A processor is one of the most important parts of a computer. The primary task of the processor is to execute commands from programs. Today the most popular processor manufacturers are Intel and Amd. Before buying, you need to decide on the purpose of using the processors. For example, if you are building a gaming computer, then you need the most powerful processor, and if you need a computer for the office, then a single-core processor with a frequency of about 2 GHz will suffice. In order to make the right purchase, you must know the basic characteristics.
Instructions
Step 1
Clock frequency. A clock is one operation. The unit of measurement for this parameter is GHz (gigahertz). For example, 2.21 GHz means that your processor performs 2 billion 216 million operations in one second. This parameter is the most important, so you should pay special attention to it.
Step 2
Number of Cores. Today this characteristic is gaining more and more popularity. The number of cores indicates how many programs a computer can run at the same time. If you need a computer for new games or video processing, then you should choose the processor with the maximum number of cores.
Step 3
Processor bus frequency. This parameter shows how fast information is transferred to and from the processor. Therefore, the more the better. The unit of measurement is also considered to be GHz.
Step 4
Processor cache. The processor cache is a block of memory that resides on the processor core. It significantly improves computer performance due to the fact that the processing speed of information from the cache is faster than from the RAM. There are three levels of cache:
The first level (L1): it is the fastest, but its size is 128 kb.
The second level (L2): it is slower than the first, but larger in volume (its size can be from 128 to 12288 kb.)
The third level (L3): the slowest, but has the maximum volume.
Step 5
Heat dissipation of the processor. This characteristic shows the degree of heating of the processor. Heat dissipation of a processor is measured in watts and ranges from 10 to 165 watts.
Step 6
Technology support is a set of additional commands designed to improve performance. As an example, SSE4. It presents a collection of 54 special commands that are designed to increase the performance of your computer when working with video, games and 3D modeling tasks.
