Understanding Geek Talk

With the introduction of any new component, enters a flurryof fresh jargon. To keep you updated, here are the most common and the latestterms you’d come across for PC components.

Processors

Athlon: AMD’s high-end processor, which is in directcompetition with Intel’s PIII processors. Also called K7.

Boxed processor: This is a microprocessor that’s sold in aretail box pack, which you can buy one at a time. OEMs (Original EquipmentManufacturers) buy them in larger quantities, usually a thousand. Intel startedthis initiative by providing its processors in retail packaging. So the CPU, beit PIII, Celeron, or Xeon, is now available in a box with a heatsink/fan and aninstruction manual.

Cache: A very small quantity of high-speed storage (normallyRAM) that is used to store data before sending it to a faster component. Forexample, the cache on the CPU stores data from the RAM before processing.

L1 cache (Level 1 cache): This is a small piece of very fastmemory that sits on the CPU chip itself. The CPU works very fast, and it needssomething to store instructions before it executes them. L1 cache holds theseinstructions for the CPU, and passes them quickly.

L2 cache (Level 2 cache): This is another piece of very fastmemory. Earlier, it used to reside on the motherboard. Nowadays, it sits on thesame die as the microprocessor, be it PIII, Athlon, or Celeron. This worksfaster than the one on the motherboard. The data from the RAM first passes tothe L2 cache and then it heads for the L1 cache before being processed by theCPU.

Celeron: Intel’s processor for the entry-level market.Though it looks similar to the new PIII, the underlying architecture is quitedifferent.

Coppermine: This is the code name for the latest version ofthe Intel PIII processor. It fits into a FC-PGA 370 socket, unlike the initialPIIIs that went into Slot 1. The new chip has many enhanced features over theearlier one. One important change is reduction of the L2 cache from 512 kB to256 kB. The other important change is placing the cache on the same die as theprocessor itself.

Crusoe: A new line of processors, from Transmeta, targeted atnotebooks and embedded devices. These are said to generate very low heat andthus increase battery life.

Duron: This is an entry-level processor from AMD, acompetitor to Intel’s Celeron processors. It uses the Socket 462 interface ona motherboard. Earlier, the entry-level chips from AMD were the K6-2 and K6-3.With the introduction of Duron, these are likely to be phased out.

FC-PGA 370 (Flip Chip Pin Grid Array): This is the latestsocket for Intel processors. It can take either a PIII or a Celeron processor.

Slot 1: Before the FC-PGA socket design was introduced, olderIntel PIII (Katmai) processors were available in a slot design called Slot 1.The processor looked more like a video-game cartridge with a huge fan on top ofit. It fit into a slot just like an ordinary card inside your PC. This designhad the L2 cache and the processor on the cartridge. With the new FC-PGA design,the L2 cache was moved on to the same chip as the processor.

Slot A: This is meant for AMD Athlon processors. It’ssimilar to Intel’s Slot 1 architecture, the one used in earlier PIIs and PIIIs.

Socket 462: This is used to refer to the socket that housesthe Duron–the latest processor from AMD.

Motherboards

BIOS: BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. It’s achip that resides on the motherboard and contains a small program to detect thecomponents on the motherboard. When you start your PC, the BIOS first checkswhether all the components are present and working. For example, the memorycheck at boot-up is handled by the BIOS. Similarly, it checks for the CPU,keyboard, mouse, hard disk, etc.

Flash BIOS: The software in the earlier BIOS chips couldn’tbe upgraded. You had to replace the chip if a new BIOS program was introduced.All this changed with the Flash BIOS. This lets you upgrade your BIOS program.You can download the latest update from your BIOS vendor’s or motherboardmanufacturer’s Website. All motherboards these days come with the Flash BIOS.

Bus: The path on which data flows from one part of the PC toanother. Physically, this is a set of lines on a printed circuit board or wiresof an interface connector.

Chipset: The heart of any motherboard. It’s a set ofintegrated circuit chips that control the functioning of the motherboard. There’sa lot of data flowing on the motherboard between different components such asRAM, processor, display card, etc. The chipset controls this flow.

Form Factor (ATX/AT): The physical size and shape of amotherboard. AT is an older form factor. The SMPS of an AT cabinet had twopower-supply connectors. ATX power supplies have combined these connectors intoone. The ATX form factor also has a more efficient design, with the disk-drivecable connectors nearer to the drive bays and the CPU closer to the power supplyand cooling fan. It also supports soft power off, where you don’t have tomanually switch off the button to turn off your PC. Your PC is automaticallyswitched off when you shutdown your operating system.

Front Side Bus (FSB): The speed of the bus between themicroprocessor and memory. 66, 100, and 133 MHz are the most common bus speedsavailable today for Intel processors. AMD’s K7 has a 200 MHz FSB.

Northbridge and Southbridge: These are parts of the chipsetof a motherboard. The Northbridge controls communications between system memory,processor, external cache, and the AGP bus. Southbridge controls thecommunication between the ISA bus, IDE controller, BIOS, USB, power control, andPS/2 ports.

Slotket/Sloket: These terms are used to refer to a card thatlets an FC-PGA CPU be used on a Slot 1 motherboard. This card can fit into aSlot 1 motherboard, and has an FC-PGA socket on it. So if you have an old Slot 1motherboard with the earlier PIII processor, and you want to upgrade to thelatest Coppermine processor, then this little adapter will do the trick. Some ofthese also allow voltage adjustments.

USB (Universal Serial Bus): An external bus standard thatsupports data transfer rates of up to 12 Mbps. A single USB port can be used toconnect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems, keyboards, digitalcameras, scanners, and even printers. These devices are daisy chained together.USB supports plug-n-play installation and hot plugging. Plug-n-play refers tothe automatic detection of a device by the operating system once it’s pluggedin. Hot plugging refers to the ability of pulling out or plugging in a device toa USB port while the machine is running.

Graphics

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port): A high-speed port meant fortaking a graphics card. It’s available in most new motherboards. The defaultAGP speed is 66 MHz, unlike the older PCI bus that runs at 33 MHz. AGP also hasthe advantage of direct access to system memory. AGP 4X–the fastest AGP bustoday–provides a bandwidth of 1.07 GB/sec in comparison to 133 MB/sec providedby a PCI bus.

Anti-aliasing: A common feature in most graphics cards today.The image that you see on your monitor is made up of pixels, which are nothingbut tiny dots. When curves are displayed on a computer monitor, they oftenappear jagged, as the pixels that make up the curves are not themselves curved.With anti-aliasing, pixels along the curve are also given some color. This makestext blurry, but strangely enough, more readable.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit): This is a microprocessorspecifically designed for processing 3D graphics data. This term was firstcoined by nVIDIA to describe their GeForce 256 chip. All major graphics-cardmanufacturers are incorporating this chip into their models.

RAMDAC (Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter):This microchip is basically a digital to analog converter that sits on agraphics card. Your monitor accepts analog signals to draw whatever you see onyour screen. However, the PC

only produces digital signals. The RAMDAC chip translates these digital signalsinto analog signals that the monitor can understand. Faster RAMDAC gives higherscreen refresh rates, leading to fewer flickers on your monitor screen.

Z-buffer: The Z-buffer helps in creating 3D images on yourscreen. It’s a memory area on a graphics card that stores the Z-axiscoordinates of a 3D graphics.

Memory

Bandwidth: This is a measure of the amount of data that canbe sent over a particular cable, interface, or bus at any given point of time.

DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM: This is a new type of RAM, usedin some of the newer video cards, such as the nVIDIA GeForce. It’s expected tobecome mainstream soon, as it has twice the bandwidth of conventional SDRAM. Itdoes this by transferring data twice as fast as conventional SDRAM.

Latency: This is a measure of how long, on an average, ittakes to get a response from a component. For example, in case of RAM, it refersto how long it takes to read or write data from its storage area.

RDRAM (Rambus DRAM): This is a new kind of memory, thetechnology for which was developed by a company called Rambus, which is backedby Intel. Unlike SDRAM, which runs at 133 MHz, RDRAM can scale up to 800 MHz,thus offering greater bandwidth. It fits into what are called RIMM slots unlikeSDRAM that fits in DIMM slots. However, RDRAM is pretty expensive and is onlyavailable with some motherboards.

Hard drives

RPM (Rotations Per Minute): This is the spindle speed of ahard drive. Till now 5,400 rpm was commonly available, but recently 7,200-rpmhard drives have become entry level. Faster spin speeds improve the performanceof a PC.

SCSI (Small Computer System Interface): A high-speedinterface used by some hard disks, CD-ROM drives, scanners, etc. SCSI devicesare available in three flavors–SCSI, SCSI 2, and SCSI 3. SCSI 3, the latestone, is also referred to as Ultra SCSI. This is used in graphics applications,video editing, network servers, etc, where high-speed sustained data transfersare required.

UltraATA/UltraDMA: These terms are used interchangeably. Theyrefer to the interface of your hard drive or the technology that offers fasterdata transfer rates. The UltraATA/100 is the latest one and offers transferrates of 100 MB/sec. UltraATA/66 is the commonly-used one and supports transferrates of 66 MB/sec. Most motherboards these days support the UltraATA/66interface. So, to use this technology, hard drives and cables that connect themto the motherboard must also be UltraATA/ 66 compliant.

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