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to multitask between two software programs at the same time,
providing a performance boost of 25-30%.
IEEE 1394 FireWire
: An extremely fast way to connect peripherals
to your system, offering speeds of 400 or 800 megabits per
second. FireWire ports are traditionally used in transferring digital
video from your camcorder to your system.
L2 Cache (Level 2 Cache (pronounced “cash”)
: A collection of
chips on the processor that speeds up commonly-used functions.
The more cache your processor has, the quicker it can perform
certain functions.
L3 Cache (Level 3 Cache (pronounced “cash”)
: An extra
level of chips on the processor that speed up commonly-used
functions. The more cache your processor has, the quicker it
can perform certain functions.
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect
Express)
: Interface standard developed by Intel. PCI Express
ports connect peripherals (such as a video card or sound card)
to the rest of the system. PCI Express improves upon PCI and
AGP by offering increased bandwidth for data transfer.
PCxxxx
: PCxxxx refers to the internal speed of your RAM
(memory). PC4200 memory runs at 533MHz, PC4000 memory
runs at 500MHz, PC3700 memory runs at 466MHz, PC3500
runs at 433MHz, and PC3200 runs at 400MHz. These MHz
speeds correspond with a certain DDR number. For example,
400MHz memory is listed as “PC3200 DDR400.”
Glossary
