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A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the most important processor in a given computer. [1] [2] Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, logic, controlling, and input/output (I/O) operations.
A cache in a CPU or GPU servicing instruction fetch requests for program code (or shaders for a GPU), possibly implementing modified Harvard architecture if program machine code is stored in the same address space and physical memory as data. instruction fetch A stage in a pipeline that loads the next instruction referred to by the program counter.
Many operating systems, for example Windows, [1] Linux, [2] and macOS [3] will run an idle task, which is a special task loaded by the OS scheduler on a CPU when there is nothing for the CPU to do. The idle task can be hard-coded into the scheduler, or it can be implemented as a separate task with the lowest possible priority.
CPU time (or process time) is the amount of time that a central processing unit (CPU) was used for processing instructions of a computer program or operating system. CPU time is measured in clock ticks or seconds. Sometimes it is useful to convert CPU time into a percentage of the CPU capacity, giving the CPU usage.
In computing and computer science, a processor or processing unit is an electrical component (digital circuit) that performs operations on an external data source, usually memory or some other data stream. [1]
Caching works by prefetching data before the CPU needs it, reducing latency. [55] [56] If the data the CPU needs is not in the cache, it can be accessed from main memory. [55] Cache memory is typically SRAM, while the main memory is typically DRAM. [27] RAM is volatile, meaning its contents will disappear if the computer powers down. [57]
Haswell is the codename for a processor microarchitecture developed by Intel as the "fourth-generation core" successor to the Ivy Bridge (which is a die shrink/tick of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture). [1]
A finned air cooled heatsink with fan clipped onto a CPU, with a smaller passive heatsink without fan in the background A 3-fan heatsink mounted on a video card to maximize cooling efficiency of the GPU and surrounding components Commodore 128DCR computer's switch-mode power supply, with a user-installed 60 mm cooling fan.