Microprocessors Flashcards
What is a CPU
It is similar to a very fast calculator.
Intel and AMD produce most of the CPU’s in use.
CPU’s have a make and model that define its features.
CPU Speeds and Cores
CPU Speed is measured in Hertz.
1 Hertz = 1 cycle per second.
A CPU’s rated speed is its max speed.
A CPU is driven by the “System Crystal”.
A system crystal is a piece of quartz that oscillates at a particular speed.
The system crystal runs at a really slow speed as compared to the CPU.
The CPU has a clock multiplier that increases the motherboard and system crystal speed.
The average motherboard runs at about 200 MGHertz.
Multi core CPU’s are multiple CPU’s within one CPU. This was introduced because the CPU speeds have not been able to get much passed 4 Gigahertz without being very expensive.
Hyper threading takes one core and makes it look like two cores. Hyper threading is only on Intel CPU’s.
CPU Caches
A CPU Cache is a little bit of RAM put within the CPU.
CPU Cache is Static RAM is in the CPU.
Level 1 Cache is the fastest and smallest cache, it is closest to the CPU and runs at the same speed as the CPU.
Level 2 Cache is a lot bigger than the Level 1 Cache and usually runs at about half the speed of Level 1.
Level 3 Cache is the biggest if it exists and it usually does not run much faster than the motherboard itself.
All the Caches are on the same silicon as the cores.
The CPU generally pulls from Level 1 Cache. Level 1 Cache pulls data out of Level 2 Cache and Level 2 Cache pulls data out of Level 3 if it exists. Level 3 pulls data out of the dynamic RAM on your Motherboard.
The Cache is engineered into the CPU and just works automatically.
32 vs 64 bit processing
The CPU uses the address bus to talk to RAM.
The address bus is either 32 wires or 64 wires.
A 32 wire bus can handle 4,292,967,296 Bytes or “4 Gigs or RAM”
All modern CPU’S can handle 64 Bit but you need a 64 bit operating system to take advantage of it.
64 Bit CPU’s allow you to use more than 4 GB of RAM.
CPU Extensions
Extensions add functionality to a processor.
Virtualization support enables CPU’s to more efficiently run virtualized systems
Integrated graphics processing units can replace dedicated video cards in many systems.
CPU Sockets
CPU Sockets come in two groups. Either LGA or PGA.
CPU Sockets are zero insertion force.
AMD uses a letter label to identify its sockets and Intel uses a number label to identify their sockets.
AMD separates their sockets based off of graphics capabilities.
CPU Sockets are created based off of micro architectures.
A Micro architecture is a core piece of what the producer wants the next CPU to do.
A single micro architecture can be used on a variety of CPU’s
PGA is a (Pin Grid Array) socket. AMD
The pins are on the CPU
LGA is a (Land Grid Array) socket. INTEL
The pins are on the motherboard socket itself.
INTEL
LGA 775 - The 775 stands for the number of pins or Lands on the CPU. This was the first in the Land style for INTEL. It ran with DDR2. It started with the Pentium 4 and ended with the core-2’s.
LGA 1156 - More for a mainstream system. First socket that supported a built in North Bridge for PCI-E bus support. It had DDR3 support.
LGA 1366 - More for a Higher end system. This had a built in memory controller to talk to RAM but it still had a North Bridge for PCI_E bus support. Used exclusively on the core-i7.
LGA 1155 - Replaced 1156. Full support of on board graphics. Used on core i3, i5,and i7.
LGA 2011 - Replaced the 1366. It started with DDR3 But later went to DDR4. It stopped supporting PCI and only supported PCI Express. Used on core i3, i5, and i7.
LGA 1150 - Mainstream type socket. Supports many CPU’s. Started in DDR3 and moved to DDR4.
AMD
Socket AM2 - Had 940 pins, it had hyper transport capability, and supported DDR2.
Socket AM3 - Had different keys than the AM3, 941 Pins, it supported Athlon 2’s, Phenom 2’s and supported DDR3.
Socket AM3+ - Had 942 pins and supported Athlon 2’s, Phenom 2’s. It mainly improved upon power and speed.
FM1 - 905 Pins APU (Accelerated processing unit)
FM2 - 904 Pins, APU (Accelerated processing unit) and power/speed improvements over FM1.
FM2+ 906 Pins, APU ( Accelerated processing unit), more pci express support than the FM2.
Installing A CPU
All CPU’s have an orientation notch.
Make sure the CPU is the correct match for the socket and speed of the motherboard.
Most CPU’s come with a fan.
The fan comes with a thermal compound on it to go in between the fan and the CPU.
Most motherboards have a place to plug in your CPU fan.
Cooling Your PC
Fans are used to cool CPU’s, Cases, and other components like graphics cards.
The CPU fan has four wires. Two of them are for power, one of them is a tach to measure the speed and one of them is a controller.
Sometimes there is a utility that comes with your utility that allows you to make adjustments to your fans.
Another option is an application called speed fan which is more generic but does work on most computers.
4 prong fan connectors are controllable.
Liquid Cooling
Their are two kinds of liquid cooling.
Liquid cooling is used by over clockers.
Passive liquid cooling uses a pump to push liquid through a metal plate on the CPU and then through a radiator and back to the CPU.
Active liquid cooling is a refrigerator where the base of the case has a refrigerator in it.
