Your cheap computer CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the 'brain' that controls the internal

activities of your computer.

Just like the human brain processes information and

directs the body to perform certain actions, it
processes instructions and directs the operations of the computer.

The CPU may also be called the Microprocessor or the Computer Processor

By whatever name it is called, it is the component that actually does the 'thinking'. All the
other parts of the computer are designed around it.

The processor isn't just a very important component of the computer; it's crucial! Without
one, the system couldn't perform. In other words, a computer system without a CPU, would
be like a car without an engine -It simply wouldn't perform at all!

The reliability of your computer system is determined by the quality of your computer
processor. The type of motherboard that you use would be determined by your choice of
processor.

You can browse here for a wide range of cheap computer CPUs.

The microprocessor consists of three basic sections:

 The ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit).

 Registers.
 Control Unit.

Inside a CPU
Today's CPUs have more complex configurations but this is just caused by major
modifications to the three basic sections. The outcome is an extremely efficient computer
cpu.

These three sections of the microprocessor work together to control the operations of the
system. They are connected to the system bus and handle the input, output and storage of
data.

Let's examine the three sections of the microprocessor in more detail:

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) - This unit performs the computing functions involving
integers (whole numbers).

 Arithmetic operations which include addition, subtraction, multiplication and

division.
 All logic operations which involve comparisons such as less than, greater than, or
equal to.

All information in a CPU is reduced to a numeric function; therefore, the ALU is constantly
handling arithmetic and logic operations.

The results of these operations are stored in the registers or in memory or sent to output
devices.

Registers - All data is temporarily stored in registers during the execution of programs and
the size of the internal register determines how much information the CPU can process at one
time.

Control Unit - This unit handles the timing and control signals to all the operations in the
system. You can compare the control unit to a police officer directing traffic at a busy
intersection; but, instead of directing cars, the control unit directs data flow between the
computer processor, memory and peripherals.

This basically wraps up the functions of the three sections of the CPU.

You can check out my guide to installing the Computer Processor and Heat Sink/Fan
Assembly here.

There are some other terms you will need to become familiar with before continuing, such as:

System Bus:

The CPU transfers data to other components in the system through the system bus. There are
two types of bus regularly referred to:

 The Front-Side Bus (FSB) carries data between the processor and the Northbridge
chipset.
  The Back-Side Bus (BSB) connects the CPU to the cache.

The system bus or processor bus is an external data bus. External data bus describes the wires
and traces on the motherboard that are used to send and receive data.

The greater the amount of traces (bandwidth), the

more data you can send and receive. Bandwidth is
referred to as the maximum theoretical throughput of
the front side bus (FSB). In the first set of PCs, the bus was 8 bits wide, meaning that 8 bits
could be transferred at the same time. (In the binary numbering system, a bit is a single digit,
either a '1' or a '0'. A combination of 8 bits is called a byte).

Systems advanced and a faster rate of processing more data became necessary. As this need
for faster processing of data increased, the bus width was expanded to 16 bits, then to 32 bits
and then to 64 bits. A 64-bit bus can carry eight times as much data as an 8-bit bus. Today's
systems utilize a 64-bit technology.

With advances in technology, CPUs capable of handling extremely large amounts of data are
manufactured. Therefore, the buses had to be widened to facilitate the movement of huge
amounts of data being processed hence the use of 64-bit technology.

Cache:

A cache is a small amount of high speed memory provided to hold data. Some CPUs have
cache which vary from 2MB to 12MB of static RAM (SRAM). Static ram performs much
faster than dynamic RAM (DRAM) which is used for the system's main memory.

Present processors are equipped with L3 cache. Some examples of these are the Intel Core i7
and the AMD Phenom II X6 chips.

The data requested by the CPU, is handled by the cache controller. The cache controller may
be built into the processor or it may be built on the motherboard. Overall, cache dramatically
increases the speed at which the computer processes data.

Because this cache is internal, it can be accessed directly and keeps up with the speed of the
microprocessor. Without this cache, the microprocessor would have to wait for the data to
come from the main memory.

In these present powerful chips, there are now billions of transistors. This is made possible
because of the process technology used to miniaturize these internal components.

Processing has come from 90nm to 65nm to 45nm and now 32nm achieved by Intel.

Math Co-processor:

The Math co-processsor (also called the FPU or floating-point unit) handles decimal
calculations. In computer language, these calculations are called floating-point math. These
calculations slow down the processor but if a math coprocessor is present, it performs these
operations much faster.
You have now learnt about the basic internal components of a computer processor. Let's go
further and take a look at how it functions.

How does a CPU Work?

The basic operation of a CPU is to execute a sequence of stored instructions known as a

program.

A program is represented by a series of numbers that are retained in the computer memory.

To execute a program, the CPU performs four (4) basic steps; namely fetch, decode, execute
and writeback.

1. Fetch - In this first step, instruction is retrieved from memory. Fetching the
instruction from memory can be slow and causes the processor to stall while waiting
for the instruction to return. This problem was obvious in older CPUs but in newer
processors it was corrected by the incorporation of cache.
2. Decode - In this step, instruction is divided up into portions that are significant to
other parts of the CPU. The processor's instruction set architecture (ISA) interprets
this numerical instruction value.
3. Execute - During this step, various parts of the processor are connected to perform a
required operation. For example, if an addition or a subtraction operation was
required, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) would be connected to a set of inputs and
outputs. The inputs are the numbers that will be added or subtracted and the outputs
would be the final sum.
4. Writeback - The last step does exactly what it is called......writes back the results of
the execute step to computer memory. Most times the results are written to the
processor's internal register for quick access by the next set of instructions.

After the instruction execution and data writeback, the entire process repeats.

Let's add a little more to the above information:

Input:

This is the process by which external data is received into the computer. This could either be
running a program or getting keyboard responses. Common inputs include a keyboard,
mouse, modem, scanner, etc.

The computer system analyzes the input data.

Process:

Process describes the converting of input into output and is generally guided by a program.

Output:

Output is the process by which the CPU sends data to devices such as the monitor, printer,
disk drive, etc. Output takes the results of the processing and sends them to be stored in
memory or printed or displayed.
Output is the final result of the processing of the data that was input and used by the
computer system.

Data must be stored either temporarily or permanently. Therefore, this is where memory is
required. The computer needs a way to hold onto data as the processing is being performed.

Memory:

The computer stores data in memory and retrieves the data it needs from memory. There are
two kinds of memory - ROM and RAM.

ROM (Read-Only Memory) is permanent and will be retained even when the computer is
turned off - eg. BIOS.

RAM (Random Access Memory) is volatile and data stored in RAM will be erased when the
computer is turned off. The processor uses RAM to store data and retrieves data from RAM
as it's needed. The instructions of a program, for example, would be stored in RAM. RAM
will be lost if the computer loses power.

CPU Limitations

Having described the computer processor and how it works, we now need to know its
capabilities and limitations.

CPU Cooling

Very little power was consumed by the earlier processors but today's 'power-hungry' CPUs
consume much more power. Some are built for energy efficiency.

Processors will crash or malfunction if overheated; therefore, it is of utmost importance that

they have adequate cooling.

The two main methods of CPU cooling are liquid and air cooling of which the latter is more
widely used. Liquid cooling is now provided by many PC manufacturers and is undoubtably
the more efficient.

In both types, the heat sink or heat sink/fan assembly must be securely mounted to the
processor after applying thermal compound to the core. Thermal compound assists in the fast
dissipation of heat from the CPU.

EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION when installing the heat sink since improper
installation can damage the CPU or motherboard. Substandard cooling can cause maximum
operating temperatures to be exceeded. This may or may not damage the CPU but could
cause crashes in processors. This malfunction generally disappears when the processor cools
down.

In the case of Intel, if it overheats, it will automatically reduce its speed thus avoiding
damage. Sometimes this reduction in speed goes unnoticed.
If you operate the processor without a heat sink, some CPUs will generally be permanently
damaged unless the motherboard is equipped with special protection circuitry.