CPU

CPU

Alternatively referred to as the brain of the computer, processor, central processor, or microprocessor, the CPU (pronounced as C-P-U), short for Central Processing Unit, was first developed with the help of in the early 1970's. The computer CPU is responsible for handling all it receives from and running on the computer.

As you can see in the above picture, the CPU chip is usually in the shape of a square or rectangle and has one notched corner to help place the chip properly into the CPU socket. On the bottom of the chip are hundreds of connector pins that plug into each of the corresponding holes in the socket. Today, most CPU's resemble the picture shown above; however and have also experimented with that were much larger and slid into a slot on the motherboard. Also, over the years there have been dozens of different types of sockets on motherboards. Each socket only supports specific types of processors and each has its own pin layout.

Components of the CPU

In the CPU, the primary components are the (Arithmetic Logic Unit) that performs mathematical, logical, and decision operations and the (Control Unit) that directs all of the processors operations.