| A | B |
|---|
| AT | form factor that came after the XT but before the Baby AT and ATX form factors; the power supplies had 2 connectors powering the motherboard and a hard-wired switch to power the case. |
| ATX | form factor that came after the XT but before the Baby AT and ATX form factors; the power supplies had 2 connectors powering the motherboard and a hard-wired switch to power the case. |
| BIOS | form factor that came after the XT but before the Baby AT and ATX form factors; the power supplies had 2 connectors powering the motherboard and a hard-wired switch to power the case. |
| BTX | form factor that came after the XT but before the Baby AT and ATX form factors; the power supplies had 2 connectors powering the motherboard and a hard-wired switch to power the case. |
| Chipset | form factor that came after the XT but before the Baby AT and ATX form factors; the power supplies had 2 connectors powering the motherboard and a hard-wired switch to power the case. |
| CMOS | same as BIOS setup; program that allows the configuration settings, such as hard drive type, time and date settings, and boot order, to be manipulated. |
| Data Bus | same as BIOS setup; program that allows the configuration settings, such as hard drive type, time and date settings, and boot order, to be manipulated. |
| Expansion Bus | the pathway of wires that connect the CPU and the expansion boards |
| Firmware | the pathway of wires that connect the CPU and the expansion board |
| Form Factor | the pathway of wires that connect the CPU and the expansion board |
| Intergrated | the pathway of wires that connect the CPU and the expansion board |
| MicroATX | small form factor motherboard used in PCs where reduced size is desired |
| Motherboard | also known as main board, planar board and system board; contains all the pathways of wires to connect the CPU to memory and the expansion boards |
| NLX | low profile motherboard form factor that utilizes riser cards for expansion cards. |
| Riser Card | printed circuit board connecting to the motherboard and accepting expansion boards that will be parallel to the motherboard; examples are AMR, CNR and ACR |
| Slot | connector type used to hold SECC (Single Edge Contact Cartridge) processor modules used with some PII and PIII processors, memory modules and expansion cards. |
| Socket | the connector used to attach a CPU to the motherboard |
| ZIF | socket type where the processor just drops in with no effort and then a level is locked down to hold the processor in place. |
