Crash Course in Today's Processors

Hello and Happy Thursday Everyone!

Today, I bring you a list of today's processors and microprocessors! If you are looking to buy a new phone/tablet/computer/laptop, one of the most important components is a processor, the main "brain" of the unit. Where Ram, and Hard Disc space are usually upgradeable, the processor is more or less built into the machine from the start. Therefore, it is important to know what kind of processor you are buying, because to replace it, you may just need to replace the whole unit.

Desktops, of course you can replace the processor in, providing you buy a similar processor to fit the motherboard. :)

Desktops, and most laptops use one of two brands of processor: Either an Intel chip, or an AMD chip. These two companies have been rivals for decades. Here is a quick pro-con list of the two companies before we get into specifics:

Intel Pros,
Speed: byte for byte, Intel chips are usually faster than AMD's chips, there is a wealth of technology under the hood that accounts for this, but we won't get into that too much.
Compatibility: Intel chips work with many more motherboards and system boards than AMD. Intel has the majority on the market here, so other companies build more total boards to accommodate intel's chips than AMD's chips.
Cooling: Intel chips tend to use less power, and get less hot than AMD chips. If you like a cool laptop, or if you are environmentally conscientious, you may want an Intel chip.

AMD Pros,
Graphics: AMD has invested a lot of money into built in graphics on their chips, they own ATI, a graphics company, which gives them the ability to really take advantage of AMD / ATI graphic combinations especially in their laptops.
Price: AMD is well below Intel in price, some of their chips can be a 100$ or less than a compatible Intel Chip.
Overclocking: If you are the sort of gaming rabbit who can't resist playing with factory specifications and want to overclock your processor, AMD is built for overclocking. Just be sure to stick it in the freezer or add a water-cooling system to it!

Now for some more details:

Intel:
About 6 years ago, Intel made a huge naming switch when multi-core processors first came on the market. Instead of the P-4 processors, or duo / dual core, they renamed their main line the Core iX:

Core i-3
Intel Core i-3's stands for their low end processor, a dual core processor, which basically means two small processors built to run like 1. These are very low power, so devices with these will tend to have a longer battery life than the larger cores. These also have the least amount "brains" or Cache to them. The larger the cache, the more the processor can handle at once without slowing down. An average cache for an i-3 is about 3mb. Another way to think of it is how many programs do you have open at once? A core i-3 can have three small programs open at once, or one large program, like photoshop.

Core i-5
Intel Core i-5's is their middle of the road processor, a dual core, (sometimes quad core if it's a desktop model). These run like 4 small processors built into 1. These take a little more power, and won't last as long on a single charge, but they are also faster. They average about a 4-6mb cache, or 6 programs open at once, or 2 large programs open at once. They will also cost a little more.

Core i-7
The cream of the crop. A core -7 can have up to 8 cores, or 8 processors built into 1! They cost quite a bit more, and will drain power quickly, but are much faster. They average about a 8-20mb cache, or 8-20 small programs open at once, or 3-4 large programs open. This is for someone who wants a lot of power to run video editing, large computations, high end computer games, or lots of programs open simultaneously.

Every couple years, Intel releases a new version of these Core processors. They have model names or generation numbers. a 3rd generation will be faster, and more energy efficient than a 1st generation for example. This year, they are releasing their 6th generation set, codenamed Skylake. This new generation promises a lot of new features that haven't been seen in processors before:

1. Built to work with wireless charging!
2. Built to drastically change the speed and capability on the fly depending on whether you are running on battery or plugged in.
3. Built to use all those newfangled cords, like the thunderbolt 3, and the usb type C connectors you may (or may not) have heard about.
4. Support for new RAM types also coming out soon!
5. A catch-up to AMD, it can now overclock easier without overheating and blowing up your house.
6. Just plain faster than the old models.

For those of you wondering, I have matched up the generation numbers with the fancy codenames Intel uses:

1st Generation: Nehalem
2nd Generation: Sandy Bridge
3rd Generation: Ivy Bridge
4th Generation: Haswell
5th Generation: Broadwell
6th Generation: Skylake

AMD took a little longer to begin catching up to intel, and had to do a lot of research, to develop a whole new line of processors, but their results were quite impressive. Their numbering system is a lot more complex, so I will simply give some general details on their lines:

Most of AMD's newer processors are part of the FX series, which include 4 Core, 6 Core, and 8 Core processors:

4 Core: AMD's Quad Core processors are their lower end series, and run similar to Intel's Core i-3 models.

6 Core: AMD's Six Core processors are the middle end series, and run similar to Intel's Core i-5 models.

8 Core: AMD's Eight Core processors are the high end, and lightning fast. They run similar to Intel's Core i-7 models, but usually have built-in graphics cards and can outstrip a stock Intel chip on graphic related tasks.

For those of you wondering, I have matched up the generation numbers with the fancy codenames AMD uses:

2011 Generation: Llano
2012 Generation: Trinity
2013 Generation: Richland
2014 Generation: Kaveri
2015 Generation: Carrizo

AMD's Carrizo line is their newest line, and will be competing with Skylake. Both companies are trying to enter the mobile device market.

Okay, that's about it for the Laptops and Desktops. We know that AMD and Intel want to enter the mobile market. So... what does the mobile market look like?

Apple has been using a Company called ARM for their chips, usually named A4, A5, A6, etc. These chips have vastly different abilities, but the chipset is the same.

The Android Devices have used a variety of chips, the most popular being Qualcomms Snapdragon series, Intel Atom chips, and Broadcom, or other chips by ARM. There is a new player on the marked, Nvidia, known for its graphics chips, is working on a Tegra chip to work in phones and small devices.

Without listing heaps of specs on every individual processor, let me take this in groupings:

Apple has been using, and will probably continue to use the A Series. Their latest chip is the A8 and the A8x, which is a 3 Core processor, with 2mb cache. What does this mean? It's about on par with a low power Intel Core -3, while being more energy efficient.

Samsung, and other Android companies have been using a blend of ARM's Exynos chips, and Qualcomms Snapdragon chips. The ARM exynos chips are comprable to Apple's A series, and the snapdragon chips are specially designed for anything ranging from cell phones to tv chips.

I look forward to seeing how AMD and Intel may break the trend with moving to the mobile market.

Well, that's all for now, enjoy!