|
The microprocessor is quite a significant part of your computer system — it's your PC's main chip. Just about everything else on the motherboard exists to serve the microprocessor.
Despite its importance, what the microprocessor does is really rather simple: Beyond basic math (addition, subtraction, division, multiplication), the microprocessor can fetch and put information to and from memory, and it can do basic input/output (I/O) stuff. That doesn't seem very impressive, yet the key to the microprocessor's success is that, unlike your typical brooding teenager, the microprocessor does things very fast.
- When your jaw is tired, you can refer to the microprocessor as the processor.
- Another term for a microprocessor is CPU. CPU stands for central processing unit.
- Modern PC microprocessors run very hot and therefore require special cooling. If you ever look inside the PC console, you'll notice that the microprocessor wears a tiny fan as a hat. That helps keep the thing cool.
It's not easy, after you get home, to confirm that your PC has the microprocessor you bought. Even if you crack open the case, you can't really see the microprocessor because it's wearing that little fan hat — and even if you peeled off the hat, the numbers and names printed on the chip may not be of any use to you.
One way to discover which type of microprocessor dwells in your PC's bosom is to use Windows. The System window shows a brief microprocessor and RAM summary. For example, you might see that the PC sports a Pentium D microprocessor running at 3.00 GHz, and the computer has 1022MB of RAM.
To summon the System window, press Win+Break on your keyboard (that's the Windows key plus the key labeled Break or Pause Break). You can also open this dialog box by right-clicking the Computer icon on the desktop and then choosing Properties from the pop-up menu.
|
