The processor, or CPU (Central Processing Unit), is the brain of the computer.
It executes instructions, performs calculations, and processes all data.

🔢 Units of Measurement

In computing, we use metric prefixes to express scale:

• Kilo (K): 10³ = 1,000

• Mega (M): 10⁶ = 1 million

• Giga (G): 10⁹ = 1 billion

• Tera (T): 10¹² = 1 trillion

⏱️ Processor Frequency

The frequency of a processor indicates how many cycles it can perform per second:

• 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second

• 1 MHz = 1 million cycles per second

• 1 GHz = 1 billion cycles per second

A higher frequency generally means faster processing capability.

📈 Evolution of Processors

• Pentium I, II, III, IV
  Each new generation brought improvements in clock speed and cache memory, increasing overall performance.

• Dual Core / Core2Duo
  These are processors with two physical cores.
  The Core2Duo has larger cache memory than the standard Dual Core, making it more efficient.

💻 Intel Core Family: i3, i5, i7, i9

Intel’s processor line evolved to include more cores, cache, and higher frequency:

• Core i3: 2 or 4 cores

• Core i5: 2 or 4 cores

• Core i7: 4 cores with Hyper-Threading (works like 8 logical cores)

• Core i9: Up to 8, 10, or even 16 cores for high-performance tasks like gaming, video editing, or AI.

🔄 What is Hyper-Threading?

Hyper-Threading is Intel’s multitasking technology.
It allows one physical core to function as two virtual (logical) processors.

• Both virtual processors share resources (registers, cache, system bus).

• The processor can run multiple tasks in parallel, making better use of available power.

This leads to faster performance, especially in environments where multiple applications are running at once.