HDMI bandwidth. Read the guide
- Dual channel
- A memory configuration that uses two independent memory channels in parallel, doubling peak bandwidth. Desktop platforms need one module per channel. Read the guide
- DWPD
- Drive writes per day: SSD endurance expressed as full-capacity writes per day over the warranty period. DWPD = TBW ÷ (TB × 365 × years). Read the guide
E
- EXPO
- AMD Extended Profiles for Overclocking: a royalty-free DDR5 memory profile format introduced in 2022 that stores tested speed, timings and voltage on the module. Read the guide
F
- First-word latency
- The time in nanoseconds until the first piece of data arrives from memory: CL × 2000 ÷ MT/s. Read the guide
G
- GDDR7
- Graphics memory standard (JEDEC JESD239, 2024) using PAM3 signaling at 28 Gbps per pin and above. Read the guide
- GT/s
- Gigatransfers per second, the raw signaling rate of a PCIe lane: 8 GT/s for PCIe 3.0, 16 GT/s for 4.0, 32 GT/s for 5.0 and 64 GT/s for 6.0. Read the guide
- GtG response time
- Gray-to-gray response time: how long a pixel takes to change from one shade to another, measured in milliseconds. Read the guide
H
- HDR
- High dynamic range: content and displays that cover brighter highlights and deeper shadows than standard dynamic range. VESA DisplayHDR certifies monitor HDR performance. Read the guide
- HMB
- Host Memory Buffer, an NVMe feature that lets a DRAM-less SSD use a small slice of system RAM (often about 64 MB) to cache its mapping table. Read the guide
I
- iGPU
- Integrated graphics built into the processor, sharing system memory instead of having dedicated VRAM. Read the guide
- IOPS
- Input/output operations per second, a measure of random storage performance, usually quoted for 4 KB transfers. Read the guide
J
- JEDEC
- The standards organization that defines DRAM and graphics memory standards, including DDR5 and GDDR7, and their baseline speed grades. Read the guide
L
- LGA
- Land grid array: a socket design in which the pins are in the motherboard socket and the processor has flat contact pads. Read the guide
- LGA1851
- Intel's desktop socket for Core Ultra 200S processors, launched in 2024 with DDR5-only memory and 20 CPU PCIe 5.0 lanes. Read the guide
M
- M.2
- A compact expansion card format for SSDs and wireless modules. Sizes like 2280 give width and length in millimetres; the connector key (M, B or E) sets compatibility. Read the guide
- Memory bandwidth
- The rate at which data moves to and from memory. For GPUs: bus width in bits ÷ 8 × per-pin data rate in Gbps = GB/s. Read the guide
- Memory bus width
- The number of bits a GPU transfers to its memory in parallel, such as 128, 192, 256, 384 or 512 bits. Read the guide
- MLO
- Multi-Link Operation, a Wi-Fi 7 feature that lets one device transmit and receive across multiple bands simultaneously or switch between them instantly. Read the guide
- MT/s
- Megatransfers per second, the effective data rate of DDR memory. DDR5-6000 performs 6000 million transfers per second per pin. Read the guide
- MU-MIMO
- Multi-user multiple-input multiple-output: a Wi-Fi technique that lets an access point send separate spatial streams to several clients at once. Read the guide
N
- NBASE-T (2.5G/5GBASE-T)
- Ethernet at 2.5 and 5 Gbps over existing Cat5e and Cat6 cabling, standardized as IEEE 802.3bz in 2016. Read the guide
- NPU
- Neural processing unit, a processor block optimized for low-power AI inference, rated in TOPS. Read the guide
- NVMe
- NVM Express, a storage protocol designed for flash connected over PCIe, supporting many parallel command queues with low latency. Read the guide
O
- OFDMA
- Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access: introduced with Wi-Fi 6, it splits a channel into resource units so several clients can be served in one transmission. Read the guide
- OLED
- Organic light-emitting diode display technology in which each pixel emits its own light, giving true blacks and very fast response. Read the guide
- On-die ECC
- Error correction built into DDR5 DRAM chips that fixes errors within the chip's array. It is not a substitute for system-level ECC memory. Read the guide
P
- P-core / E-core
- Performance cores and efficient cores in Intel hybrid processors. P-cores prioritize single-thread speed; E-cores add multithreaded throughput in less area and power. Read the guide
- PAM3
- Three-level pulse amplitude modulation, carrying 1.5 bits per symbol. Used by GDDR7, USB4 Version 2.0 and Thunderbolt 5. Read the guide
- Parity (RAID)
- Redundant data computed from the other drives in a RAID set that allows a failed drive's contents to be rebuilt. Read the guide
- PCIe
- PCI Express, the high-speed serial interface used for graphics cards, NVMe SSDs and expansion cards. Each generation doubles the per-lane rate. Read the guide
- PCIe lanes
- Individual bidirectional links that make up a PCIe connection. Devices use x1, x4, x8 or x16 lanes; the platform's lane count limits how many run at full speed. Read the guide
- PHY rate
- The maximum raw link rate of a wireless connection. Real throughput is lower after protocol overhead and interference. Read the guide
- PMIC
- Power management integrated circuit. On DDR5 modules it regulates voltages locally instead of relying on the motherboard. Read the guide
- PPT
- Package Power Tracking, AMD's socket power limit for desktop processors, set at 1.35 times TDP on AM4 and AM5. Read the guide
- PWM fan
- A 4-pin fan whose speed is controlled by a pulse-width modulated signal from the motherboard, allowing precise speed curves. Read the guide
Q
- QLC NAND
- Quad-level cell flash storing four bits per cell. It is cheaper per terabyte but has lower endurance and sustained write speed than TLC. Read the guide
R
- RAID
- Redundant array of independent disks: combining drives for capacity, speed or redundancy. Common levels are 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10. Read the guide
- ReBAR (Resizable BAR)
- A PCIe capability that lets the CPU address all of a GPU's VRAM at once rather than through a 256 MB window. AMD calls it Smart Access Memory. Read the guide
- Refresh rate
- How many times per second a display updates the image, measured in hertz. Frame time is 1000 ÷ Hz milliseconds. Read the guide
- Retimer
- A chip that recovers and retransmits a high-speed signal, extending the distance PCIe 5.0 and USB4 links can travel on a board or cable. Read the guide
S
- SFP+
- A pluggable 10 Gbps network port that accepts direct-attach copper cables or optical transceivers. Read the guide
- SLC cache
- A portion of TLC or QLC flash operated in single-bit mode to absorb writes quickly. Write speed drops once it is full. Read the guide
- SMART
- Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology: drive health data such as wear level, temperature and error counts. Read the guide
- SMR
- Shingled magnetic recording: overlapping hard drive tracks for higher density, with slower sustained random writes and RAID rebuilds. Read the guide
- SPD
- Serial presence detect: a small memory chip on each module that stores its JEDEC timings and any XMP or EXPO profiles. Read the guide
T
- TBW
- Terabytes written: the total data an SSD's warranty allows to be written over its life. Read the guide
- TDP
- Thermal design power: a cooling guideline in watts. Actual processor power under boost can be substantially higher. Read the guide
- TGP
- Total graphics power: the power a graphics card is designed to draw under typical gaming load, used to size the power supply. Read the guide
- Thunderbolt 5
- Intel's 80 Gbps USB-C interface based on USB4 Version 2.0, with a 120 Gbps Bandwidth Boost mode and up to 240 W charging. Read the guide
- TLC NAND
- Triple-level cell flash storing three bits per cell; the mainstream choice for consumer SSDs, balancing cost, speed and endurance. Read the guide
- TOPS
- Trillions of operations per second, the usual rating for NPU AI throughput, typically at INT8 precision. Read the guide
- tRCD
- RAS-to-CAS delay: memory clock cycles between opening a row and reading a column. The second number in a timing string. Read the guide
U
- UEFI
- Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, the modern replacement for legacy BIOS, required for features such as Resizable BAR and Secure Boot. Read the guide
- Upscaling (DLSS, FSR, XeSS)
- Rendering a game at lower resolution and reconstructing a higher-resolution image, often with temporal data and machine learning, to raise frame rates. Read the guide
- USB Power Delivery
- The USB-C charging standard. Standard Power Range reaches 100 W; Extended Power Range (USB PD 3.1) reaches 240 W. Read the guide
- USB4
- A USB-C-only standard based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol, tunneling USB, DisplayPort and PCIe at 20, 40, 80 or 120 Gbps. Read the guide
V
- VRAM
- Video memory on a graphics card that holds textures, frame buffers and other rendering data. Read the guide
- VRR
- Variable refresh rate: the display adjusts its refresh rate to match the GPU's frame output, avoiding tearing and reducing stutter. Read the guide
W
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) extended into the 6 GHz band, adding up to 1200 MHz of spectrum in some regions. Read the guide
- Wi-Fi 7
- IEEE 802.11be: Wi-Fi with 320 MHz channels, 4096-QAM and Multi-Link Operation, certified since 2024. Read the guide
- WPA3
- The current Wi-Fi security protocol, mandatory on the 6 GHz band, using SAE handshakes resistant to offline password guessing. Read the guide
X
- XMP
- Intel Extreme Memory Profile: overclocking profiles stored on memory modules. XMP 3.0 for DDR5 holds up to five profiles. Read the guide
Cite this page: Hardware Spec Index, “PC hardware glossary”, https://vextor7.com/glossary (accessed 2026-10-19).