Processor types and speeds

A processor manages almost all of the functions of a computer. The function of a processor is to send and receive data, and to make the computer work well. For that, you need to give it commands. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel are the leading processor manufacturers, manufacturing for both PCs and laptops and mobile devices. Different types of processors perform different functions at different speeds, depending on the type of system they are running on.

Each type of processor has a different functionality, although there are similarities between various types. Ready to learn more about CPUs? Let's start!

Index of contents

Processor types and speeds

The microprocessor is the component of the personal computer that performs the actual processing of the data. It is a central processing unit (CPU) that fits in a microchip, and has a very complex switching circuit that executes simple instructions very quickly.

The microprocessor's integrated circuit package contains a silicon chip that contains millions of transistors and other components made of this material. Because the chip's transistors are very small, even a small amount of high-voltage current (such as static electricity) could destroy a chip.

For this reason, all large-scale integrated circuits must be handled in a way that minimizes the possibility of static electric shock.

With so many circuits stored in such a small area, the microchips produce a lot of heat and require cooling systems to prevent the chip from overheating. On computer motherboards, the CPU chip is covered by a large, finned metal heat sink to allow airflow from the cooling fans to carry away the heat.

In general, we can say that a microprocessor is a CPU integrated in a small silicon chip that consists of thousands of small components such as diodes, transistors and resistors, which work together.

Processor types

Both Intel and AMD manufacture processors for a variety of systems. Intel manufactures the Core, Pentium, Atom and Celeron processor families for desktop computers, while on the other side we find AMD Athlon, Sempron and Ryzen processors, among others.

Each processor manufactured by Intel or AMD has specific functions and supplies specific systems, such as PCs or workstations in an office. Each processor adapts to a specific computer, be it assembled, built from scratch or updated.

The CPU most commonly used in PCs is made by Intel. Since IBM chose the Intel 8088 chip for the original IBM PC, most PC clones have used any of the Intel series CPUs.

Apple's Macintosh series of computers originally used the Motorola 68000 series of microprocessors. But Motorola CPUs use a different set of instructions than Intel CPUs, so it is not easy to run PC software on a Mac and vice versa (but transferring data files is no problem.)

Different types of microprocessors are explained below.

8085 microprocessor

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The 8085 microprocessor was designed by Intel in 1977 with the help of NMOS technology.

The configurations of this microprocessor are the 8-bit data bus, the 16-bit address bus, which can address up to 64 kb, 16-bit counter and stack pointer (SP). The six-bit registers are arranged in the pair of BC, DE, and HL. The 8085 microprocessor requires a 5 volt power supply.

8086 microprocessor

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This microprocessor was also designed by Intel. It is a 16-bit processor with 20 address bus lines and 16 data lines with 1MB storage. The 8086 microprocessor consists of a powerful set of instructions, allowing operations such as multiplication and division to be performed easily.

The 8086 microprocessor has two modes of operation, which are the maximum mode and the minimum mode of operation. The maximum operating mode is used for the system that has multiple processors. The minimum operating mode is used for the system that has a single processor. The characteristics of this microprocessor are explained below.

Features of the 8086 microprocessor

The most important characteristics of the microprocessor are the following:

• To improve the performance of this microprocessor, there are two processes in pipes, which are in the phase of obtaining and executing instructions. The fetch cycle can transfer the data in 6 bytes of instructions and stored in one line. The execution stage is in charge to launch instructions. The 8086 microprocessor consists of 2900 transistors and has 256 vectorized interrupts.

Clock speed in a microprocessor

The clock speed is measured in units of cycles per second, which is called Hertz (Hz). Computer boards and CPUs operate at speeds of millions and billions of hertz, megahertz (MHz) and gigahertz (GHz).

Intel and AMD processors use different internal designs, so comparing, for example, a 2.4 GHz AMD processor with a 3.0 GHz AMD processor indicates that the 3.0 GHz AMD processor runs faster; But comparing two 2.4GHz processors made by AMD and Intel doesn't pinpoint which one works faster.

In order to work, the processor divides a task into several stages. Typically, Intel processors run more stages, and therefore do more work and take longer than AMD processors to complete tasks.

The digital chips on a motherboard are kept in sync with each other by the clock signal (a sequence of pulses) on the motherboard.

You can think of it as a "heartbeat" of the computer. The faster the clock ticks, the faster the computer will run; but the clock cannot run faster than the speed of the chips, since in this case they will fail.

As chip technology has improved, the speed at which chips can run has accelerated. The CPU runs faster than the rest of the motherboard (which syncs at a fraction of the CPU speed).

Boost speed

However, when you are searching the market for a processor, there is a list of things to consider. Traditionally, the only thing most consumers see is its full Gigahertz power.

Many of those people probably don't even know what it means (it's the number of clock cycles a processor completes in a second, in billions), but it's an easy thing to compare.

The last few years have brought an additional feature: the boost speed. Most graphics and processing units now have a clock speed and a "boost speed". Intel calls this Turbo Boost; AMD calls it Boost Clock.

This new microprocessor technology automatically improves performance, increasing the speed of the cores, thereby achieving better efficiency.

Microprocessor classification

Basically 5 classifications of microprocessors are accepted:

CISC

Orders can be executed in conjunction with other low-level activities. It mainly performs the task of uploading, downloading, and recovering data to and from the memory card. Other than that, it also does complex mathematical calculations within a single command.

This processor is designed to minimize the number of instructions per program and ignore the number of cycles per instructions. The compiler is used to translate a high-level language into the assembly-level language, because the length of the code is relatively short and additional RAM is used to store the instructions.

CISC processor architecture

It is designed to lower the cost of memory, because more storage is required in large programs, resulting in a higher memory cost. To exceed this number of instructions per program, you can reduce the number of instructions by integrating the operations into a single instruction.

CISC Processor Features

This processor consists of different addressing modes:

• It has a large number of instructions It takes several cycles to execute an instruction The instruction encoding logic is complex Multiple addressing modes when an instruction is required

RISC

RISC is short for Reduced Instruction Set Computer and is designed to reduce execution time by simplifying the computer's instruction set.

These types of chips are manufactured based on the function in which the microprocessor can perform small tasks within a particular command. In this way, complete more commands at a faster rate.

In the microprocessor, each set of instructions requires only one clock cycle to implement the result in a uniform runtime. Therefore, it reduces the efficiency for more lines of code, so it requires additional RAM to store the instructions. The compiler is used to convert the high-level language instruction set into a computer language.

RISC processor architecture

This type of processor is used for the highly optimized instruction set, and RISC processor applications are for portable devices due to their energy efficiency. The characteristics of this processor are explained below.

RISC Processor Features

Some of the main and important features of the RISC processor are as follows:

• There are simple instructions in the RISC processor Consists of the number of registers and fewer transistors Load & store instructions are used to access the memory location This processor has a cycle runtime

Superscalar

This is a processor that copies the hardware to the microprocessor to perform multiple tasks at once. They can be used for arithmetic and as multipliers. They have multiple operating units and therefore carry out more than one command, constantly issuing many instructions to superfluous operating units within the processor.

SO C

It is used for specific purposes rather than general purposes. In the beginning, ASICs used door matrix technology. Modern ASICs often have 32-bit processors, Flash, RAM blocks, ROM, EEPROM, as well as other types of modules.

DSP (Digital Signal Processor)

They are used to encode and decode videos or to convert digital videos to analog and analog to digital. They need a microprocessor that is excellent at mathematical calculations. The chips in this processor are used in sonars, radars, home theater audio equipment, mobile phones, and televisions.

We recommend reading How to choose a processor quickly and easily

The components required for this processor are a programmed memory, data memory, input / output, and a computer engine. This processor is designed to process the analog signal digitally. This process is done at regular intervals and converts the voltage into digital form.

The applications of this processor are the production of sound and music, the processing of video signals and the acceleration of 2D and 3D graphics. The example of this processor is the TMS320C40.

Special Processors

Special processors are designed for some special processors and some of them are explained below.

Coprocessor

It can handle the practical function many times faster than normal microprocessors. The example of the coprocessor is the mathematical coprocessor, and some of them are 8087, which is used with 8086; 80287, which is used with 80286; and 80387, which is used with 80386.

Input / output processor

This processor will have its own local memory. It is used to control I / O devices with the participation of the CPU. Examples of the input / output processor are DMA control, keyboard and mouse control, graphic display control, and SCSI port control.

Transputer

This processor also has its own local memory and also has links to connect one transputer to another for communication between processors.

The transputer is used for the single processor system or can be connected to external links to reduce construction costs and increase performance. Some examples of this processor are floating point processors like T800, T805 and T9000.

Is speed important?

Every factor is important and speed was not going to do less. But we cannot compare the speed (GHz or MHz) between different architectures. It is a mistake to equate a Pentium 4 at 2.8 GHz with a Pentium of recent years at the same frequency. The evolutionary leap in the IPC (instructions per cycle) is abysmal.

The most correct thing would be to classify each processor by its category. Also, we can find cases that due to having a “tight budget” equip your PC with a low-end processor and keep pulling with it until you upgrade to a higher-end one.

Intel Pentium & Celeron / AMD Ryzen 3 / APU

Processors with this speed are ideal for basic day-to-day activities, for example: email, web browsing, office suite, and even great performance as media / HTPC centers. In the case of the Pentiums, Ryzen 3 and APU can give a great performance playing in 720p or 1080 resolution if it is equipped with a decent graphics card.

Intel Core i3 / AMD Ryzen 5 Quad Core

This range of speeds is perfectly suited for web browsing, working with emails, running business programs like patient management systems, and multitasking in general. This category works well for the average office computer or users who do not want to spend a lot of money on their Gaming PC but want to upgrade their computer in the future.

Currently the eighth generation Intel Core i3 have 4 cores that give us a plus of performance (compared to the seventh generation) and can give us many joys with a 3 or 6 GB Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti or GTX 1060. Also interesting is the quad-core AMD Ryzen 5 1400 that works very well as a 4 × 4 processor. While the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 / 1600X are perfect for gaming and streaming, since it is not very difficult to overclock them at 3.9 or 4 GHz.

Intel Core i5 / Intel Core i7 and AMD Ryzen 7

Within the mainstream platform are the top of the range. If you need a super powerful computer, ideal for playing at the highest demands, working with super powerful databases and multimedia editing, then you will need to have a high-performance computer. Personally, the 8th generation Intel Core i7 and AMD Ryzen 7 series (with 3.8 or 4 GHz overclock) give brutal performance for gaming and working.

Without a doubt, they are a great option for an enthusiastic platform such as the Intel Core i9 or AMD Threadripper with a much higher amount. With this we end our article on all the details you should know about processors. Among them the types that exist and the speeds?