A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

C-RIMM
See Continuity RIMM

Cache
A small, fast memory holding recently accessed data, designed to speed up subsequent access to the same data. Typically used between a processor and main memory.

Capacitance
The property of a circuit element that allows it to store an electrical charge.

Capacitor
A capacitor is a device that stores energy in the electric field created between a pair of conductors on which electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite sign, have been placed. A capacitor is occasionally referred to using the older term condenser.

CAS
Column address strobe is the signal which tells the DRAM to accept the given address as a column address. It is used with RAS and a row address to select a bit within the DRAM.

CAS-B4-RAS (CBR)
CAS before RAS. Column address strobe before row address strobe. A refresh technique in which the DRAM keeps track of the next row it needs to refresh.

Check Bits
Extra data bits provided by a module to support ECC.

Chipkill
A technology developed by IBM for servers and other systems that demand high availability. It allows a computer motherboard and BIOS to detect problems with the computer's memory and selectively disable problematic parts of the memory. Depending on the technology used, this technology may or may not require specialized memory chips.

Chip Scale Package
A type of ball grid array in which the package is roughly the size of the die.

Chip Set
One or more chips on a motherboard that control the data flow between the processor, memory, and the other components of the system.

Clock rate
The number of pulses emitted from a computer's clock in one second. It determines the rate at which logical or arithmetic gating is performed in a synchronous computer.

Coast
Cache on a stick. Coast modules are used to upgrade a motherboard's L2 cache and Tag memory on some socket 7 and older motherboards.

COB
Chip on board. A system in which semiconductor dice are mounted directly on a PC board and connected with bonded wires or solder bumps. The dice are usually mechanically protected with epoxy.

Column
Part of the memory array. A bit can be stored where a column and a row intersect.

Compact Flash
CompactFlash (CF) was originally developed as a type of data storage device used in portable electronic devices. For storage, CompactFlash typically uses flash memory in a standardized enclosure.

There are two main subdivisions of CF cards, Type I (3.3 mm thick) and the thicker Type II (CF2) cards (5 mm thick). The CF Type II slot is used by Microdrives and some other devices. There are four main speeds of cards including the original CF, CF High Speed (using CF+/CF2.0), a faster CF 3.0 standard and a yet faster CF 4.0 standard that is being adopted as of 2007. The thickness of the CF card type is dictated by the preceding PCMCIA card type standard.

Compact Flash (Type I)
There are two main subdivisions of CF cards, Type I (3.3 mm thick) and the thicker Type II (CF2) cards (5 mm thick). Type I are the largest capacity cards commonly available.

Compact Flash (Type II)
CF Type II or CF2 cards are 5 mm thick CF cards. The CF Type II slot is used by Microdrives and some other devices.

Contacts
See Edge Contacts

Continuity RIMM
Modules that are used to fill all unused RIMM sockets in a system. Continuity-RIMMs do not use any active components; instead, they are used to continue the channel so that the signal can be properly terminated at the motherboard.

Controller
One of the major units in a computer that interprets and carries out the instructions in a program.

CPU
Central processing unit. The computer chip primarily responsible for executing instructions.

CSP
See Chip Scale Package.