User talk:Rhoda95

The central processing unit (CPU) Introduction So you're shopping for a new computer in an electronics store and you're trying to make sense of the technical specifications. One computer that looks pretty cool has a 64-bit quad-core Intel i7 3.5 GHz processor. Sounds impressive, but what does it really mean?

The last computer you bought a few years ago had a sticker on it that said Pentium 4, but you don't remember the details. The computer was getting sort of slow, but why would you need a 64-bit quad-core? Why exactly is this better than the processor in your old computer? To understand what the specifications mean, we first have to look at how the processor is designed and how it functions.

Definitions The central processing unit (CPU) of a computer is a piece of hardware that carries out the instructions of a computer program. It performs the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of a computer system. The CPU is like the brains of the computer - every instruction, no matter how simple, has to go through the CPU. So let's say you press the letter 'k' on your keyboard and it appears on the screen - the CPU of your computer is what makes this possible. The CPU is sometimes also referred to as the central processor unit, or processor for short. So when you are looking at the specifications of a computer at your local electronics store, it typically refers to the CPU as the processor.

When we start to look at the various components of a CPU and how they function, remember that this is all about speed. When we use a computer, we want the instructions to be carried out very fast. As the instructions become more complicated (for example, creating a 3D animation or editing a video file), we demand more from the CPU. Thus, the technological advances we have seen in processor technology have largely been driven by the need for speed.

Components A typical CPU has a number of components. The first is the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which performs simple arithmetic and logical operations. Second is the control unit (CU), which manages the various components of the computer. It reads and interprets instructions from memory and transforms them into a series of signals to activate other parts of the computer. The control unit calls upon the arithmetic logic unit to perform the necessary calculations.