Know Your Hardware: CPU

The Central Processing Unit, or CPU as most commonly known, is the workhorse in a computer system... This can even be gathered from it's name, central.

The two common parts of a CPU include the:

• ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) which performs the arithmetic and logic operations, while the
  
• CU (Control Unit) gathers instructions from memory, decodes, and executes them, calling on the ALU when necessary. Wikipedia:
  The control unit of the CPU contains circuitry that uses electrical signals to direct the entire computer system to carry out stored program instructions. The control unit does not execute program instructions; rather, it directs other parts of the system to do so. The control unit must communicate with both the arithmetic/logic unit and memory.
  

The CPU as we know it, is actually also called the microprocessor and was first commercially available in the 1970s. The first commercially available chip produced was the Intel 4004 and ran at a whopping maximum clock rate of 740kHz... That isn't even megahertz territory!

Today's biggest chip manufaturer is Intel, followed by AMD. In the last 40 years, we went from 740kHz, to today's eight core GHz powerhouses.

For more history or indepth information, do a Google search for "cpu".