Processor

    . Logic circuitry that handles all information it receives from hardware and software running in computer.
    . Referred as CPU (Central Processing Unit) acts as heart of computer.
    . Installed on a socket specified on Motherboard.
    . Performs lot of operations at high speed.
    . Produces heat, so provided with cooling fan to take out heat.

   
   . Internally it looks like below which is made of number of transistors to function.

    . We can find our Computer's Processor specification by right clicking on PC> Properties.

  Components of Processor:

      Control Unit (CU):

           . Internal part of CPU that coordinates instructions and data flow between computer and other parts.

           . Sends timing and control signals.

      Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU):

           . Performs all the Arithmetic and Logical operations in computer.

           . Receives control signals from CU and input data to be processed.

           . After performing operation, result is send to memory which in returns sends to output device.

     Clock Speed:

         . Speed is measured by number of clock cycles CPU can per perform in second.

         . More the cycles, more the instructions it can carry out.

         . Measured in Hertz, today's CPU's has speed of GHz.

     Cache:

         . Cache memory is used to increase performance of PC.

         . It acts like buffer between RAM and CPU.

         . Holds frequently requested data and instructions, so that they are immediately available to CPU when needed.

  How it works?

      1. Fetching:

         . Various programs are stored in memory.

         . During this step, CPU fetches instruction which is stored in particular address in memory.

         . Program Counter keeps track of next instruction to be fetched.

     2. Decoding:

         . Instruction decoder decodes all the instructions fetched from memory.

         . Control signals are generated and to handle further steps.

     3. Executing:

         . In this final step, CPU executes the instruction with help of ALU.

         . Everything is done with help of registers.

         . Again Instruction pointer points to next instruction decoded.

  Types of CPU:

      . Desktop and Laptop Processors are manufactured by Intel, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices).
      . Mobile Processors are manufactured by Samsung, Apple, Qualcomm.

      . There can be single or multi core processors which effects performance.

      . Core i7 and i5 consists of 4 cores whereas i3 consists of 2 cores.
      . Performance of processor depends on number of cores, clock speed and cache memory it can handle.