What is a CPU? How Does it Work?

CPU or central processing unit of a computer is just like the brain of a human being. Just like all the functions in your body are connected with the brain. Similarly, CPU is said to be the central processing unit that controls most of the functions of a computer system. People also call CPU as a microprocessor of the computer system. CPU is one of those components of a computer system that is designed in order to calculate and process data. It helps in the execution of various programs, as it takes input from RAM. And after that, it decodes the input and processes it to provide the output.

CPU is there on different devices whether you use a computer system or you use a laptop or a tablet or smartphone, it plays an important role in all the devices. No matter how big or small your computer system is, they all have CPU’s or processors. However, a lot of changes have been brought in the CPU in the past few years. But its basic functions are the same and they work in the same manner. For every data or instruction that is passed in the CPU, has the proper speed for execution. The execution speed of a CPU is either measured in Gigahertz (GHz) or Megahertz (MHz). It is said that the execution speed of the data depends on the frequency of the clock. That means more the frequency of the clock, more will be the execution speed of the data.

How CPU Works?

If we talk about how CPU works, you should know that it has three main functions. The first one is fetching data, the second one is decoding the data, and the third one is executing or processing the data.

First of all, the CPU receives or fetches the instructions from the RAM. The instructions are there in the form of a number. There are many instructions which CPU receives for a single operation. CPU should know which one is the next instruction. These instructions are then stored in the Instruction Register or IR. Once this is done, the second step of decoding the instructions start. All the stored instructions are passed to a circuit which is also known as Instruction Decoder. These instructions are then converted into the signals. And after that, they are being passed to different parts of the CPU for execution or action. The final step is of the execution-only as we just mentioned. All the results and actions are stored in the CPU Register only. This helps in performing more actions when more instructions related to the same are received. The supercomputers which are said to be the fastest computers among all the computers, help in executing any instruction very fast. Its execution speed is less than 1/billionth of a second. A desktop that you use at home has an execution speed of less than 1/millionth of a second. This is plenty of speed and power to run video games, play videos, browse free fuckbook, adult sites, and any other programs you wish to use on your computer.

CPU and Multi Core CPU’s

If you are making use of the computer systems these days, you must be aware of the fact that the CPU these days are multi-core. This means that there is not just one processor in the CPU Chip, but there is more than one processor. Using multi core processors in the computer systems is very beneficial. As it helps in decreasing the consumption of energy, helps in increasing the performance of the computer system, and makes multi-tasking efficient. You will find Dual Core Processor, Quad Core Processor, Hexa Core Processor, and Octa Core Processor in the computer systems. They all are better than each other. Like the Quad Core Processor works better than Dual Core Processor and it supports multitasking more. Similarly, the Octa Core Processor works better than the Quad Processor, and it also supports multitasking more efficiently. This is because a Dual Core Processor only has 2 processors, and a Quad Core Processor has only 4 processors, and the same applies to others also.

Components of CPU

CPU has 2 components, known as CU that is Control Unit. And the other one is ALU that is the Arithmetic and Logical Unit. Both these components are an important part of the CPU and are used for performing different functions. Control Unit helps in the execution of the instructions as it tells the CPU what it needs to do. Whenever the user inputs any information, first it reaches the control unit of the CPU only. The Control Unit is also further categorized into two parts that are Hardwired Control Units and Micro Programmable Control Units. Talking about the ALU, so you can guess by its name only that what this component of CPU does. It performs all the arithmetic and logical operations that takes place in the CPU. The operations like addition, subtraction, etc are performed with the help of ALU only.