Glossary
Terms you will meet while building, explained in the sense you will meet them.
10 terms
- TDPCooling
- Thermal Design Power — the amount of heat a cooler must remove, given in watts. Note that both vendors often quote a figure below real power draw under full load, so treat it as a floor rather than a ceiling.
- Dual channelBasics
- A mode in which the CPU talks to memory over two channels at once, doubling bandwidth. It requires an even number of modules in the correct slots — usually the second and fourth from the CPU.
- EXPO / XMPOptimisation
- Memory timing profiles stored in the module itself. EXPO is the AMD standard, XMP the Intel one. Without enabling them in the BIOS, memory runs at its base frequency, well below the figure advertised on the box.
- POSTTroubleshooting
- Power-On Self-Test — the component check a motherboard runs before starting the operating system. "Failing to POST" means the machine stops before the operating system is loaded.
- VRMPlatforms
- The motherboard's power delivery section, converting the PSU voltage into what the CPU needs. A weak section paired with a powerful CPU leads to reduced clocks under load.
- Thermal throttlingCooling
- An automatic reduction in clock speed once a safe temperature is exceeded. It is a protection working as designed rather than a fault — but it signals that cooling is inadequate.
- Form factorBasics
- The standardised size of a component. For motherboards: ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX, from largest to smallest. The case must support your board format.
- NVMeBasics
- A communication standard for SSDs connected directly over PCIe lanes. Many times faster than SATA and installed without cables, directly in the M.2 slot on the motherboard.
- StandoffAssembly
- A metal spacer separating the motherboard from the case tray. It maintains the gap that prevents a short circuit — a standoff under a spot with no mounting hole can damage the board.
- PCIe lanesPlatforms
- Communication channels between the CPU and expansion cards or drives. Their number is finite, which is why fitting several NVMe drives can reduce the lanes available to the graphics card.