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CPU

in full central processing unit

Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. The CPU is linked to main memory, peripheral equipment (including input/output devices), and storage units. The control unit integrates computer operations. It selects instructions from the main memory in proper sequence and sends them to the instruction-decoding unit, which interprets them so as to activate functions of the system at appropriate moments. Input data are transferred via the main memory to the arithmetic-logic unit for processing (i.e., addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and certain logic operations). Larger computers may have two or more CPUs, in which case they are simply called “processors” because each is no longer a “central” unit. Seealso multiprocessing.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

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CPU-Z

CPU-Z is a freeware system profiler application for Microsoft Windows (for all versions from 95 on) that detects the central processing unit, RAM, motherboard chipset, and other hardware features of a modern personal computer, and presents the information in one window. CPU-Z is more in-depth in some areas than the features that Windows XP provides to identify various hardware components, and is thus needed to identify certain components without opening the case, especially the core revision and RAM clock rate. It has an unusual ability to directly detect hardware features, especially the ability to access, read and display the SPD data from memory modules. The ability to document clock speed makes it an important tool for motherboard overclockers, as a way of proving the CPU speeds achieved by various experiments.

This software is a portable application — installation does not generate complex interdependencies with the operation system; the resulting executable file can simply be copied to any data storage device and executed on any Windows computer.

CPU-Z has also inspired W1zzard, the owner of techPowerUp! to create an application called GPU-Z, which gives information on the graphics card of a system.