Glossary

Technical terms applied to computing products

• 80 PLUS

  It is the most worldwide recognized Certification in the standard of efficiency in power supplies, which ensures that any source 80 PLUS certified is at least 80% efficient.
  
  

• Active PFC

  Power Factor Correction (PFC) allows power distribution to operate at peak efficiency. There are two types of PFC: Active PFC and Passive PFC. The Active Power Factor Correction (PFC active) is the preferable type of PFC, often providing a more energy-efficient operation. Active PFC uses a circuit to correct power factor, Active PFC is able to generate a theoretical power factor of over 95%. Active Power Factor Correction also automatically corrects for AC input voltage, and is capable of a wide range of input voltage. Also, it is the most complex method of Power Factor. Thus, naturally it is more expensive to produce an Active PFC power supply.

• AGP

  Accelerated Graphics Port. It is a bus specification that provides a direct connection between the graphics' adapter and memory.

• ATI Crossfire

  Dual GPU from ATI / AMD. This system allows for using a Crossfire certified motherboard, connected up to four graphic cards that support this technology for PCIe x16 slots.

• BUS

  In a computer, the bus is the data route on the motherboard, which connects the microprocessor with the accompanying extensions connected to the spaces or slots for expansion. For example the hard disk, CD-ROM drive, and video cards.

• Capacitors

  A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy.

• CE

  The CE mark is originally French, standing for "Conformité Européenne" or European Conformity. It is a European trademark for certain groups of industrial products or services. It is supported by the regulation 93/68/EEC. The mark was established by the European Community and is the testimony by the manufacturer that its product meets the minimum legal requirements and technical safety of the Member States of the European Union.

• Certification

  It is a method by which an institution or person ensures that a product is really what it claims to be.

• DirectX

  It is a collection of API created to facilitate the complex tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video on Microsoft Windows platforms.

• E-Sata

  External SATA. SATA connection for external optical drives.

• Efficiency

  Energy efficiency is the ratio between the amount of energy consumed and the amount of energy delivered by the power source, expressed in percentage.

• FCC

  An acronym for Federal Communications Commission.

• GB - gigabyte

  One gigabyte (GB) equals to 1,024 million bytes, or 1024 megabytes. It is commonly used to describe the space on a storage media. There are 1024 Gigabytes in a Terabyte.

• Gigahertz

  A gigahertz is 1,000 megahertz (MHz) or 1,000,000,000 Hz. It is commonly used to measure the speed of computer's processor. For many years, CPU speed was expressed in megahertz, but PCs evolved and the speed easily passed the 1,000 MHz mark, thus around the year 2000, gigahertz was adopted as the standard measure.

• HDCP

  High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection , which means protection of digital content with high bandwidth. It is a specification developed by Intel to control the audio and video content transmitted via digital DVI or HDMI connections.

• HDMI

  "High-Definition Multimedia Interface." It is an interface for transmitting digital audio and video data in a single cable. Most HDTV (high definition TV), DVD, Blu-ray, cable boxes, and game consoles have HDMI support.

• LCD

  Liquid Crystal Display. Liquid crystals are activated by electric fields to produce the image on the display.

• Low Profile

  O low-profile VGA board. Using these video cards low profile in those ITX computer cabinets, or FLEX SLIM having a width not exceeding 105mm.

• MB - Megabyte

  The Megabyte (MB) equals one million bytes or a thousand kilobytes (exactly 1,048,576 bytes). There are 1024 Megabytes in a Gigabyte.

• Mbps

  Megabits per second. It is the unit of measure for the capacity of transmission over a telecommunication line, where each megabit is composed of 1,048,576 bits.

• MHz

  Unit of frequency which equals to one million cycles per second.

• MotherBoard

  It is an integrated circuit board that contains many microchips. They are, usually: the microprocessor, support electronic circuits, slots for connecting some or all of RAM system, ROM, and special slots that allow for additional adapter cards connection(eg, video cards and sound).

• Nvidia PUREVIDEO

  NVIDIA PureVideo technology eliminates the effects of double images, blurring and distortion of video for maximum display clarity.

• Nvidia SLI

  NVIDIA SLI technology is a technology that can dramatically increase graphics performance by combining multiple GPU NVIDIA into a single system with one communications processor and media contents (MCP) NVIDIA nForce SLI.

• NVIDIA® PhysX®

  NVIDIA PhysX technology provides ultra-realistic effects and physical environment in real time.

• OpenGL

  Open Graphics Library is a standard specification that defines a multi-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different functions that can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitive ones such as points, lines and triangles

• Overclocking

  In the computer world a fast processor can become even faster when "over clocking". This process involves increasing the speed of the CPU clock from what it was originally designed to run. This is a common demand of people involved in video games,who need the highest possible speed to run the games which are becoming more real and thus require more computer resources.

• Pixel

  The smallest and most discrete component of an image on a monitor or screen. It is a minimum point. The greater the number of pixels per inch, the higher the resolution

• RoHS

  Restriction of Hazardous Substances. It restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electrical and electronic equipment. It is closely related to the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment RoHS, restricting the use of the following six substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium VI (also known as hexavalent chromium), PBB and PBDE.

• SATA

  Abbreviation of Serial ATA or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It is a standard for connecting hard drives to your computer. As the name implies, SATA is based on serial technology, contrary to the IDE hard disk which uses parallel signaling technology.

• SECC

  SECC is a special kind of steel. The acronym means ColdRolled Steel Coil Electro galvanized.

• Tower

  It is the computer chassis, characterized by a vertical position. The difference between mini tower, mid tower, high tower, or full tower cabinets only depend on their size and ability to accommodate the PC's hardware components.

• Types and dimensions ATX

  ATX - 305 mm x 244 mm1 Mini-ATX - 28.4cm x 20.8cm Micro-ATX - 24.4cm x 24.4cm Flex-ATX - 22.9cm x 19.1cm E-ATX - 30.5cm x 33cm

• UL

  The UL mark on a product indicates that UL has assessed representative samples of that product and determined whether or not it meets UL's requirements and standards. According to a wide variety of programs, UL periodically checks random samples of products in their manufacturing facilities to ensure that they continue to meet UL's requirements. UL certifications can only be used on products approved by UL (or in connection with them) and under the terms of UL's established and written agreement.

• USB

  Universal Serial Bus - Standard used on PCs in order to recognize the hardware devices (printer, keyboard, etc.), and put into operation quickly and easily. It eliminates the need to install adapters in the PC.

• Watercooling

  Cooling or Watercooling liquid cooling is a technique that uses water instead of heat sinks and fans (inside the chassis), achieving excellent results in terms of temperatures, and increasing potential for overclocking.