| A | B |
|---|
| bank | Total number of SIMMs or DIMMs that can be accessed simultaneously by the chipset. |
| Blue Screen of Death | Infamous error screen that appears when Windows encounters an unrecoverable error. |
| buffered/registered DRAM | Usually seen in motherboards supporting more than four sticks of RAM, it is required to address interference issues caused by the additional sticks. |
| continuity RIMM | Passive device added to populate unused banks in a system that uses Rambus RIMMs. |
| disk thrashing | Hard drive that is constantly being accessed due to lack of available system memory. |
| double data rate SDRAM | Type of DRAM that makes two processes for every clock cycle. |
| double-sided RAM | RAM stick with RAM chips soldered to both sides of the stick. |
| dual-channel architecture | Using two sticks of RAM (either RDRAM or DDR) to increase throughput. |
| dual inline memory module (DIMM) | 32-or 64-bit type of DRAM packaging, similar to SIMMs, with the distinction that each side of each tab inserted into the system performs a separate function. |
| dynamic random access memory (DRAM) | Memory used to store data in most personal computers. |
| error correction code RAM (ECC RAM) | RAM that uses special chips to detect and fix memory errors. |
| general protection fault (GPF) | Error code usually seen when separate active programs conflict on resources or data. |
| latency | Amount of delay before a device may respond to a request; most commonly used in reference to RAM. |
| module | Small circuit board that DRAM chips are attached to. |
| non-maskable interrupt (NMI) | Interrupt code sent to the processor that cannot be ignored. |
| page fault | Minor memory-addressing error. |
| page file | Portion of the hard drive set aside by Windows to act like RAM. |
| parity RAM | Earliest form of error-detecting RAM; stored an extra bit (called the parity bit) to verify the data. |
| Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) | Pantented RAM technology that uses accelerated clocks to provide very high-speed memory. |
| RIMM | Individual stick of Rambus RAM. |
| serial presence detect (SPD) | Information on a RAM chip that describes the speed, capacity, and other aspects of the RAM chip. |
| single inline memory module (SIMM) | DRAM packaging distinguished by having a number of small tabs that install into a special connector. |
| single-sided RAM | Has chips on only one side as opposed to double-sided RAM. |
| small-outline DIMM (SO-DIMM) | Memory used in portable PCs because of its small size. |
| stick | Generic name for a single physical SIMM, RIMM, or DIMM. |
| swap file | Portion of the hard drive set aside by Windows to act like RAM. |
| synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) | DRAM that is synchronus, or tied to the system clock and thus runs much faster than traditional FPM and EDO RAM. |
