Introduction to Processor

A processor is a primary chip inside a computer and it contains the digital circuitry.  A processor executes
all the programs and the instructions inside the computer. The processor is also embedded in the small
devices and in the personal computers and is known as microprocessor. Its speed is measured in the
Gigahertz.  Higher the processor’s speed, the more instructions it can process in less time.  It is also
known as the central processing unit (CPU). 

The CPU is the most important component of a computer system. CPU is also known as the brain of the
computer and all the important calculations and processing takes place in it. The CPU is directly inserted
in the CPU socket on the motherboard.  The form, design, speed and the implementations of the CPUs
have changed dramatically but their basic functionalities are the same.   Every CPU consists of the
following two important components.

Arithmetic Logic Unit

It performs the logical and the arithmetic operations.

Control Unit

It extracts the instructions from memory and executes them.

Intel is the leading manufacture of the computer’s processors and the Pentium IV is the latest processor in
the market, which is designed to create the high performance, multimedia experience, video content
creation and the images processing. 

Pentium IV processor uses the hyper-threading technology, which enables the multi thread software
applications to execute the two software thread in parallel. Intel’s processor uses the power management
technique by using the Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology that allows the operating system to adjust
the processor to adjust itself with the applications that require less power and hence it provides the
increased power saving.

The Intel Processor’s latest technology is the Dual Core. Dual Core technology uses the two separate core
on the same die and its equivalent of having two microprocessors in one.  In the dual core processing,
each core handles the incoming data strings to provide the better efficiency. 

To utilize the dual core technology, the operating system and software applications must be able to multi-
threading technology. Dual core processors can be used with the existing motherboard. The computer
servers with the multiple dual core processors have excellent performance and can they are used as the
web server and to support the distributed highly scalable applications.

AMD, Intel Centrino, Intel Celeron and Intel Dual are the different types of the processor.