G-1
Glossary
ACPI
(
A
dvanced
C
onfiguration &
P
ower
I
nterface
)
This power management specification enables the OS (operating system) to control the amount
of power given to each device attached to the computer. Windows 98/98SE, Windows 2000
and Windows ME can fully support ACPI to allow users managing the system power flexibly.
AGP
(
A
ccelerated
G
raphics
P
ort
)
A new, high-speed graphics interface that based on PCI construction and designed especially
for the throughput demands of 3-D graphics. AGP provides a direct channel (32-bit wide bus)
between the display controller and main memory for high graphics quality and performance.
ATX
A modern shape and layout of mainboard that supersedes the widely-used Baby AT form
factor. It improves many placement of components and makes a more efficient design.
BIOS
(
b
asic
i
nput/
o
utput
s
ystem
)
On PCs, an essential software that contains all the control code of input/output interface (such
as keyboard, disk drives, etc.). It executes hardware test on booting the system, starts the OS,
and provides an interface between the OS and the components . The BIOS is stored in a ROM
chip.
Buffer
A region of memory reserved as a temporary storage area. In most cases, the OS or applica-
tions will create buffer areas to save the necessary data, and the applications can find the data
in the areas first to increase the processing speed.
Bus
A set of hardware lines within the computer system, through which the data is transferred
among different components. In a PC, the term
bus
usually refers to a local bus that connects
the internal components to the CPU and main memory.
Cache
A special memory subsystem that is used to speed up the data traffer. It stores the contents
of frequently accessed RAM locations and the addresses where these data items are stored.
Chipset
A collection of integrated chips designed to perform one or more related functions. For
Glossary
Glossary
