The CPU.. The Processor…

A lot of times people get wooed by funny stuff like. Its an i5!!! Its a Quad Core!!! Its 2.5GHz. Not really knowing what is going on behind the fancy words and marketing scams and the chip itself. Today I go into detail concerning this most essential part of the computer… The brain of the computer.

So first.. What is the CPU??

This is the Central Processing Unit. It is the place where all the instructions, commands, calculations are processed to give you results. Or rather to give you an illusion that the computer is the most genius of machines in the world(Pssst.. Its not. It is as damn as a brick, and it is our work as programmers to convince you that is is as genius as you think it is, trust me.. It is hard, ever tried telling someone something but they are fixed to their opinion or the are dumb as a brick?? Yes… That’s it).

So, with that in mind. There are a lot of aspects that make a CPU efficient in what it does, or in layman’s terms… Fast. Because in the end that is the bottom line.. Right??? From that point, I will start by explaining this aspects.

1. Number of Cores

What is a CPU core?? A core is a “working area” in a CPU for lack of a better explanation. A core can handle a one instruction thread per clock/at a time. But note we are talking microseconds here. Not minutes.

But with HyperThreading^TM  from intel core processors, they use intelligent CPU time allocation to handle two threads on one core making it look like two cores. But do not quote me on that. So they kinda, replicate cores.

A core i3 is basically a dual core(2 cores) with HyperThreading.. So 2 real cores and 2 virtual cores. So it appears like a Quad Core

A core i5 is just a native Quad Core(4 cores) with NO HyperThreading. So 4 real cores.

A core i7 is a Quad Core with HyperThreading. So 4 real cores, 4 virtual cores.

A core i7 Extreme is a Six core, yes.. Six with HyperThreading. But they say next gen Extreme will have 8 cores… 8 FRAPPING COOORES!!!! That means 16 FRAPPING CORES for apps that utilize them. Boot time will be like opening a calculator app on windows. I imagine the trouble you will go through to launch set up during boot up. This is insaaaane!!!

AMD have their stuff too. So, I start with the APU. This is a CPU with the graphics card on the same chip. These are the A-Series line.

A4 is a Dual core, A6 are a mixture of 2, 3 and 4 cores, A8 and A10 are quad cores. The amount of features increases as you go up the ladder.

They also have the FX line which is their more premium line of chips. They have the FX-8150, 8350, 9350, 9590 etc. These are 8 core CPUs that i cannot go into detail about because I do not have the information. All I know is, get an FX-8350, get a reeeal good overclock on it and trust me, you will never let that chip go!!!

With all that said, cores are important, but is more better??

Weeell, it all depends on your use for the computer. If you are handling everyday tasks, no gaming or video editing,  then you are good with 2 or an i3.

If  you are a gamer and you do every day work, go online, 4 is enough. Well at least for now. AMD say MANTLE is going to make it possible for games to utilize more cores. As of now, there is no game that uses more than 4 cores. They all just use 2-4 cores. But really, with current gen consoles running at 8 cores, it is really best to go the 8 core way. There in lies another issue. Games DO NOT USE HyperThreading. So they just use the 4 cores in an i7 or the 2 cores in an i3. So performance benefit in games of an i7over an i5… Veery minimal!!! The difference kicks in if you run games and other programs concurrently. The i7 really starts to make a difference then.

If you use photoshop and video editing software and such, then more is better!! The more your budget can get you the better.

2.CPU clock speed

The CPU Clock Speed refers to the amount of data a CPU core can process in a second. Like if it is a 2.0GHZ CPU, each core of the CPU can handle 2GB of data in a second. Quick, right???

This bit is a bit self explanatory, but I have to refer to some myth. That more cores need less speed. As a first hand victim of this, I say this is not true. Well to some extent it is, but that theory leans more towards the false than true side.  Why?? Each core handles its own tasks at whatever it is. So in a game, using 2 cores no matter what, you would rather have a 2.5GHz Dualcore CPU than a 2.0GHz Quadcore, you get??

Also, more is better in terms of speed. But the technology incorporated in the CPU makes a lot of difference. So, generations also matter. Be sure not to get an age old CPU coz its faster than a new one, you will regret it.

3. Cache

As we all know, the CPU is faster than the RAM. What happens is, when a program is running, its “kernel” is transferred to the RAM where it resides for the whole of execution period. Now The CPU is so fast that the RAM cannot keep up. Now the need for higher speed memory arises, the cache. The RAM sends instructions to the cache since the CPU fetch time for the RAM is much higher. It fetches the instructions for the cache. With time, there has arisen a need for much faster caches due to much faster CPU speeds. This has cause different levels of cache to come up. L1, L2 and L3, L1 being the fastest. Their sizes are mostly in MB since they only store instruction sets.

Also, cache speeds matter, faster is obviously better. But all this is catered for in you buy a newer CPU.

4. Power Consumption

This is mostly determined by the lithography of the CPU. A 22nm CPU will consume less power than a 32nm CPU. But is best to check the TDP of the CPU before you get it. If you pay your own bills, you don’t want a huuuge bill coz your computer consumes so much power. I wanna go on about the power, but I will cover that at a later date, along with GPU power consumption.

5. Socket

A socket is the place in the motherboard where you place your CPU.

This is relevant to people assembling their own PCs, you do not want to but a motherboard and a CPU, only to try place the CPU and realize it is too big/small. Each CPU has a given number if pins in the intel side. That is what intel use to name their sockets. E.g. An LGA 1150 socket has 1150 pins.

Intel change the number of pins all the time. So they are more brutal if you do not take care. AMD are more forgiving. The have a more standard socket.

6. Overclockability(If that is a word, if it is not, Patent Pending)

OverClocking(OC) is the process of playing around with the CPU voltages, dividers and multipliers(Don’t mind the jargon, I will do an article on Overclocking) to achieve an overall higher clockspeed. Now, not all CPUs can do it. If the CPU is intel, it has to have a K or X variable at the end. Like the Intel Core i7-4770 is not overclock able, but the Intel Core i7-4770K is. Most AMD CPUs are overclockable, so nothing to worry about there. But with overclock comes the need to cool. I do it, and trust me. Things get tooooasty!!!

Other Factors and conclusion

Those are the most major factors to look at when getting a CPU in my opinion. There is a lot more like the amount of RAM it can support, the amount of PCI expansion it can handle.. A lot, but if you make a good choice using the factors above, then the rest will fall into place.

So, picking a CPU can be tricky, but I hope I helped a tard bit, if you need any more advice, tweet me on the widget on the side.

Well, that’s it for today, wish you a nice time till next time, I must go.

GuyTech, signing out!!