The CPU (processor) is one of the most important components in a computer, it can be likened to the brain of the system. There are 2 main PC CPU manufacturers, Intel and AMD.

For more detailed information please see below.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) continued...

There have been many advancements in CPU manufacturing and innovation over the years.

The CPU's common components include:

CU - Control Unit, this sequences, controls and times the other functions of the CPU.
ALU - Arithmetic Logic Unit, this carries out simple mathematical equations on the binary data stored inside the data registers.
Registers - these are temporary memory locations which hold binary data and store the results of ALU calculations. There are also memory address registers which, as the name suggests, hold data concerning where in the memory certain instructions and data is held.
BUS - this carries data between the memory and registers.

For more on processors (CPUS) see our guide to processor basics.

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