The processor is the brain of the computer. Able to manage hundreds of queries and calculations at the same time or… almost as much say stop for a moment on what is expected is important.
What do you do with your computer? Simply a desktop tool? A media center for viewing photos, videos or TV? Or even a game console to hyper realistic graphics… this use will depend on your processor need.
AMD processors
First I will present the essential details and specifications of the two main players on the market in terms of processors: AMD and Intel. Start with AMD.
The HyperTransport
The HyperTransport (HT) is the memory bus which provides communication between the chipset and processor. When choosing your processor it will therefore require that the VAT shown on the sheet processor coincides with that of your motherboard.
The socket
At AMD there are several sockets, the most famous are:
- The socket AM2 (Evolution of the socket 939 for Athlon 64, X2, FX and Sempron)
- The socket AM2+ (Evolution of the socket AM2, with which is compatible for the Phenoms quad core and tri core)
- The socket A (for Athlon and Duron, now outmoded)
- The socket F (for Opterons)
At the time of purchase you should check if the socket of the CPU and motherboard are the same.
The different processors
AMD covers all ranges. Processors in single, double, triple and quadruple cores.
The single core processor is a no more interesting, outmoded.
In dual core it is wise to start at a 64×2 4200. The 64×2 6400 is suitable for a mid-range gaming PC. In tri core, the entry level is excellent for office and high-end of Phenom x3 will satisfy gamers playing with mid-range equipment. An overclock and get started.
The Phenom x4 are mostly very good in terms of advanced applications but can be adapted to games and will be more powerful after overclock. We still regret the gap in performance between Intel and AMD dual core.
Intel processors
Intel currently dominates the processor market and we can say that’s justified. We’ll see how to select the correct Intel processor.
Front Side Bus
Front Side Bus (FSB) is the system bus that allows the processor to communicate with the RAM, all under the control of Northbridge. Again it will have the FSB supported by your motherboard is greater than or equal to the FSB processor you are purchasing.
The FSB disappears with the onset of the new i7, i5 and i3 processors. And the BCLK made its appears. By the way, AMD, it is the basis for calculating all other frequencies.
The socket
There are several sockets at Intel, the most famous are:
- The socket 1136 (for Core i7)
- The socket 775 (for Core 2 Duo and Pentium)
- The socket 771 (for Xeon)
- The socket 478 (for the first P4, outdated)
So check when buying the socket of your processor and motherboard are the same.
The various Intel processors
There are a package but Intel, unlike AMD, has not (yet) created tri core processor.
It is therefore the bottom of the range with the E2160 which is enough for office use.
Then the E4×00 series which are excellent for overclocking and if you ever decide to take it for word processing, you will feel at ease. This processor series may also be suitable for PC games with bottom of the range graphics card as a 8600GT/HD3650.
After that comes the top of the range Intel, E8×00 otherwise known as Wolfdale. They agree perfectly with the computer games and you will be satisfied without any doubt for overclocking given their fine engraving is on the recall, the lowest existing at the time of writing this article: 45nm.
And then, how can you miss the QX9770, scored Extreme series, clocked at 3.2 Ghz, 12MB cache. In short: a monster that you will find it hard to overcome and to be powerful enough to run in parallel with the most powerful graphics card (HD3870X2, 9800GX2, HD4890 and GT200).
Overviews
Now you know how to choose a processor and under what constraints. Let us see which processor to use and for what!
Office tasks
Here, I mean the basic office tasks: Internet surfing, word processing, etc.
Using a single-core processor will suffice but some people prefer to have a dual core to be comfortable. In this case, a E4×00 or 64×2 4200 processor suits them perfectly.
Games
To play there is only one: the dual core. It turns out that the quad-core processors are not used by games or very rarely and is therefore more interesting to pay for a dual-core processor than a quad-core processor. But it remains an exception rather… or two. If you have enough money to buy a quad-core processor at 3Ghz, you can do in anticipation of future games that bear may be 4 cores but for now, you have 2 cores not used in games. The second exception is the Phenom X3. It turns out that architecture is not so badly run and can therefore be integrated into a computer game.
Advanced applications
By that I mean everything is Photoshop, video and photo editing, graphics, etc.
For this type of application processors with 4 cores have been optimized to the maximum. We must therefore choose a Quad or Phenom, even if its frequency is low because this is not what matters. An Intel i7 may also be used, even if optimization is not really complete.
Servers
There are two types of processors for the server, one for AMD: the Opteron
And one for Intel: the Xeon
Details
The importance of cache
Caching is crucial. Simply put it is a memory connected directly inside the processor, and trying to keep the calculations more frequently performed.
The skulltrail
This motherboard is pretty unique because it supports two processors in effect, provided they are strictly identical. But it is very hard to overcome and it is mostly useless… especially
Intel or AMD?
Both brands of CPU market wage a war without thank you and have their aficionados. Now overall, the most reasonable consensus that, quality aside, they are worth even if Intel has the biggest market share. After the choice is a matter of heart and purpose: gamers turn more easily to AMD… Intel is against the reference for processors to its Centrino notebook with very low power consumption (quieter and better battery life).
1, 2 or 4 cores
Between 2000 and 2005, all processor manufacturers have released their “dual core” to the general public. Two cores on the same processor, this is not necessarily twice as much power. Of course, the processor gains in power but offered especially true versatility without overheating or extra energy expenditure.
The “one core” still exist, sufficient for the office tasks but are simply doomed to disappear.
The “dual core” adapt to a more intense, especially for multitasking: download and work at the same time for example. If right configured, you can make photo collage while launching an antivirus software but should not slow down the computer too.
These are the most currently sold through their very good value for money.
The “quad core” is the most powerful: guidance for machines dedicated to games that require very heavy and speed. Warning, some games do not yet use the quad-core technology. Intel has even released a quad core for laptops.
Today, almost all processors on the market are dual-core or quad-core.
And for frequency?
The frequency is expressed in Giga Hertz (GHz), it means the number of operations that the processor do in a second. 3GHz: 3 billion operations per second. Clearly, it affects the operating speed of the processor.
Currently, the processors run between 1.5 and 3 GHz. Some reach 3.5 GHz.
The frequency still remains an important criterion for gamers, but it is no longer the only reference to the performance of a processor. We saw there was the number of cores. But we should also pay attention to the cache (L2), that the processor uses to store information which it uses very often. It is faster than the RAM memory but has less capacity. It allows the processor to avoid fetching in RAM the information they need. There are two levels of cache: L1 and L2. The L2 can reach 12 MB, the most common of between 1 and 8 MB
Finally, we must pay attention to the socket of your motherboard, which should be the same as the processor you are purchasing. It used to interface the two components. It is classified according to their manufacturers (AMD or Intel). The most recent are appointed with 3 digits (indicating the number of pins), the sockets were older, they were baptized in the order of their appearance.
There are processors that of the same model with different sockets (hence the need to know the socket on the motherboard and processor to choose: they must be identical).
Some examples of old Intel sockets: socket 7, Socket 8, socket370, Socket478,…
Some examples of old AMD sockets: Slot A Socket 462 (A), Socket 754/939,…
And tomorrow?
Well what the future holds we already know more or less. AMD expects to launch its 12-core processor (just that…).
Tags: Buying Guides, How to, Peripherals, Processors, Tips and Tricks
