Introduction to processor cores and what do their sizes mean

Introduction to processor cores and what do their sizes mean

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A core is the computing unit of a computer. It is the part that takes care of the execution of the task assigned to the CPU by reading the instructions. A multi-core processor is a computing component having multiple cores in it. The numbers in the names of the cores represent how many numbers of cores are included in it. A higher number of Cores enables faster execution of instructions. Processors and cores are two totally different components of the CPU. The processor processes the instructions whereas the core executes these instructions.

Introduction to processor cores and what do their sizes mean

The CPU on your computer or the Central Processing Unit is the one that does all the calculations like starting applications. A single-core CPU can only execute one task at a time. This is where Hyper-Threading, multi-core CPUs, and multiple CPUs come into play. Having more than one or multiple CPU lets multiple applications to run simultaneously making sure that your computer continues to be responsive.

The majority of computers contain only one CPU which may probably have Hyper-Threading technology or multiple cores but still one physical CPU unit. Before multi-core and Hyper-Threading CPUs come into the scene, they tried adding additional processing power to computers by adding additional CPUs. This involves a motherboard with multiple CPU sockets. Multiple CPUs are inserted into different sockets.

This kind of CPU is uncommon to home users. You can only find multi-CPU systems among servers, supercomputers, and alike high-end systems. The very first endeavor to bring parallel computation to consumer PCs was done by Intel with their Hyper-Threading technology. Its first appearance on desktop CPUs dated back in 2002 with the Pentium 4 HT.

The original Pentium 4 processor had a single CPU core and because of this it could only do one thing at a time. Hyper-Threading tried to make up for that.