Keeping up with the latest PC technology is difficult, but it’s overwhelming if you don’t understand all the jargon you encounter when reading articles and spec sheets. From CPUs to GPUs and their inner workings, to motherboards and their varying parts, different display technologies and types and vendor-created phrases, you can wind up in tech terminology turmoil.
That's why we have developed this handy glossary. With the information below, you can learn the meaning of—or refresh your memory on—commonly used--but often confusing--tech terms. We’ll be adding to the glossary over time as we find more PC terms and phrases that leave us scratching our heads...so you don't have to.
Index
- 2K
- 4K
- 5K
- 720p
- 1080p
- 1440p
- 10-bit color
- 12-bit color
- Alder Lake
- APU
- AVC (opens in new tab)
- Binning
- BIOS
- Bus
- Cache
- Cannon Lake
- Capacitor
- CAS latency / CL timings
- CCX
- Chassis
- Chipset
- Clock speed
- Coffee Lake
- Comet Lake
- Contrast ratio
- Core
- CPU frequency
- DCI-P3
- Delta E (dE)
- DIMM slots
- Delidding
- Discrete GPU
- DLSS (deep learning super sampling)
- DRAM
- EOTF
- ECC memory
- Eye tracking
- FALD (full-array local dimming)
- Favored Core (opens in new tab)
- FOV (field of view)
- FHD
- FPGA
- FreeSync
- Full HD
- FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution)
- Gamma
- GPU
- GPU Boost
- Graphics card
- Grayscale
- G-Sync
- H.264 (opens in new tab)
- H.265 (opens in new tab)
- HBM
- HBM2
- HBM2E
- Heatsink
- HEIC
- HEVC (opens in new tab)
- HD
- HDR
- Hyper-threading
- IHS (integrated heat spreader)
- Input latency
- Integrated GPU
- Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 (opens in new tab)
- IPC
- IPS
- Kaby Lake
- LED
- LCD
- M.2
- Max-Q
- MOSFET
- Motherboard
- Motherboard firmware
- N-key rollover
- NVMe
- OCP (overcurrent protection)
- OPP (overpower protection)
- OLED
- PCIe
- PWM (pulse width modulation)
- QHD
- RAID Controller
- RAM
- Ray tracing
- Refresh rate
- Response time
- Rocket Lake
- SDRAM
- Skylake
- SLI
- SoC (system on a chip)
- Socket
- SRAM
- Simultaneous multithreading
- S/PDIF
- sRGB
- SSD
- TDP
- Thread
- Thunderbolt 4
- TPM header
- TN
- UEFI
- UHD
- Ultra HD
- USB 3.1
- USB 4
- USB Type-C
- VA
- Variable rate shading (VRS)
- Viewing angle
- Video card
- VRM
- Whiskey Lake
- Windows 10X
- WUXGA
- WQHD
- X570 chipset
