The latest, most popular form factor; 12 x 9.6 inches
What is ATX (Advanced Technology Extended)
100
A memory chip that is used as main memory.
DRAM must be constantly refreshed with pulses of electricity in order to maintain the data stored within the chip.
What is DRAM?
100
NIC
What is Network Interface Card?
100
An individual memory chip.
Has dual rows of pins used to attach it to the motherboard.
What is DIP (Dual Inline Package)?
100
Industry name: PC-100
Peak transfer rate: 800 MB/s
What is PC100 SDRAM?
200
Smaller footprint of ATX; 5.9 x 5.9 inches
What is Mini-ATX?
200
A memory chip that is used as cache memory.
Does not have to be refreshed as oft
More expensive.
What is SRAM?
200
SCSI
What is Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)?
200
A small circuit board that holds several memory chips.
Have 30-pin or 72-pin configurations.
What is SIMM?
200
Industry name: PC-2700
Peak transfer rate: 2700 MB/s
What is DDR-333?
300
Smaller footprint of ATX
9.6 x 9.6 inches
Have fewer expansion slots
What is Micro-ATX?
300
Operates in synchronization with the memory bus
What is SDRAM?
300
CNR?
What is Communications and Networking Riser?
Note: CNR is a special slot used for some networking or audio expansion cards. Not in use anymore because many functions of the CNR are found on-board the motherboard.
300
A circuit board that holds SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, and DDR3 SDRAM chips.
What is DIMM Memory (Dual Inline Memory Module)?
300
Industry name: PC-3200
Peak transfer rate: 3200 MB/s
What is DDR-400?
400
Smaller than the Micro-ATX
6.7 x 6.7 inches
Uses very little power
Fan not necessary
Has only 1 PCI slot for expansion cards
What is Mini-ITX?
400
Memory that transfers data twice as fast as SDRAM
Increases performance by transferring data twice per clock cycle.
What is DDR SDRAM?
400
IDE
What is Integrated Drive Electronics?
400
A circuit board that holds RDRAM chips.
Typically has a 184-pin configuration.
What is RIMM (RAMBus Inline Memory Module)?
400
Industry name: PC2-5300
Peak transfer rate: 5333 MB/s
What is DDR2-667?
500
Smallest ITX motherboard
2.4 x 2.4 inches
What is Mobile-ITX?
500
Faster memory.
Improves performance by decreasing noise and crosstalk between the signal wires.
What is DDR2 SDRAM?
500
HDMI
What is High-Definition Multimedia Interface?
500
Smaller, more condensed version of DIMM.
Provides random access data storage that is ideal for use in laptops, printers, and other devices where conserving space is desirable.
What is SODIMM (Small Outline DIMM)?
500
Industry name: PC3-17000
Peak transfer rate: 17066 MB/s