Build Your Own PC For Dummies

Appendix BThe PC Builder’s Glossary•A• Athlon Sempron: A lower-cost AMD Athlon processor, designed for the least-expensive entryaccess time: How long a hard drive, an optical PCs (like the kind you see offered by mail-orderdrive, or a memory module takes to read data. and department stores). The Sempron is not rec-The faster the access time, the better. ommended for gaming or power user PCs.adapter card: A circuit board that plugs into your Athlon XP: An older processor series from AMD.motherboard to provide your computer with addi- The Athlon XP is still a good choice for an inexpen-tional functionality. For example, a video adapter sive PC, but it’s rapidly disappearing from thecard plugs into your motherboard and enables market and no longer offers the best performanceyour computer to display text and graphics on for power user applications and computer games.your monitor. Athlon 64 FX: An older version of the Athlon 64AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port): An older bus processor designed for games and high-end 3-Dstandard for 3-D video cards. AGP slots are rated rendering applications. (64-bit operation allowsby 2x, 4x, and 8x speeds. As you might guess, the you to add more memory and also provides fasterhigher the x factor in the speed rating, the faster disk and network access.) The FX series is beingthe data flows to and from your video card. The phased out in favor of the Athlon Phenom.AGP video card has been supplanted by the fasterPCI-Express video standard. See also PCI-Express. Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core: The current mid-range Athlon processor, using two CPU cores that allowapplication: A program that performs a task on far superior efficiency and speed (especially whenyour computer. For example, an Internet applica- multitasking among more than one application).tion is a program that performs some useful func- The X2 Dual-Core offers 64-bit processing.tion while your computer is connected to theInternet. ATX-class: Today’s standard set of dimensions and features for a PC’s motherboard and case, withAT-class: An older, standard set of dimensions for support for standard built-in ports on the mother-a PC’s motherboard and case derived from the board and simpler connectors for power, caseoriginal IBM AT-class computer. If your PC uses an switches, and case lights. If you buy an ATX-classAT-class motherboard, you must also have an motherboard for your computer, you must alsoAT-class case. AT-class cases and hardware are use an ATX-class case.practically extinct (except to scavengers) becauseATX-class cases and hardware have taken over thePC market.Athlon Phenom: The fastest Advanced MicroDevices (more popularly called AMD) processoravailable at this time. The Phenom is the darling ofgamers and also graphics professionals who editdigital video and create 3-D images. (It’s also farmore expensive than the Athlon 64 X2.)

280 Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies•B• cable modem: An external device that connects your computer to your cable TV company’s coax-bank: Another term for a RAM module socket on ial cable. A cable modem is a requirement for con-your motherboard. Most motherboards have at necting to the Internet through cable access.least two RAM banks. See also RAM. Although a cable modem really isn’t anything like a traditional external analog modem, it looks likeBIOS (basic input-output system): Resides on one one.or two computer chips on your motherboard. YourPC’s BIOS software controls many low-level func- cache: A special bank of memory that holds datations of your computer, such as keeping track of that is often used or that will be required in a fewyour hard drive’s characteristics and what type of nanoseconds. Storing data in a cache speeds upmonitor you’re using. the operation of your PC because the data doesn’t have to be retrieved from RAM or your hard drive.bit: The smallest unit of information used by a Many components have a cache, including yourcomputer. It can have a value of either 1 or 0. CPU, your hard drive, and your CD/DVD recorder.Blu-ray: The latest standard in recordable optical case: The metal enclosure that surrounds yourdiscs. Blu-ray discs were developed to hold high- computer and holds all its parts. The case, typi-definition (HD) movies. Although Blu-ray recorders cally held on with screws or thumbwheels, mightare still expensive compared with a mundane DVD have a separate cover that you can remove to addrecorder, they’re likely to fall in price quickly, or remove parts; other cases are one piece andoffering up to a whopping 50GB of storage (perfect simply open up.for backups). CD-ROM drive: An internal device that can readbps (bits per second): A common method of meas- both data CD-ROMs (which store computer pro-uring the speed of a modem. Today’s high-speed grams and files) and audio CDs (which storemodems are usually measured in kilobits per music). A typical CD-ROM can hold as much assecond (Kbps), as in 56 Kbps. 700MB of data. CD-ROM drives cannot write to a disc; they can only read data.broadband: A high-speed Internet connection thatdelivers data much faster than a dial-up analog CD-RW drive: Also called a CD recorder. Enablesmodem connection. Common Internet broadband you to record (and re-record) CDs. Discs madeconnections include DSL, cable, and satellite. See with a CD-RW drive can hold computer data andalso DSL. music. CD-Rs can be read on any CD-ROM drive but can be recorded only once. CD-RWs canbus: A slot on your motherboard that accepts be read on most CD-ROM drives and can beadapter cards. Bus slots on Athlon/Intel mother- re-recorded.boards are generally 16-bit ISA slots, 32-bit PCIslots, AGP slots, or PCI-Express slots. See also AGP, Celeron: A less-expensive processor produced byISA, PCI, and PCI-Express. Intel for the home market. Although a Celeron chip lacks the performance of a full Core 2 Duo-classbyte: A group of 8 bits that represents a single CPU, it’s a popular processor for low-end PCs.character of text or data stored in your computer’sRAM. CGA (color graphics adapter): The original IBM PC color standard. Programs with CGA support could display a stunning four colors at a time.•C• client-server: A network in which computers act as clients and retrieve information or servicesCA (Commonsense Assembly): The technique of from a central server computer. Server computerspreventing mistakes during the assembly of a com- can also hold common shared resources, such asputer by using your common sense. First postu- modems or CD-ROM drives, or provide sharedlated by the author of this book. access to Internet services such as e-mail and a Web site.