Reference Guide

Table Of Contents
Thermal grease
Thermal grease, also called thermal gel or thermal compound, is used to create a heat-inductive layer between a processor and heat
sink. Applying thermal grease between the processor and heat sink increases the heat transfer from the processor to the heat sink, as
the thermal grease has better conductivity than air.
Video card
Video cards process graphics data and send video output to a display device such as a monitor or projector. Video cards can be of
two types:
Integrated–Often referred to as on-board video card, it is integrated on the system board. In some computers, the video card
is integrated on the processor. Integrated video cards generally share the system memory (RAM) and the may also utilize the
processor to perform video processing.
An Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is integrated on the same die as the processor and provides higher data transfer rates
while reducing the power consumption.
Discrete– Discrete video cards are installed separately on the systemboard. Discrete video cards have dedicated memory on
the cardsand generally provide higher performance than integrated videocards. These cards are best suited for graphic intensive
applications,highdefinition video games, and so on.
NOTE: When a discrete video card is installed on a computer that also has an integrated video card, the integrated video
card is disabled by default. Use the BIOS setup program to select which card to use.
Switchable graphics allow computers equipped with both a lowpower integrated graphics chip, and a highpower discrete graphics
card to switch between either cards, depending on the load and requirements.
TV tuners
You can use TV tuners to watch television on your computer. TV tuners are available for desktop and laptop computers as internal or
external devices.
NOTE: TV tuners are not supported in all computers.
Internal
PCI-E
PCI
External
USB
PC Card
ExpressCard
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