| A | B |
|---|
| Back-Side Bus (BSB) | The bus between the CPU and the L2 cache inside the CPU housing. |
| Dual-Core Processing | Two processors contained in the same processor housing that share the interface with the chipset and memory. |
| Heat Sink | A piece of metal, with cooling fins, that can be attached to or mounted on an integrated chip (such as the CPU) to dissipate heat. |
| Low Insertion Force (LIF) Sockets | A socket that requires the installer to manually apply an even force over the microchip when inserting the chip into the socket. |
| Memory Cache | A small amount of faster RAM that stores recently retrieved data, in anticipation of what the CPU will request next, thus speeding up access. |
| Microcode | A programming instruction that can be executed by a CPU without breaking the instruction down into simpler instructions. Typically, a single command line in a Visual Basic or C++ program must be broken down into numerous microcode commands. |
| North Bridge | That portion of the chipset hub that connects faster I/O buses (for example, AGP bus) to the system bus. |
| Overclocking | Running a processor at a higher frequency than is recommended by the manufacturer, which can result in an unstable system, but is a popular thing to do when a computer is used for gaming. |
| Processor Frequency | The speed, or frequency, at which the CPU operates. Usually expressed in GHz. |
| South Bridge | That portion of the chipset hub that connects slower I/O buses (for example, an ISA bus) to the system bus. |
| System Bus | The bus between the CPU and memory on the motherboard. The bus frequency in documentation is called the system speed, such as 400 MHz. Also called the memory bus, front-side bus, local bus, or host bus. |
| Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) Sockets | A socket that uses a small lever to apply even force when you install the microchip into the socket. |
