Cis Research Paper

Johnny Shen, Yujia Xiang, and Xianmin Huang

Professor Douglas

CIS 010  

21 October, 2015

Research Paper

Since the creation of electric computers, there has been a need for a central processing unit to control the actions and data flow in the machines. According to Mihai A, “Early methods of computer processors were large and inefficient. The modern microprocessor is the most widely-used method of controlling a computer. While there are only two major companies manufacturing processors left in the industry, some engineers and technicians are working to replace the silicon-based chip with other formats.”(para. 7)

A computer processor is the part of a computer that analyzes, controls and disperses data. Commonly referred to as the central processing unit or CPU, a computer processor acts as the brains of the computer, telling which program and application to do what at a specific time and interval. According to Mihai A, “The most advanced models are even faster. It takes the form of a small microchip that fits into a series of sockets in the motherboard.” (para. 8) The more powerful the computer processor is on the computer, the faster and more efficient the machine will run. Intel processors are most commonly used in prefabricated computer systems, such as those from Dell and HP. The company focuses on two different lines of processors: the Pentium and the Celeron. According to Nathan Kirsch, “Pentium processors are the larger microchip style that works on most desktop and some laptops. They can handle high-demand processing, such as that found in 3D gaming, video editing and other multimedia-intense applications.” (para. 8) Celeron processors are more compact models with the ability to run a basic computer efficiently and cost-effectively. AMD's line of computer processors can be found in prefabricated models, however, are most commonplace with home-built systems or specially designed machines. According to Nathan Kirsch, “AMD was the first to build a 64-bit processor, capable of high-end applications use with graphic intensive operations. The previous industry standard had been 32-bit processing. Some AMD processors offer built-in virus protection”. (para. 9)

Compare with the Intel processor, the AMD also called Advanced Micro Devices is one of the most common processor used in our computer. In the result I had, the AMD had very great performance, but still not the best compare to the Intel. AMD processors are generally cheaper than Intel ones, however, that doesn't they are the best value, because Intel processors tend to run faster than AMD processors. AMD's on-board graphics tend to perform better than Intel's integrated graphics solutions. The different kind of processor had different kind of places that they are good at and not, if people want a computer that good with gaming, they should choose the AMD processors, because the company has invested heavily in graphics technology, especially for mobile devices such as laptops, the AMD been better in gaming than other processor. Compare to how hot things are likely to get and how hard the cooling system will need to work, the AMD processor had higher watts than the Intel ones. In result the AMD processor may not be the best, but If you want budget gaming, the smart money's on AMD.

In the territory of table computer, Intel Corporation is currently trying to make their processors competitive with against ARM in the smartphone and tablet PC markets. ARM’s smartphone and tablet processors have dominated the markets for years and the ARM instruction set architecture become the standard for mobile operating systems. Most people probably won't give much thought to the processor that comes with a tablet PC. The type and speed of a processor can make a huge difference in the overall functionality of a tablet. The most dominant of the ARM processor designs to be used within tablet PCs is based on the Cortex-A. This series is comprised of seven different designs that vary in their performance and features. According to Mark Kyrnin, “This is a list of the nine models: Cortex-A5 - Lowest power consumption, generally single core, frequencies between 300 and 800MHz, Cortex-A8 - Modest processor with better media performance than A5, generally single or dual core, frequencies between 600MHz and 1.5GHz, Cortex-A9 - Most popular of the processors, typically dual core but available with up to four, frequencies between 800MHz and 2GHz, Cortex-A12 - Similar to the A9 but with wider bus paths and improved caching, available with up to four cores and clock speeds up to 2GHz, Cortex-A15 - 32-bit design, typically dual or quad core, frequencies between 1GHz and 2GHz, Cortex-A17 - Newer more efficient 32-bit design similar to the A15 but with slightly better performance, up to 4 processor cores, clock speeds between 1.5 and over 2GHz, Cortex-A53 - The first of the new 64-bit processors, has between one and four cores, Cortex-A57 - Higher power 64-bit processor intended for consumer electronics and computers more than tablets, has between one and four processors, Cortex-A72 - Latest 64-bit processor once again intended for consumer electronics or PCs rather than tablets.” As mentioned before, this is just the basis for the ARM processors which has dominated the big part of the table computer.

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