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Processors
Some people would liken a computer's processor (CPU - central processing unit) to the human brain because it interprets instructions and processes data. There has been a vast range of different processors over the last 40 years which have provided different levels of performance and have been designed to perform different tasks. Processors can now be found in virtually every electronic device like mobile phones and digital set top boxes, and are far from restricted to the home computer. For home computers AMD and Intel are the two leading manufacturers, Intel have tried to change the way it advertises processors to help users easily understand the fundamentals of computing. The processor speed is measured in Hz's (MHz, GHz) and this decides how fast the processor works (like a car's engine) - the faster the better. The processor bus speed is measured the same way and decides how quickly the processor can receive information to work on - again the higher the number, the more powerful the PC is. And finally the processor cache is the buffer of the processor (holds the information while the processor does the work), like memory it's measured in MB (megabytes) and the larger it is the smoother the PC will work. Many processors are capable of being 'clocked' to ensure they run faster, increasing the clock rate also increases the heat dissipation, which means a processor will require more effective cooling solutions (otherwise the likelihood of it burning out is increased).
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