Glossary
36 terms straight off the spec sheet. Short definition here; the full story is in the linked guide.
- 12V-2×6
- The 16-pin graphics card power connector defined in ATX 3.1 and PCIe CEM 5.1, successor to 12VHPWR. Sense pins tell the card how much power it may draw, up to 600 W. Guide →
- 3-2-1 rule
- Three copies of important data, on two different types of media, one of them off-site. Guide →
- BIOS / UEFI
- The motherboard firmware that initialises the hardware and starts the operating system. Updates often add support for newer processors. Guide →
- Chipset
- A chip on the motherboard that adds PCIe lanes, USB and SATA ports, and determines things such as overclocking options. Guide →
- DDR5
- The fifth generation of DDR SDRAM. Not interchangeable with DDR4 – the module notch is in a different place and voltage regulation (PMIC) sits on the module itself. Guide →
- DisplayPort Alt Mode
- A mode in which a USB-C port carries a DisplayPort signal for a monitor. Guide →
- DSC (Display Stream Compression)
- VESA’s video stream compression, which its member companies judged visually lossless in testing. It allows higher resolutions and refresh rates over the same interface. Guide →
- E-waste take-back
- Handing in an old electrical device to the retailer – one for one when buying a new one; small devices up to 25 cm also without buying anything at larger shops (Slovak Act No. 79/2015 Coll.). Guide →
- ESU
- Extended Security Updates – extended security updates for Windows 10 after the end of regular support, for home users until 12 October 2027. Guide →
- EXPO / XMP
- Profiles stored on a memory module that set a higher speed and different timings than the standard. This is overclocking. Guide →
- GT/s
- Gigatransfers per second – the number of transfers per second on a single lane. PCIe 4.0 runs at 16 GT/s, PCIe 5.0 at 32 GT/s. Guide →
- LGA
- Land Grid Array – a socket type where the spring contacts are in the socket on the board and the processor has only flat pads. Guide →
- M.2
- A form factor and connector for small expansion cards, mainly SSDs. It does not define the interface – an M.2 drive can be SATA or NVMe. Guide →
- Mesh
- A Wi-Fi system with several access points that together form one network with one name. Guide →
- MLO (Multi-Link Operation)
- A Wi-Fi 7 feature that lets a device use several links and bands at the same time. Guide →
- MT/s
- Megatransfers per second – the unit of memory speed. DDR5-5600 means 5600 MT/s. Guide →
- NAS
- Network Attached Storage – storage connected to the network, often with several drives. In the 3-2-1 rule it counts as one copy. Guide →
- NVMe
- A protocol for SSDs connected over PCIe. It uses more lanes and deeper command queues than the older SATA (AHCI). Guide →
- OFDMA
- A Wi-Fi 6 technique that divides a channel into smaller parts so the router can serve several devices at once. Guide →
- PCIe (PCI Express)
- A serial interface for graphics cards, SSDs and expansion cards. Generations are backwards compatible. Guide →
- PPT / Maximum Turbo Power
- The processor’s maximum power draw. AMD: Package Power Tracking; Intel: Maximum Turbo Power. Usually higher than TDP. Guide →
- QVL / CPU support list
- The board maker’s lists: tested memory modules (QVL) and supported processors with the minimum BIOS version. Guide →
- RAID
- Combining several drives into an array. RAID 1 (a mirror) protects against a drive failure, not against deletion, ransomware or fire. Guide →
- SO-DIMM
- A shorter memory module for laptops and small PCs. Soldered memory (often LPDDR) cannot be upgraded. Guide →
- Socket
- The mechanical and electrical interface between processor and motherboard, e.g. AM5 or LGA1851. A processor only fits the same socket. Guide →
- TDP
- Thermal Design Power – the heat output the cooling is designed for. It is not the processor’s maximum power draw. Guide →
- TGP / TBP
- A graphics card’s power draw: Total Graphics Power (NVIDIA), Typical Board Power (AMD). Guide →
- Throttling
- An automatic reduction in processor or graphics performance once a temperature or power limit is reached. Guide →
- Thunderbolt
- Intel’s interface over the USB-C connector. Thunderbolt 5 is built on USB4 V2: 80 Gb/s bidirectional, with Bandwidth Boost up to 120 Gb/s. Guide →
- Tjmax
- The maximum operating temperature of a chip according to its maker. Guide →
- TPM 2.0
- A security module for storing keys. Windows 11 requires it; it is often built into the processor firmware. Guide →
- UASP
- USB Attached SCSI Protocol – more efficient command handling for drives over USB 3.x, if both the enclosure and the system support it. Guide →
- UHBR
- Ultra-high Bit Rate – DisplayPort 2.x modes. UHBR20 = 20 Gb/s per lane; with four lanes, 80 Gb/s. Guide →
- USB Power Delivery (USB PD)
- The USB-C charging protocol. Revision 3.1 goes up to 240 W at 48 V. Mandatory for laptops in the EU above 15 W. Guide →
- USB4
- A USB generation built on the Thunderbolt protocol. Up to 40 Gb/s; version 2.0 up to 80 Gb/s. Tunnels USB, DisplayPort and PCIe. Guide →
- Wh (watt-hour)
- The unit of battery capacity. A 60 Wh battery could in theory last an hour at a 60 W draw. Guide →