BackCPU – Cores,caches and speeds made simple
Hello,
Saar here, resident engineer at Myriad Supply. Today I’ll be talking about CPUs.
This is a CPU:
Like a brain, it can make calculations, such as 1 +1, etc.
Sometimes a CPU can have more than one CPU in it, called a MULTI-CORE CPU. Each core can do the same action one CPU can. For example, a quad core will have 4 CPUs in it and can do:
1+2
3+5
8+9
7+6
… all at the same time, one in each core. Here’s an example of a quad core:
In order for the cords to talk to each other, a CPU will have a cache, a memory that is built in the CPU. They can also write the answers in the cache for a very quick retrieval:
3
8
17
13
(from the questions above)
Now if you look at two CPUs, but are Xeon, both are E5, and both are from 2012.
One has 4 cores, the other has 8 cores. One has a big cache of 20 MB, and one has a small one.
Normally, more cores will mean more power. It’s the same as a group of 8 people, meaning you get faster responses as they can share the load of the calculations.
So on the CPU itself physically you have:
1. Cores=brains
2. Cache= very close memory
Now: If you have 2 CPUs that have X Cores and Y Cache, the next thing that will set them apart is the SPEED. This is written as the CLOCK speed.
As you can see, the 8870 has a higher GHZ, which means it will be able to run more CPU cycles per second, which is like being able to pedal more times per minute. If one cycle is a question like 1 + 2 =?, the 8870 will answer 2400 questions while at the same time the 8867L will barely answer 2130 questions.
Again, the higher the number, the more expensive, and the more performance you get.
Let’s review the following:
1. Cores
2. Cache Size
3. Speed
The CPU works by receiving instructions. The instructions are numbers and what to do with them. The larger the instruction it can receive, the better. They can be 32 bit size instructions or 64 bit instructions.
For example, using the 2.4 Ghz speed-2400
2400 * 32 bit = Can run 76800 bits of data per second
2400 * 64= Can run double that, 153,600 bits of data per second.
Almost all new CPUs are the 64 bit size today.
Now you can easily select a CPU from a manufacturer.
Xeon is the family, 3.10 GHZ is the speed, 8M cache is the cache size. Quad Core means 4 Cores. As you can see, the FASTEST one 3.6Ghz with the most Core Quad with the largest Cache is also the most expensive $385.84.
So the next time someone asks you the difference between an expensive high end device and a low cost one, you can probably estimate that it has more cores, the CPUs are faster, and they have a bigger cache on the CPUs.
To request a quote or for more information, be sure to check out http://www.myriadsupply.com/.
Saar Harel is a resident Engineer at Myriad Supply, and has been in the Networking Field for over 20 years. You can check out his Google+ and ask him questions!
