The central processing unit or CPU is the brains of your system; therefore as a key component you need to understand processor benchmarks when building your system. Since most of us recognize the importance of speed for our systems, it also becomes important to know how to conduct a CPU speed test (particularly if you’re having speed issues). Make sure that you understand the central processing unit architecture as it relates to the two parts of processor. Additionally, it’s important to understand, what is the definition of motherboard; and how does the ‘mobo’ relate to your processing unit?

The most important thing to recognize about processor architecture is that there are two main parts to it: the ALU, or Arithmetic Logic Unit, and the Control Unit. The ALU is where all arithmetic and logic operations take place. The control unit extracts instructions from the system memory, decodes, and then executes them, calling on the ALU as necessary.

This sounds pretty intense but it is important in the overall understanding of your computer operations.

How Does A Processor Work?

A processor will perform three basic functions:

1. Arithmetic – Add, subtract, multiply and divide using floating point numbers. A floating point number can be thought of as a scientific notation; allowing for multiple decimal places.
2. The processor can move data from one memory location to another. This is done by the Central Unit.
3. Finally, the processor can make the decision to jump to a different set of instructions based on input or calculations.

 

What’s In A Name?

Processor naming can be quite confusing. What is an AMD Ryzen Threadripper? What is the difference between the Intel Core i7 and Core i5?

Processor speeds are important indicators of how fast a processor is, but only when compared with processors in the same series; processor benchmarks are an important part of understanding performance. It’s important for you to understand how processors are named so that you can make an informed decision when buying.

The Big Two

There are two main players in the desktop computer processor market. Intel and AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). These two brands have been battling back and forth for years trying to gain an edge and more market share, and probably will continue on for years to come. AMD usually ends up having the cheaper processors, but Intel will usually have the faster.

This is not true one hundred percent of the time, but overall this is how it has worked out. These articles will take a brief look at the history of each company.