Please study the 15 vocabulary terms below. Then press the Mark Complete button to continue.
- BIOS (basic input output system)
- chipset
- coprocessor
- graphics card
- GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
- microprocessor
- motherboard
- NIC (network interface card)
- PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
- PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express)
- power supply
- SATA (Serial ATA)
- sound card
- spec (specification)
- USB (Universal Serial Bus)
USA
UK
Normally a ROM program that controls the base functionality of the computer such as video, hard drives, optical drives, and keyboard.
USA
UK
The technician needed to upgrade the BIOS before installing a faster processor in the workstation.
USA
UK
A collection of integrated circuits on the motherboard designed to perform certain tasks such as controlling components and system buses.
USA
UK
Speccing a low-end chipset is not a good way to save money when building a new PC.
USA
UK
Any computer processor or portion of the CPU which assists the main processor with a highly specialized task.
USA
UK
Many older microprocessors included a coprocessor to speed up floating-point calculations.
USA
UK
A component of a computer which is designed to convert a binary image stored in memory to a display medium.
USA
UK
The latest and greatest games normally require the latest and greatest graphics cards.
USA
UK
A specialized coprocessor designed to handle graphical calculations such as 3D modeling and games.
USA
UK
Most computers come specced with a weak GPU embedded into the motherboard and designed for business applications and simple 2D games.
USA
UK
An electronic device constructed from microscopic transistors on a single integrated circuit.
USA
UK
The microprocessor is often thought to be the central brain of a computer because it performs most of the calculations.
USA
UK
The main circuit board in a computer that carries the system buses, sockets for processors, memory modules, etc..
USA
UK
The processor, RAM, and PCI cards plug directly into the motherboard.
USA
UK
A wired or increasingly wireless PCI or USB device that connects a computer to a network.
USA
UK
Almost every computer that ships today has some sort of NIC, so it can attach to a network.
USA
UK
A standard 32-bit bus running at 132 MB/s.
USA
UK
The network card used a PCI bus connector which snapped into the motherboard.
USA
UK
A newer bus type used mainly for graphic cards and running at speeds up to 16,000 MB/s.
USA
UK
The boy grinned ear-to-ear when he received a new PCI Express graphics card for Christmas.
USA
UK
A separate unit or part of a circuit that supplies the correct amount of electrical current to a computer system.
USA
UK
Nick upgraded to a 600 watt power supply when he added a new graphics card and two more hard drives.
USA
UK
A widely used bus for connecting hard disk drives and similar devices to the motherboard.
USA
UK
The SSD storage device came with a SATA connection running at 6 Gbit/s.
USA
UK
A hardware component which allows a computer to play and record audio.
USA
UK
The musician installed a dedicated sound card to replace the cheap one that came with his computer.
USA
UK
A clear set of technical or quantitative requirements.
USA
UK
The lead technician became angry when his assistant bought equipment outside the specification.
USA
UK
A fast and convenient computer technology allowing the connection of common peripherals, such as digital cameras, scanners, external hard drives, etc..
USA
UK
USB technology is so fast and easy to use, it is hard to even remember what similar connection types existed before it.