What does CPU mean..

Question

Trying to understand this whole computer lingo business so I actually know what to look for in a computer

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU

Answer 2

completely pointless utility!

or a central processing unit

:-)

Answer 3

It's the Central Processing Unit.

Answer 4

It's an acronym for Central Processing Unit.

Answer 5

This is something you should Google http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&h...

Central Processing Unit (CPU) --

google stuff like motherboard, cpu, cmos, ram, pci, agp, at, atx, psu,  

Answer 6

OMG

Here is the answer to the universe

www.wikipedia.org/

Go to this website, its like the biggest dictionary in the world

Answer 7

Wow, the second half of your question could be a whole book.

To try to give you some brief ideas:

CPU is Central Processor Unit. It's the "Brain" of the computer. The higher the number, the faster it processes "things". Around 2.0 GHz is common now.

But be wary. Most ads will scream what processor they have, and it will be  a decent number. However many other things need to be considered to have a solid system.

The second most important thing to look for is RAM, or memory. Again, the higher the number the better. For an idea current systems are anywhere from 1-4 gigs. (gig is an amount of memory- you don’t need to fully understand how much that is to be a smart shopper). The type of RAM also makes a difference, but that’s too much for this answer.

I mentioned the word “memory”. This is perhaps one of the most mis-used terms in computers. It is NOT the same as hard drive (storage). Most new systems start with a hard drive around 320gig. I would not accept less than 80gig due to modern program sizes and music/picture storage.

Three additional areas that greatly affect performance, but are a bit more technical are Graphic Cards, type of hard drive, and Front Side Bus (FSB).

For Graphics, pick a system that has an actual card, not onboard graphics (except laptops). The onboard will use your CPU for graphics, the card will have it’s own CPU (and RAM). Graphic Cards themselves are a very broad subject and you’ll have to do some extra research for that one. But two of the biggest names are nVidia and ATI.

By type of hard drive I mean you want a fast hard drive that uses a fast connection. Again, do some homework, but don’t accept less than 7200rpm, and I’d recommend SATA type connection.

FSB is very technical, but that is the biggest performance hit I see in a lot of cheap systems. Just look for the number they advertise and compare them. Again, higher number is better.

Unless you are planning to play cutting edge games, don’t get sucked into the flashy car syndrome. Just about the only need for super fast computers is games and high-end graphic renderings. For an idea, I’m currently working from a box with a 900mhz CPU, 512 ram, an old ATI Radeon Graphic card, and several hard drives. I can’t play the newest games, or render my 3-D models (I have other computers for that)- but I can do absolutely everything else. And trust me, I push my computers to the limits.

Hope I gave you some ideas on key things to focus on.

Cheers

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