Below is a list of definitions compiled by MO Customs Computers to allow you to make better buying decisions. Please read through them at your convenience as to supplement your knowledge in Desktop PC's so you can buy with peace of mind.
As always if you need clarification please contact us here or call: 0844 357 1032
ATA - Stands for "Advanced Technology Attachment." ATA is the standard hard drive connection introduced in 1986 which was superseded by the SATA connection. It is simply the format used to connect hard drive and motherboard.
AUDIO 5.1 - The term "5.1" refers to the number of channels in the most common of today's surround-sound configurations. The "5" refers to the five main channels - left front, centre front, right front, left surround and right surround - while the ".1" refers to the low frequency effects channel, also known as LFE.
AUDIO 13.1 - AKA Dolby TrueHD Discrete Digital 13.1 Surround. TrueHD is a very confusing name. It has nothing to do with high def video -- it's an audio standard. Confusing name aside, TrueHD is a next-generation lossless surround encoding standard. Supporting up to 24-bit/96 kHz audio at up to 18 Mbits, it's a mandatory standard on HD-DVD and is optional on Blu-ray. It uses a HDMI 1.3 connection standard.
BLU-RAY - Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage. The disc has the same dimensions as a standard DVD or CD. The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet coloured) used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a dual layer DVD.
CACHE - Cache is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access. Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data, so that the average access time is shorter. Cache, therefore, helps expedite data access that the CPU would otherwise need to fetch from main memory.
CHIPSET - The term chipset is commonly used to refer to a set of specialized chips on a computer's motherboard. Processors themselves also have different chipsets. For example, a Core 2 Duo and Quad Core have slightly different chipsets. Although there are many different types of chipsets that reside in today's computer hardware, the average user does not need to know much about them.
CPU - The CPU (Central Processing Unit a.k.a Processor) is the micro chip which runs the computer and allows it process data and instructions. It is also known as the processor and comes in different forms such as Quad Core or Dual Core. The different types of CPU offer different levels of performance and processing powers. The main two CPU manufacturers are Intel and AMD. MO Customs Computers currently only use Intel and AMD processors in their systems as we believe they are of a superior quality.
CPU CACHE - A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used main memory locations.
CROSSFIRE - ATI CrossFireX™ is a multi-GPU performance gaming platform. Enabling game-dominating power, ATI CrossFireX technology enables two or more discrete graphics processors to work together to improve system performance.
DUAL-CORE - A dual-core processor is a CPU with two processors or "execution cores" in the same integrated circuit. Each processor has its own cache and controller, which enables it to function as efficiently as a single processor. However, because the two processors are linked together, they can perform operations up to twice as fast as a single processor can.
DVD-ROM - A DVD-ROM is simply a DVD player. It will only read the disk.
DVD+or-RW - A DVD+RW or DVD-RW is a rewritable DVD or DVD drive. It allows you to wipe and re-record onto matching DVD disks.
DVI - Stands for "Digital Video Interface". DVI is a video connection standard created by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). Most DVI ports support both analogue and digital displays. If the display is analogue, the DVI connection converts the digital signal to an analogue signal. If the display is digital, no conversion is necessary.
There are three types of DVI connections: 1) DVI-A (for analog), 2) DVI-D (for digital), and 3) DVI-I (integrated, for both analog and digital). You can find DVI ports on good quality graphics cards in computers as well as on high-end televisions.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE - Simply put it's a hard drive in a hard external case that connects to your pc via usb or firewire connections.
EXTREME GAMING PC - An extreme gaming pc will be of a very high specification throughout. High end gaming requires a powerful CPU, GPU, lots of RAM and good quality power supply, and a good cooling fan or possibly a liquid cooling system if overclocked. MO Customs Computers offer a wide range of both gaming and extreme gaming pc's including Sli, triple Sli, Liquid cooled and Crossfire versions. MO Customs Computer's gaming series of computers will have a (GT) suffix.
GPU - A GPU stands for Graphics processing unit. Very much like the main pc processor the GPU is to be found on your graphics card and basically runs the graphics show computing 3D functions. A GPU processes mathematically intensive tasks in order for your pc to display 3D effects including lighting and motion. A more powerful GPU is better for any graphics application, particularly gaming where there is a great deal of detail which is constantly changing and therefore requires some major processing power. A GPU will make billions of operations per second and lifts this burden from the CPU. The GPU is only one part of the graphics card and you have to ensure that the card itself is of as good a quality as the processor. Cheap graphics cards will dramatically affect performance even with a good GPU on it.
GIGABYTE - A gigabyte is the storage value given to hard drives. Hard drives are typically measured in gigabytes such as 250 GB or 500Gb. 1 gigabyte is 1 million bytes or 1024 megabytes. A gigabyte is often abbreviated as a "gig" as in "my hard drive is 500 gig". Technology is moving at such a pace that nowadays you can buy hard drives that are 1000 gigabytes is size or 1 Terabyte (1TB). The more hard drive space you have on you pc the more data you can store, but remember to have an option to backup your data as hard drives are not fail-safe.
GIGAHERTZ - Shortened to as GHz. This is the way in which CPU processing speeds are measured. Up until the year 2000 they were measured in megahertz (MHz) but once speeds eclipsed the 1000MHz mark the industry turned to GHz. Gigahertz is most commonly used to measure processor speeds but is also used to measure RAM speeds. The higher GHz the number, the faster the speed of the component. However, when comparing pc, do not rely solely on the processor speeds as a measurement of the overall system quality. It is simply one functioning part and many other components are just as important.
GRAPHICS CARD - Can also be referred to as a video adapter, video card, video board, and video display board and graphics adapter. An expansion card that interprets drawing instructions sent by the CPU processes them via a dedicated graphics processor found on the graphics card and writes the resulting frame data to the frame buffer. The graphics cards primary purpose is to continuously convert the graphic patterns (bitmaps) in memory frame buffers into signals for the monitor's screen. However, high-end adapters do a whole lot more. They move the image through a graphics pipeline adding texture and 2D and 3D effects, all functions that used to be done by the computer's CPU.
HARD DISK - The hard disk is where your computer permanently stores your data. Hard drives are made of many complex components and the quality of the parts used will affect its performance. MO Customs Computers only uses top quality hard drives in their systems - this is something that is often overlooked when buying a pc. The hard disk is made of a stack of magnetised disks/platters (usually aluminium alloy), the more platters or layers there are, the bigger the capacity of the hard drive. The drive is attached to a spindle which spins it around at great speed (between 5200 and 10000 RPM). Whilst spinning read and write "heads" can either read or write information to/from any part of the disk. The faster the hard drive spin speed, the faster you can access the information on it. Most of our hard drives are 7200 RPM but the Velociraptor drives run at 10000 RPM giving you faster access to your data.
HARD DRIVE CACHE - This is the embedded memory in a hard drive acting as a buffer between the computer and the physical hard disk platter that is used for storage. Most hard drives have either an 8mb or 16mb cache. Generally speaking the larger the cache the better (improved transfer rate, less use on the CPU, and shorter access time) the performance will be. All MO Customs Computers systems come with 8mb+ cache hard drives as standard.
IDE - "The term IDE, or "Integrated Drive Electronics," is also used to refer to ATA hard drives. Sometimes (generally to add extra confusion to people buying hard drives), ATA drives are labelled as "IDE/ATA." Technically, ATA uses IDE technology, but the important thing to know is that they refer to the same thing.
LIQUID COOLING - Also known as water cooling was originally limited to mainframe computers. A liquid-cooling system for a PC works a lot like the cooling system of a car. Both take advantage of a basic principle of thermodynamics - which heat moves from warmer objects to cooler objects. As the cooler object gets warmer, the warmer object gets cooler. You can experience this principle firsthand by putting your hand flat on a cool spot on your desk for several seconds. When you lift your hand, your palm will be a little cooler, and the spot where your hand was will be a little warmer. Water cooling is necessary where simple airflow will not dissipate heat fast enough. This kind of extra cooling is usually required by those who run parts of their computer in particular the CPU and Graphics cards at higher voltages or frequencies than manufacturer specifications call for. This is called over clocking and this modification of settings results in a greater amount of heat generation.
MEMORY - Memory is referred to as RAM short for Random Access Memory. The RAM is your pc's temporary memory (unlike your hard disk which is permanent). RAM is available for any programs to use (randomly) whilst in use. Memory is added in blocks, for example 1mb or 2mb (MB stands for mega byte or million bytes). Modern programs such as Vista require a minimum RAM of 2GB to run without hesitation. It will usually state on the back of the packaging something like "requires minimum 1mb RAM". However the more programs you run at any one time the more RAM you require. This is why so many people opt for more RAM, ensuring that their pc doesn't slow down when a number of programs are opened at once. RAM also comes in varying speeds. Generally speaking the faster the RAM the more expensive it is. Very fast RAM is usually only needed for extreme gaming and graphics/media applications. Should you require any further information about RAM please call one of our representatives on 0844 357 1032.
MOTHERBOARD - Also known as the main board, system board or logic board, this is the main circuit board of your computer. If you ever open your computer up, the biggest piece of silicon you see is the motherboard. A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane also contains the central processing unit and other subsystems such as real time clock, and some peripheral interfaces.
A typical desktop computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components on the motherboard. Each motherboard has a collection of chips and controllers that is known as the "chipset". When new motherboards are developed, they often use new chipsets. The good news is that these boards are typically more efficient and faster than their predecessors. The bad news is that you may not be able to add certain memory and CPU upgrades to older motherboards. Of course, that's typical of the computer industry.
OPTICAL DRIVE - This is a computer's peripheral device, which stores data on optical discs. Common media and technology families include CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. Some drives can only read from discs, but commonly drives are both readers and recorders. Recorders are sometimes called burners or writers. Many pc's these days have bays available for two optical drives.
OS - This is the short name for "Operating System"; examples of which are Windows XP, Windows 7 or Linux. An operating system (OS) is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of a computer, that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the resource allocation and access protection of the hardware.
This relieves application programmers from having to manage these details. Currently we are only shipping Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with all of our PC's. If you want Windows to be shipped with your computer please select the "Base Unit + OS" option when buying your Desktop PC.
QUAD CORE - A single CPU chip that has four distinct processors which work simultaneously. Quad Core processors have multi-core technology which includes two separate dual-core dies. Quad Core processors offer greater processing power over standard Dual Core CPU's.
SATA - Stands for "Serial Advanced Technology Attachment," or "Serial ATA." It is an interface used to connect ATA hard drives to a computer's motherboard. Primarily SATA is an architecture designed for transfer of data between a computer and mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives. SATA first generation ran at speeds of 1.5 Gbits/s but the newest SATA now runs at 3.0Gbits/s
SATA 3.0 Gbits/s - SATA 3.0Gbits/s is the newest and fastest SATA architecture. SATA/300's transfer rate is expected to satisfy drive throughput requirements for some time, as the fastest desktop hard disks barely saturate a SATA/150 link. A SATA data cable rated for 1.5 Gbit/s will handle current second-generation SATA 3.0 Gbit/s drives without any loss of sustained and burst data transfer performance. It is important to note at this point that all MO Customs Computers systems run SATA 3.0Gbits/s.
SLI - Stands for "Scalable Link Interface". Sli is a brand name for a multi-GPU solution developed by Nvidia for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output. SLI is an application of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics. The basic idea of SLI is to allow two or more graphics processing units (GPUs) to share the work load when rendering a 3D scene. Ideally, two identical graphics cards are installed in a motherboard that contains two PCI-Express x16 slots, set up in a master-slave configuration. Both cards are given the same part of the 3D scene to render, but effectively half of the work load is sent to the slave card through a connector called the SLI Bridge. As an example, the master card works on the top half of the scene while the slave card works on the bottom half. When the slave card is done, it sends its output to the master card, which combines the two images to form one and then outputs the final render to the monitor.
SURROUND SOUND - In the beginning, there was mono, which had just one channel. Mono died when Stereo was born which has two channels. Stereo spawned a whole range of audio monsters of which 7.1 is the result although there is now TrueHD 13.1 Surround sound for Blu-Ray and HDDVD. In simple terms surround sound is the generic concept of audio playback over two or more speakers to provide spatial imaging in two or three dimensions. Basically the sound "surrounds' you and simulates the experience of being right in the middle of a game scene or listening to music in the actual concert hall where it was recorded. This is accomplished using numerous technologies. There are both analog and digital surround sound encoding methods. Surround sound is a key component in home theatre audio systems.
3 Way SLI - Also known as triple SLI. The setup can be achieved using three high-end video cards which when combined it delivers up to a 2.8x performance increase over a single GPU system, giving high-end gamers approximately 60 frames per second at resolutions as high as 2560x1600. 3-way SLI is limited to the GeForce 8800 GTX, 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX and June 2008 introduced the GTX 260 and GTX 280 graphics cards on the 680i, 780i and 790i chipsets.
SOUND CARD - This is a computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to/from a computer under control of computer programs. Typical uses of sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation/education, and entertainment (games).
STORAGE - Hard drive space is often referred to as storage or storage space. However, storage can often also refer to something external such as a backup device like an external hard drive.
USB - Stands for "Universal Serial Bus." USB replaced the old COM ports and is the most common type of computer port used in today's computers. It can be used to connect keyboards, mice, game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and removable media drives, just to name a few. USB 2.0 is the latest standard and supports raw transfer rates of up to 480mbps (mega bytes per second)
VELOCIRAPTOR - In April 2008 Western Digital rolled out the all new Velociraptor hard drive. Capable of speeds up to 10,000 RPM the Velociraptor is the fastest SATA Hard drive for standard pc. The increase in speed translates as faster access to files for the pc user.
VENTILATION - Airflow inside a pc is very important. The cooler a machine runs the better its performance and the longer the components will last. There are two main factors to consider when looking at system ventilation. The first is the case itself. Only the best quality cases have several built in fans. Our systems come with between three and seven built in case fans, cheap cases will have only one. Also good cases are made of Aluminium for better heat dispersion; cheap ones are usually made of steel. It's important when buying any kind of custom pc to understand that a cheap case will reduce the performance and life of your system.
We always ensure you have a good quality case. The second factor to consider is the use of a top quality, quiet CPU fan. The CPU or processor is the heart of your system and needs to be kept cool without waking up the neighbours. Many PC builders will not mention what fans they use because they bump up their profits by using cheap alternatives. MO Customs Computers only uses the very best quiet fans in its pc's. By following these rules you will have a quiet running, fast performing, and long lasting pc.
MO Customs Computers.......Build Your Dreams Today!
As always if you need clarification please contact us here or call: 0844 357 1032
ATA - Stands for "Advanced Technology Attachment." ATA is the standard hard drive connection introduced in 1986 which was superseded by the SATA connection. It is simply the format used to connect hard drive and motherboard.
AUDIO 5.1 - The term "5.1" refers to the number of channels in the most common of today's surround-sound configurations. The "5" refers to the five main channels - left front, centre front, right front, left surround and right surround - while the ".1" refers to the low frequency effects channel, also known as LFE.
AUDIO 13.1 - AKA Dolby TrueHD Discrete Digital 13.1 Surround. TrueHD is a very confusing name. It has nothing to do with high def video -- it's an audio standard. Confusing name aside, TrueHD is a next-generation lossless surround encoding standard. Supporting up to 24-bit/96 kHz audio at up to 18 Mbits, it's a mandatory standard on HD-DVD and is optional on Blu-ray. It uses a HDMI 1.3 connection standard.
BLU-RAY - Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage. The disc has the same dimensions as a standard DVD or CD. The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet coloured) used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a dual layer DVD.
CACHE - Cache is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access. Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data, so that the average access time is shorter. Cache, therefore, helps expedite data access that the CPU would otherwise need to fetch from main memory.
CHIPSET - The term chipset is commonly used to refer to a set of specialized chips on a computer's motherboard. Processors themselves also have different chipsets. For example, a Core 2 Duo and Quad Core have slightly different chipsets. Although there are many different types of chipsets that reside in today's computer hardware, the average user does not need to know much about them.
CPU - The CPU (Central Processing Unit a.k.a Processor) is the micro chip which runs the computer and allows it process data and instructions. It is also known as the processor and comes in different forms such as Quad Core or Dual Core. The different types of CPU offer different levels of performance and processing powers. The main two CPU manufacturers are Intel and AMD. MO Customs Computers currently only use Intel and AMD processors in their systems as we believe they are of a superior quality.
CPU CACHE - A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used main memory locations.
CROSSFIRE - ATI CrossFireX™ is a multi-GPU performance gaming platform. Enabling game-dominating power, ATI CrossFireX technology enables two or more discrete graphics processors to work together to improve system performance.
DUAL-CORE - A dual-core processor is a CPU with two processors or "execution cores" in the same integrated circuit. Each processor has its own cache and controller, which enables it to function as efficiently as a single processor. However, because the two processors are linked together, they can perform operations up to twice as fast as a single processor can.
DVD-ROM - A DVD-ROM is simply a DVD player. It will only read the disk.
DVD+or-RW - A DVD+RW or DVD-RW is a rewritable DVD or DVD drive. It allows you to wipe and re-record onto matching DVD disks.
DVI - Stands for "Digital Video Interface". DVI is a video connection standard created by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). Most DVI ports support both analogue and digital displays. If the display is analogue, the DVI connection converts the digital signal to an analogue signal. If the display is digital, no conversion is necessary.
There are three types of DVI connections: 1) DVI-A (for analog), 2) DVI-D (for digital), and 3) DVI-I (integrated, for both analog and digital). You can find DVI ports on good quality graphics cards in computers as well as on high-end televisions.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE - Simply put it's a hard drive in a hard external case that connects to your pc via usb or firewire connections.
EXTREME GAMING PC - An extreme gaming pc will be of a very high specification throughout. High end gaming requires a powerful CPU, GPU, lots of RAM and good quality power supply, and a good cooling fan or possibly a liquid cooling system if overclocked. MO Customs Computers offer a wide range of both gaming and extreme gaming pc's including Sli, triple Sli, Liquid cooled and Crossfire versions. MO Customs Computer's gaming series of computers will have a (GT) suffix.
GPU - A GPU stands for Graphics processing unit. Very much like the main pc processor the GPU is to be found on your graphics card and basically runs the graphics show computing 3D functions. A GPU processes mathematically intensive tasks in order for your pc to display 3D effects including lighting and motion. A more powerful GPU is better for any graphics application, particularly gaming where there is a great deal of detail which is constantly changing and therefore requires some major processing power. A GPU will make billions of operations per second and lifts this burden from the CPU. The GPU is only one part of the graphics card and you have to ensure that the card itself is of as good a quality as the processor. Cheap graphics cards will dramatically affect performance even with a good GPU on it.
GIGABYTE - A gigabyte is the storage value given to hard drives. Hard drives are typically measured in gigabytes such as 250 GB or 500Gb. 1 gigabyte is 1 million bytes or 1024 megabytes. A gigabyte is often abbreviated as a "gig" as in "my hard drive is 500 gig". Technology is moving at such a pace that nowadays you can buy hard drives that are 1000 gigabytes is size or 1 Terabyte (1TB). The more hard drive space you have on you pc the more data you can store, but remember to have an option to backup your data as hard drives are not fail-safe.
GIGAHERTZ - Shortened to as GHz. This is the way in which CPU processing speeds are measured. Up until the year 2000 they were measured in megahertz (MHz) but once speeds eclipsed the 1000MHz mark the industry turned to GHz. Gigahertz is most commonly used to measure processor speeds but is also used to measure RAM speeds. The higher GHz the number, the faster the speed of the component. However, when comparing pc, do not rely solely on the processor speeds as a measurement of the overall system quality. It is simply one functioning part and many other components are just as important.
GRAPHICS CARD - Can also be referred to as a video adapter, video card, video board, and video display board and graphics adapter. An expansion card that interprets drawing instructions sent by the CPU processes them via a dedicated graphics processor found on the graphics card and writes the resulting frame data to the frame buffer. The graphics cards primary purpose is to continuously convert the graphic patterns (bitmaps) in memory frame buffers into signals for the monitor's screen. However, high-end adapters do a whole lot more. They move the image through a graphics pipeline adding texture and 2D and 3D effects, all functions that used to be done by the computer's CPU.
HARD DISK - The hard disk is where your computer permanently stores your data. Hard drives are made of many complex components and the quality of the parts used will affect its performance. MO Customs Computers only uses top quality hard drives in their systems - this is something that is often overlooked when buying a pc. The hard disk is made of a stack of magnetised disks/platters (usually aluminium alloy), the more platters or layers there are, the bigger the capacity of the hard drive. The drive is attached to a spindle which spins it around at great speed (between 5200 and 10000 RPM). Whilst spinning read and write "heads" can either read or write information to/from any part of the disk. The faster the hard drive spin speed, the faster you can access the information on it. Most of our hard drives are 7200 RPM but the Velociraptor drives run at 10000 RPM giving you faster access to your data.
HARD DRIVE CACHE - This is the embedded memory in a hard drive acting as a buffer between the computer and the physical hard disk platter that is used for storage. Most hard drives have either an 8mb or 16mb cache. Generally speaking the larger the cache the better (improved transfer rate, less use on the CPU, and shorter access time) the performance will be. All MO Customs Computers systems come with 8mb+ cache hard drives as standard.
IDE - "The term IDE, or "Integrated Drive Electronics," is also used to refer to ATA hard drives. Sometimes (generally to add extra confusion to people buying hard drives), ATA drives are labelled as "IDE/ATA." Technically, ATA uses IDE technology, but the important thing to know is that they refer to the same thing.
LIQUID COOLING - Also known as water cooling was originally limited to mainframe computers. A liquid-cooling system for a PC works a lot like the cooling system of a car. Both take advantage of a basic principle of thermodynamics - which heat moves from warmer objects to cooler objects. As the cooler object gets warmer, the warmer object gets cooler. You can experience this principle firsthand by putting your hand flat on a cool spot on your desk for several seconds. When you lift your hand, your palm will be a little cooler, and the spot where your hand was will be a little warmer. Water cooling is necessary where simple airflow will not dissipate heat fast enough. This kind of extra cooling is usually required by those who run parts of their computer in particular the CPU and Graphics cards at higher voltages or frequencies than manufacturer specifications call for. This is called over clocking and this modification of settings results in a greater amount of heat generation.
MEMORY - Memory is referred to as RAM short for Random Access Memory. The RAM is your pc's temporary memory (unlike your hard disk which is permanent). RAM is available for any programs to use (randomly) whilst in use. Memory is added in blocks, for example 1mb or 2mb (MB stands for mega byte or million bytes). Modern programs such as Vista require a minimum RAM of 2GB to run without hesitation. It will usually state on the back of the packaging something like "requires minimum 1mb RAM". However the more programs you run at any one time the more RAM you require. This is why so many people opt for more RAM, ensuring that their pc doesn't slow down when a number of programs are opened at once. RAM also comes in varying speeds. Generally speaking the faster the RAM the more expensive it is. Very fast RAM is usually only needed for extreme gaming and graphics/media applications. Should you require any further information about RAM please call one of our representatives on 0844 357 1032.
MOTHERBOARD - Also known as the main board, system board or logic board, this is the main circuit board of your computer. If you ever open your computer up, the biggest piece of silicon you see is the motherboard. A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane also contains the central processing unit and other subsystems such as real time clock, and some peripheral interfaces.
A typical desktop computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components on the motherboard. Each motherboard has a collection of chips and controllers that is known as the "chipset". When new motherboards are developed, they often use new chipsets. The good news is that these boards are typically more efficient and faster than their predecessors. The bad news is that you may not be able to add certain memory and CPU upgrades to older motherboards. Of course, that's typical of the computer industry.
OPTICAL DRIVE - This is a computer's peripheral device, which stores data on optical discs. Common media and technology families include CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. Some drives can only read from discs, but commonly drives are both readers and recorders. Recorders are sometimes called burners or writers. Many pc's these days have bays available for two optical drives.
OS - This is the short name for "Operating System"; examples of which are Windows XP, Windows 7 or Linux. An operating system (OS) is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of a computer, that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the resource allocation and access protection of the hardware.
This relieves application programmers from having to manage these details. Currently we are only shipping Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with all of our PC's. If you want Windows to be shipped with your computer please select the "Base Unit + OS" option when buying your Desktop PC.
QUAD CORE - A single CPU chip that has four distinct processors which work simultaneously. Quad Core processors have multi-core technology which includes two separate dual-core dies. Quad Core processors offer greater processing power over standard Dual Core CPU's.
SATA - Stands for "Serial Advanced Technology Attachment," or "Serial ATA." It is an interface used to connect ATA hard drives to a computer's motherboard. Primarily SATA is an architecture designed for transfer of data between a computer and mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives. SATA first generation ran at speeds of 1.5 Gbits/s but the newest SATA now runs at 3.0Gbits/s
SATA 3.0 Gbits/s - SATA 3.0Gbits/s is the newest and fastest SATA architecture. SATA/300's transfer rate is expected to satisfy drive throughput requirements for some time, as the fastest desktop hard disks barely saturate a SATA/150 link. A SATA data cable rated for 1.5 Gbit/s will handle current second-generation SATA 3.0 Gbit/s drives without any loss of sustained and burst data transfer performance. It is important to note at this point that all MO Customs Computers systems run SATA 3.0Gbits/s.
SLI - Stands for "Scalable Link Interface". Sli is a brand name for a multi-GPU solution developed by Nvidia for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output. SLI is an application of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics. The basic idea of SLI is to allow two or more graphics processing units (GPUs) to share the work load when rendering a 3D scene. Ideally, two identical graphics cards are installed in a motherboard that contains two PCI-Express x16 slots, set up in a master-slave configuration. Both cards are given the same part of the 3D scene to render, but effectively half of the work load is sent to the slave card through a connector called the SLI Bridge. As an example, the master card works on the top half of the scene while the slave card works on the bottom half. When the slave card is done, it sends its output to the master card, which combines the two images to form one and then outputs the final render to the monitor.
SURROUND SOUND - In the beginning, there was mono, which had just one channel. Mono died when Stereo was born which has two channels. Stereo spawned a whole range of audio monsters of which 7.1 is the result although there is now TrueHD 13.1 Surround sound for Blu-Ray and HDDVD. In simple terms surround sound is the generic concept of audio playback over two or more speakers to provide spatial imaging in two or three dimensions. Basically the sound "surrounds' you and simulates the experience of being right in the middle of a game scene or listening to music in the actual concert hall where it was recorded. This is accomplished using numerous technologies. There are both analog and digital surround sound encoding methods. Surround sound is a key component in home theatre audio systems.
3 Way SLI - Also known as triple SLI. The setup can be achieved using three high-end video cards which when combined it delivers up to a 2.8x performance increase over a single GPU system, giving high-end gamers approximately 60 frames per second at resolutions as high as 2560x1600. 3-way SLI is limited to the GeForce 8800 GTX, 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX and June 2008 introduced the GTX 260 and GTX 280 graphics cards on the 680i, 780i and 790i chipsets.
SOUND CARD - This is a computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to/from a computer under control of computer programs. Typical uses of sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation/education, and entertainment (games).
STORAGE - Hard drive space is often referred to as storage or storage space. However, storage can often also refer to something external such as a backup device like an external hard drive.
USB - Stands for "Universal Serial Bus." USB replaced the old COM ports and is the most common type of computer port used in today's computers. It can be used to connect keyboards, mice, game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and removable media drives, just to name a few. USB 2.0 is the latest standard and supports raw transfer rates of up to 480mbps (mega bytes per second)
VELOCIRAPTOR - In April 2008 Western Digital rolled out the all new Velociraptor hard drive. Capable of speeds up to 10,000 RPM the Velociraptor is the fastest SATA Hard drive for standard pc. The increase in speed translates as faster access to files for the pc user.
VENTILATION - Airflow inside a pc is very important. The cooler a machine runs the better its performance and the longer the components will last. There are two main factors to consider when looking at system ventilation. The first is the case itself. Only the best quality cases have several built in fans. Our systems come with between three and seven built in case fans, cheap cases will have only one. Also good cases are made of Aluminium for better heat dispersion; cheap ones are usually made of steel. It's important when buying any kind of custom pc to understand that a cheap case will reduce the performance and life of your system.
We always ensure you have a good quality case. The second factor to consider is the use of a top quality, quiet CPU fan. The CPU or processor is the heart of your system and needs to be kept cool without waking up the neighbours. Many PC builders will not mention what fans they use because they bump up their profits by using cheap alternatives. MO Customs Computers only uses the very best quiet fans in its pc's. By following these rules you will have a quiet running, fast performing, and long lasting pc.
MO Customs Computers.......Build Your Dreams Today!
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