Sunday, January 22, 2012

Computer 101: The CPU


The CPU (Central Processing Unit/Processor) is the brain of the computer. It carries out instructions from software programs and sends it to various parts of the computer, whether it be to open the CD/DVD drive or tell the motherboard to draw more power from the PSU (Power Supply) for more dedicated tasks. Processors come in a range of shapes and sizes, and have come a long way from only having ~100MHz clock speeds back in 1995 and now having clocks speeds of 3.6GHz out of the box!

There are two primary companies who create consumer level processors, Intel and AMD, both of which have their own competitive line of processors. Currently, at the time of this blog post, the processor line for Intel is their “Sandy Bridge” line; and AMD’s is their “Bulldozer” line. In each line there are different levels of processors ranging from cheaper/lower clock versions to expensive/higher clock (generally referred to as the “Enthusiast” level) versions. Which is right for you? It all depends on what you want out of your PC (or Mac for some) as well as deciding how deep you wanna dig in your pockets.

I do want to do a in depth look as to what each company brings to the table….but that will come later on. For now we will stick with the basics and general information! So, as always, stay tuned for more!

As always you can email me at: jcm2755@gmail.com for any questions or comments. See something you would like explained more? Just shoot me an email and let me know!

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