Term of the Moment
BDXL
Definition: PC chips
Desktop and laptop PCs contain several chips that control their operation as in the following diagram. In a desktop PC, the CPU, memory and storage chips are usually upgradable by the user, but not the chipset or PCIe chip. In a laptop, the memory and storage may or may not be upgradable. Following are the major chips in a PC, but there are many smaller ones on a PC motherboard. See PC chipset and chip.
The Major Chips
Memory contains the instructions for execution and the data for processing by the CPU. SSDs may replace a hard drive for storage. A GPU card may plug into a desktop PC for faster and more realistic graphics, otherwise graphics circuits are in the chipset. The chipset and PCIe chip orchestrate the data into and out of the peripheral devices. To learn the reason for the postage stamp, see active area. See peripheral.