In this section of the PC buyers guide we talk about the processor or CPU, the
speed of the processor is measured in Ghz for giga-hertz. However, like
everything else there are lots of confusing other bits and pieces that make up a
processor or CPU unit
L2 Cache
Normally only stated on modern processors, its the amount of ultra fast memory
contained within the processor itself allowing data to enter and exist the
processor, the more you have of this the better. The Celeron or Duron processor
don't tend to have much of this memory hence even with the same clock speed or
GHz speed the Pentium or Athlon processors are much quicker.
Cores
The actual bit that does all the work. Think of it as a car, the car is the
"processor" and the engine is the core. Without the car the engine would be
useless and vice versa but with Duo cores from Intel and x2 from Althon AMD your
"Car" has two engines and will perform accordingly. Look out for Duo 2 Core,
these have four cores!
Onto the CPU's themselves...
Intel - Pentium
The previous mainstay of Intel's range, normally
high speed and very capable. Enjoys a large L2 Cache or "Buffer memory", and
high bus speed i.e. they talk to other devices very quickly
Intel - Celeron
Think of this as a cut down Pentium, it doesn't have as much if any buffer
or "L2 cache" memory, they also talk with other devices at a slower speed
(referred to as Bus speed). All in all a 3.0Ghz Celeron it a lot slower than a
3.0Ghz Pentium.
AMD - Althon
The mainstay of AMD's Range, normally high speed and very capable. Enjoys a
large L2 Cache or "Buffer memory", and high bus speed i.e. they talk to other
devices very quickly
AMD - Duron (Sometimes called Sempron)
Many people think of these as the AMD's answer to Intel's Celeron chip,
essentially they are correct, however in my experience if I were to opt for a
cut down chip it would be the AMD Duron over the Celeron.
Duo Core or X2
Without boring you with the details there are several parts to what we refer
to as a "processor", such as L2 Cache (memory) one of the parts is the actual
processor itself or Core, so Intel's Duo Core or AMD's x2 feature 2 processor
cores on the same chip. However, because they share things like L2 Cache they
aren't as quick two separate processors. Watch out for the Celeron or Duron
versions of these chips!
Duo 2 Core
Again without boring you with details this is a quad core processor as above but
with four processor "cores".
<BACK
NEXT> |
