Know that the speed (operating frequency) of the CPU is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).

Microprocessors
Microprocessors and clock speed

A microprocessor performs calculations on data and determines what to do with the results of those calculations. The main microprocessor inside a computer is called the Central Processing Unit (CPU).

Intel
  • You can think of the CPU as the brains of the computer. All the other components are there to pass data to the CPU and then handle the results.

  • The CPU has three main components: the control unit, which executes each step in the program; the logic control or arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), which performs all the calculations and logical operations; and the immediate access memory, which stores the data on which the computer is currently working.

  • The CPU is not the only microprocessor in a computer. Components such as graphics cards and sound cards have their own processors to take some of the burden from the CPU on specific tasks.