Nonvolatile BIOS memory refers to a small memory on PC motherboards that is used to store BIOS settings. It was traditionally called CMOS RAM because it used a volatile, low-power complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) SRAM (such as the Motorola MC146818 or similar) powered by a small battery when system power was off. The term remains in wide use but it has grown into a misnomer: nonvolatile storage in contemporary computers is often in EEPROM or flash memory (like the BIOS code itself); the remaining usage for the battery is then to keep the real-time clock (RTC) going. The typical NVRAM capacity is 512 bytes, which is generally sufficient for all BIOS settings. The CMOS RAM and the real-time clock have been integrated as a part of the southbridge chipset and it may not be a standalone chip on modern motherboards.
Read more about Nonvolatile BIOS Memory: CMOS Mismatch, CMOS Battery, Resetting The CMOS Settings
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“The memory of most men is an abandoned cemetery where lie, unsung and unhonored, the dead whom they have ceased to cherish. Any lasting grief is reproof to their forgetfulness.”
—Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987)