The central processing unit (CPU), or processor, is the brains of the whole computer. The computer CPU is rarely seen by people as it usually hides under a heatsink and fan. When you finally pull a CPU out they are quite small compared to other computer parts. Processors technology is always evolving and compared to other computer parts they increase in computing power almost every sixteen months.  Computer CPU’s are very complex and for most people they don’t understand the differences between CPU’s. The good part is that there are only two processor manufacturers, Intel and AMD, that produce all the CPU’s so all the consumer needs to know is the type and speed of the processor.

The reliability of CPU’s is really quite amazing considering how much work they do. In a computer system the processor is almost always the last thing to fail and when it does fail it is usually do to being over-clocked and over-heated.

When shopping for a computer system or an individual CPU there are really three main elements to look for. The first is the speed of the processor. In today’s market the speed is measured in gigahertz and the higher the gigahertz (or frequency) the faster the chip will be. The second key element of a processor is the type of architecture it is. A CPU can be a single core (Pentium 4 or Athlon), dual core (Core 2 Duo or Athlon X2), multi-core (i7 or Phenom X4). The more cores a processor has the greater the ability to compute larger amounts of information at the same time. The third key element is the speed of the front side bus (FSB) and the L2 cache. FSB and L2 cache are often overlooked when buying a cpu but they are equally as important as the speed of the processor. Again the higher the FSB and L2 cache the faster the chip will perform. That was a brief overview of a computer processor and I hope you’ll be able to make a better buying decision. To help start your search we have listed the top 2 CPU manufacturers, based on reliability, below to further help you decide.

Best CPU Manufacturers:

1. Intel
2. AMD

Picture – Top:

Intel CPU

Picture – Bottom:

AMD CPU

We hope this article on “CPU” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.

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