Processors

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 at 4:47 PM

Processors and Their Brands

What is the processor?

The processor for the computer is the piece of hardware that takes the commands that are input into the computer sorts and processes them. The processor coupled with the RAM is what allows programs to be open, closed, and to have multiple programs running at the same time. Processors come in as many shapes and sizes as computers. They can be:

multiple or single core
different working speeds
overclocked
and the big names in the processor manufacturing are AMD and Intel.

With everything that a processor is capable of how do you know which one is right for you? Let’s dice into what each of the terms mean and sort out the information to be able to discern which one we need the most.

Brands

We will start discussing the brands. AMD and Intel both make very reliable processors that are made to work with any motherboard you may decide on. The big difference is in the price between the two. AMD has a tendency to run a little cheaper than the Intel brands for the same price.

Each processor manufacturer has multiple tiers of processor, which like any other electronics company each tier adds new features to the product line. Intel makes their line up as the following:

Pentium
Celeron
i3
i5
i7
i9

Amd title their processors as follows:

Athlon
Xenom
Phenom
Opteron
Sempron.

Withing each model there is a series of numbers or another name in the title of the processor. Those series of numbers or extra terms in the name of the processor will give you the exact specifications on the processor.

What to look for in a processor.

There are two major factors to take into account when selecting your processor for your computer kits. Those factors are the speed of the processors which is measured in gigahertz, and the number of cores that come with the processor.

The processor speed is very easy to compare between each processor. The larger the number the faster the processor. A processors number will always read as a decimal number, so when you are comparing processors speeds you will be looking for number like 2.2Ghz or 3.3Ghz. The easiest way to spot that processor number is to look for the decimal number followed by the abbreviation ‘Ghz’.

The other factor in processors is the number of cores that you want in your processor, or how well you want your processor to be able to multi-task. The ability for your processor to be able to run multiple processes at once is very important when you do online gaming, run multiple system intensive processes like computer aided design programs, or if you just like to have music playing whenever you are working on your computer.

Intel

The Intel Pentium processor was one of the first big leaps in processors for computers. In the mid 1990s to early 2000s it was used in many of the computers that were found in homes across the United States. Today most computer kits with and Intel chipset have one of the i-series processors.

AMD

In the AMD processor line-up, the Athlon and Sempron processors will be your entry level processors. The next step in the the tier of processors will be the high-end processors, the Xenom and Phenom processors. The Opteron processor is typically the processor placed into servers with and AMD chipset.