CPU terminologies explained

We may never buy a CPU directly. But we are always buying devices that contain CPUs. Various CPU terminologies are written in the product description but we don’t know what they are. After reading this article you will understand most of them and you will also be able to how powerful is one CPU when compared to another.

First of all, let’s have a basic definition of the CPU itself.

CPU Stands for Central Processing Unit. It is the thing that converts the input you provide your computer into output. It is basically the heart and mind of your computer.

What is CPU Terminology:

Now let’s look at the terminologies one by one.

Cores – The core is the processing unit of the CPU. Back in the days there used to be only one core in the CPU. Nowadays cores range from two to eighteen. That’s why we see the marketing of CPUs and dual-core, quad-core, octa-core, and so on.

Threads – Threads are the virtual component that divides a CPU into multiple cores. This technology is called multi-threading or hyperthreading. So with the help of this technology, a 2 core CPU has 4 threads and a 4 core CPU has 8 threads.

GHz – GHz is the unit at which clock speed is measured.

Clock speed – Clock speed refers to the no of operations a processor can execute per second. In layman’s terms, more clock speed means more faster CPU.

Mediatek – It is a company that is famous for making CPUs for smartphones.

Qualcomm Snapdragon – Qualcomm also makes CPUs for smartphones, and the series of most popular mobile CPUs is Snapdragon. Generally speaking, Snapdragon processors are better than that of MediaTek.

Intel – Intel is also a CPU Maker. It has ruled the desktop CPU industry for more than a whole decade. In the last 3-4 years they have not been able to compete with AMD properly.

AMD – Another CPU manufacturer. They have the most powerful desktop chips currently.