AKA - CPU/Microprocessor

1. The Central Processing Unit AKA - CPU/Microprocessor

2. Overview A CPU is a silicon chip containing millions of transistors. The CPU is the brains of a computer, whether it is a desktop, laptop, or server. It processes everything from the simplest instructions to the most complex functions. Most calculations are performed in the CPU, and it’s considered to be the most important part of the computer in terms of power.

3. Overview The program being processed by the CPU can be a spreadsheet, a word processor or a game. It makes no difference to the CPU, since it doesn’t understand what the program is actually doing. It just follows the orders (also called commands or instructions) contained inside the program. For example, these orders could be to add two numbers or to send a piece of data to the video card.

4. History The first CPU was the Intel 4004. It was introduced in 1971, but it wasn’t very powerful, as it could only add and subtract 4 bits at a time. Before the 4004, computers ran using a collection of chips or transistors wired one at a time.The first microprocessor to make it into a home computer was the Intel 8080, a complete 8-bit computer on one chip, introduced in 1974.

5. History The first processors were 8-bit and included Motorola and Intel. The next were 16-bits and included Intel The next were 32-bits and included Motorola, AMD, Berkeley Fujitsu, and Stanford MIPS The 64-bit cpus included Motorola, AMD, Intel, Berkeley Fujitsu, MIPS, and IBM 128-bit cpus included MIPS and Berkeley Fujitsu 256-bit cpus included Intel, MIPS and IBM

6. History Name Date Transistors Microns Clock speed Data width MIPS 8080 1974 6,000 6 2 MHz 8 bits 0.64 8088 1979 29,000 3 5 MHz 16 bits8-bit bus 0.33 80286 1982 134,000 1.5 6 MHz 16 bits 1 80386 1985 275,000 1.5 16 MHz 32 bits 5 80486 1989 1,200,000 1 25 MHz 32 bits 20 Pentium 1993 3,100,000 0.8 60 MHz 32 bits64-bit bus 100 Pentium II 1997 7,500,000 0.35 233 MHz 32 bits64-bit bus ~300 Pentium III 1999 9,500,000 0.25 450 MHz 32 bits64-bit bus ~510 Pentium 4 2000 42,000,000 0.18 1.5 GHz 32 bits64-bit bus ~1,700 Pentium 4 "Prescott" 2004 125,000,000 0.09 3.6 GHz 32 bits64-bit bus ~7,000 Microns is the width, in microns, of the smallest wire on the chip. For example, a human hair is 100 microns thick. As the size of the chip goes down, the number of transistors rises Clock speed is the maximum rate that the chip can be clocked at in mhz Data Width is the width of the ALU(Arithmetic/Logic Unit). An 8-bit ALU can add/subtract/multiply/etc. two 8-bit numbers, while a 32-bit ALU can manipulate 32-bit numbers. MIPS stands for "millions of instructions per second" and is a measure of the performance of a CPU.From this table you can see a relationship between clock speed and MIPS and also between the number of transistors and MIPS.

7. Types of Processors Instead of just a single core processor, there are also dual, triple, and quad-core processors made by AMD and Intel. While using a quad-core processor, it is like having four processors in one chip, all working together to increase multi-tasking speed and power-hungry programs like games. Also, all CPUs require a fan and/or heat sink to make sure the chip doesn’t overheat.

8. Types of Processors Besides MIPS, VIA, Texas Instruments, NEC, Cyrix, Motorola, and a few others, there are two main desktop CPU manufacturers, Intel and AMD. Both of these companies have a power CPU and a Budget CPU. The Power CPU's are the Core 2 Quad from Intel and the Phenom X3 and Phenom Quad from AMD. The budget CPU's are the Celeron from Intel and the Sempron from AMD. Price is a big factor between these CPU's.

9. Types of Sockets Each range of CPU fits into a specific socket on the motherboard.Motherboards are designed with one socket type and cannot be converted. Socket types change quite rapidly, like when a new type of CPU comes out. A new CPU with a new layout requires to connect to the motherboard differently and so a new socket type is released on motherboards to handle the new CPU's correctly. Even if a CPU fits into a motherboards CPU socket, there is no guarantee it will work.

10. Processor Pictures

11. ROM In order to understand how a processor works, you need to understand what RAM, ROM, and cache memory are. ROM stands for read-only memory. Nearly all computers contain some amount of ROM. A ROM chip is programmed with a permanent collection of pre-set bytes. The address bus tells the ROM chip which byte to get and place on the data bus. When the RD line changes state, the ROM chip sends the selected byte onto the data bus.

12. RAM RAM stands for random-access memory. RAM contains bytes of information, and the processor can read or write to those bytes depending on whether the RD or WR line is signaled. One problem with today's RAM chips is that they forget everything once the power goes off. That is why the computer needs ROM.

13. Cache Memory CPUs typically have two or three levels of cache memory. Cache Memory is a type of fast memory which serves as a buffer between RAM and the processor.

14. Cache Memory • Cache is a small chip, that's usually placed inside the CPU or sometimes its right next to it and is responsible for providing direct access to the commonly used programs, rather than going back to the hard disk and ram again and again so cache makes it more fast than RAM • Cache memory is usually "On Die" which means it is in the processor chip, which allows it to 'talk' with the processor direct at a much higher speed than standard RAM. • The Cache Memory is the Processor's internal quick-hand storage that it uses for things that it's currently processing at that given time.

15. How It Works • All calculations that a processor makes are really made of small, simple steps. Once the necessary data and instruction are in memory, the central processing unit performs the following four steps for each instruction: • Fetches an instruction • Decode the meaning of the instruction and directs that the necessary data be moved from memory to the ALU. These first two steps together are called instruction time. • Executes the instruction. The ALU is given control and performs the actual operation on the data. • The ALU stores the result of this operation in memory or in a register. Steps 3 and 4 together are called execution time, or E-time. • The control unit eventually directs memory to release the result to an output device or a secondary storage device. The combination of I-time and E-time is called the machine cycle.

16. How it Works A microprocessor executes a collection of machine instructions that tell the processor what to do. Based on the instructions, a microprocessor does three things: 1) Using its ALU (Arithmetic/Logic Unit), a processor can perform mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Modern microprocessors contain complete floating point processors that can perform extremely advanced operations on large floating point numbers, which is any number besides an integer.

17. How it Works 2) It can move data from one memory location to another. 3) It can make decisions and jump to a new set of instructions based on those decisions.

18. How it Works When you double click on an icon to run a program, here’s what happens: 1. The program, which is stored inside the hard disk drive, is transferred to the RAM memory. A program is a series of instructions to the CPU.2. The CPU, using a circuit called memory controller, loads the program data from the RAM memory. 3. The data, now inside the CPU, is processed.4. What happens next depends on the program. The CPU could continue to load and executing the program or could do something with the processed data, like displaying something on the screen.

19. Components • A CPU has: • An address bus that sends an address to memory • A data bus that can send or receive data from memory • A read and write line to tell the memory whether it wants to set or get the addressed location • A clock line that lets a clock pulse sequence the processor • A reset line that resets the program counter to zero and restarts execution

20. Components These are the parts of this processor: • Registers A, B and C are latches made out of flip-flops. The address latch and program counter are just like registers A, B, and C. The program counter can increment by 1, though. • The ALU could be a simple 8-bit adder, or it might be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide 8-bit values • The test register is a special latch that can hold values from comparisons made in the ALU. The test register can stores these values in flip-flops and then the instruction decoder can use the values to make decisions • There are six boxes called “3-State”. Those are tri-state buffers, which can pass a 1, a 0, or it can disconnect its output • The instruction register and instruction decoder control all of the other components

21. List of Sockets + Processors Socket 7 - Original Pentiums, Cyrix 686, Cyrix MII, K6, K6-2 and K6-III Socket 370 -Intel Celeron, Intel PIII, Cyrix III Slot 1 - Intel PII, Intel PIII Slot A - AMD Athlon Socket A - AMD Athlon Thunderbird, AMD Duron, AMD Athlon XP Socket 423 -Intel P4 Socket 478 - Intel P4 (2nd Gen) 754-Pin Socket - Athlon 64 940-Pin Socket - Athlon 64-fx, Opteron Socket AM2 - Athlon 64 FX, Athlon X2 Socket 603 / 604 - Intel Xeon Socket T - Intel Pentium 4, Pentium Extreme, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo LGA 771 - Xeon PAC418 / 611 - Intel Itanium Socket 775 - Core 2 duo, Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad Socket AM2+ - Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX-62, Athlon 64 X2, Sempron, Sempron LE Socket AM3 - Athlon 64 X2, Phenom, Sempron, Sempron LE, Opteron Socket F - Phenom, Opteron (Server range) There are more sockets than listed here, but these are the major sockets for most computers.

22. Processor Prices There is such a large price range for each processor because they release new models of them that cost more and more. I am showing you the cheapest, most basic model to the most expensive, advanced model of each type of CPU. AMD Opteron – $11-$2500 AMD Athlon XP – $11-$100 AMD Athlon X2 – $13-$100 AMD Athlon II X4 – $90-$100 AMD Athlon II X3 – $75-$100 AMD Athlon II X2 – $50-$75 AMD Phenom II X2 – $85-$95 AMD Phenom II X3 – $85-$150 AMD Phenom II X4 – $100-$200 AMD Phenom II X6 – $200-$265 AMD Phenom X3 Triple Core – $40-$80 AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core - $55-$180 Intel Celeron – $9-$45 Intel Core 2 Duo – $20-$340 Intel Core 2 Extreme – $45-$1750 Intel Core 2 Quad – $50-$1000 Intel Core i3 – $100-$160 Intel Core i5 – $155-$315 Intel Core i7 - $260-$1000 Intel Pentium – $35-$70 Intel Pentium 4 – $7-$1000 Intel Pentium D – $20-$280 Intel Xeon – $12-$1800 Sparc – $21,800

23. Sources http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080915105733.htm http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/What_is/What_is_CPU.shtml http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/209 http://www.laptopparts101.com http://www.pricewatch.com/cpu/ http://www.intel.com http://www.ehow.com/about_4587172_different-types-processors.html http://www.kids-online.net/learn/click/details/micropro.html http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/3310Series/TMEOEMD865GVHZLT1/TMEOEMD865GVHZLT1mvr2.shtml