A lot of acronyms and technobabble get thrown around in the PC gaming and hardware world. Here are some definitions to help you as you read along in my journal or venture into the BYO world on your own. I’ll update this page as needed as new terms come up.

• BYO: Build Your Own, as in Build Your Own Computer (BYOC). Also, in the LAN party world, this can mean Bring Your Own (Computer).
• Core 2 Duo: Intel latest line of CPUs. Each C2D chip contains multiple “cores” or independent processors that make the CPU faster and better at multitasking.
• CPU: Central Processing Unit. The brain of your computer, where a lot of the work goes on. Sometimes called a chip. Comes in two flavors: Intel and AMD.
• FPS: First Person Shooter, a popular game genre.
• fps: frames per second. A measurement of how fast your computer can render video game images on screen.
• FSB: Front Side Bus, the connection between your processor and the other components in your system, such as your RAM, video card, etc.
• GPU: Graphics Processing Unit. Another name for your video card.
• LAN party: an event in which a number of PC gamers bring their computers to a specific location to network them together to play games.
• modding: customizing the look or functionality of your computer by adding lights, artwork, or other elements.
• overclock: the process of making your CPU run faster than it did when in the box.
• PCIe: the latest generation video card connection slot; it has replaced AGP in most new motherboards.
• resolution: the number of pixels that are displayed on your monitor, measured in width by height (1024 x 768, etc.).
• rig: your gaming computer. Sometimes used to refer to the computer itself, sometimes used to encompass all your gaming accoutrements (mouse, keyboard, etc.).