Motherboards, Processors, and Memory

• TPM (Trusted Platform Module


  A microchip installed on the motherboard of desktop and portable computers, which stores critical encryption keys in hardware inaccessible to the operating system or most attackers.
• CPU (Central Processing Unit)


  A silicon microchip that processes all instructions, whether they be entered through user input or submitted by a computer program.
• Expansion Slot


  A hardware interface that enables the communication between PC and expansion devices.
• Hyperthreading


  A CPU feature that simulates two logical processors on one physical processor by using registers to overlap two instruction streams.
• ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)


  Performs all arithmetic and logic operations for the CPU.
• Bus


  A communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer or between computers.
• Cache


  A system component that stores recently used information so that it can be quickly accessed at a later time.
• CMOS (Complementary Meta-Oxide Semiconductor)


  The battery-backed memory that stores BIOS or UEFI settings.
• Dual-Channel Memory


  A DDR, DDR2, or DDR3 chipset on the motherboard providing RAM with two dedicated high-throughput data channels. These channels permit reading from and writing to memory to occur on distinct channels.
• Form Factor


  The size, configuration, or physical arrangement of a computing device.
• Motherboard


  Container for the electronic circuitry and connectors for the critical components of your computer.
• Northbridge Chip


  Connected directly to the CPU via the front-side bus. It is responsible managing high-speed communications between the CPU and key components, like RAM, graphics card, and Southbridge Chip.
• Southbridge Chip


  Manages lower-speed peripheral buses, such as USB and SATA, along with input/output operations for keyboards, mice, printers, etc.