Processor
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The processor, also called CPU (Central Processing Unit), is the part of a computer that does all calculations.
[edit] Processor Parts
The CPU consists of a single chip. This chip contains several parts. Some important parts on a CPU chip:
- ALU: Arithmetic Logic Unit for logic calculations.
- Cache Memory: this is fast memory on the CPU chip itself. This speeds up calculations since otherwise the CPU would have to get all data from slower RAM memory. Cache memory can be L1 and/or L2 cache.
- Registers: these are storage locations to store the data the CPU needs to work with. Most processors have 32-bit registers and the newest have 64-bit registers.
[edit] Single-core and multi-core CPU's
The speed of a CPU has long been determined by its clock speed, measured in Hertz. The clock speed is the number of CPU cycles per second. Clock speed values for modern, single-core processors are about 3GHz. It's no longer possible to drive up processor speeds for a single-core CPU. The processor would be destroyed because of heat. That's why multi-core processors are introduced. By putting more than one CPU on a single chip and lowering the clock speed, this problem is largely solved.
[edit] External Links
- Intel processor page Information on Intel processors, multi-core processors, processor architecture, ...
