No, You're Not Thinking, You're Just Being Logical
| Published 10/01/04

Graphic by: Jenny Conner

Computers don't think; they are just immensely logical automatons that do exactly what we tell them. This gives rise to the popular phrase "GIGO" (garbage in, garbage out), because one only gets out of a computer what one puts into it.

Perhaps this idea is too often applied to software, which is why nobody pays much attention to the hardware aspect. After all, fiddling with the innards in a computer is much like doing surgery until you get used to it. That aside, people buy computers all the time -- especially kids going into college -- without really knowing what all the hardware means or even does. This allows them to fall victim to the endless advertisements that proclaim, "Buy this computer. It's got a 3.2 GHz processor. It's better than that other one."

Most people have a vague idea of what the processor does. After all we've been inundated with the phrase "The CPU is the brains of the computer." But who, besides the nerds, actually knows what that means?

In this article, I propose a general education about processors and then a comparison of the two major brands in the market for personal computers (PC's). Processors have come a long way since when they were first manufactured back in the days of the 486. Which brings one to the first point, what does the speed of the processor mean?

The processor's speed, originally given in hertz (Hz), is how many operations it can perform in one second. When the 486 came out, it performed between 33 and 66 operations per second, or hertz. By operation I mean that the computer could add or subtract a number, move a number from one place to another or compare two numbers. In essence, that is still all that any processor can do. Sounds simple doesn't it? Processor speed is now measured in gigahertz (GHz) which is 1,000,000,000 Hertz. As you can see, processors are a lot faster than they used to be.

The speed of a processor isn't everything there is to it though, especially when one looks at AMD vs. Intel Pentium. AMDs have a slower clock speed (processor speed) than comparable Pentiums. However, AMDs run just as fast according to some benchmark tests. Benchmarks are programs that run and measure how fast a computer completes certain tasks. In the processor families themselves, the clock speed matters. A 1.8 GHz Pentium III probably can't touch a 3.0 GHz Pentium IV, but a 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon XP can outrun a 3.0 GHz Pentium IV at times.

The latest thing to hit the processor road is the 64 bit chip from AMD. This may need some explaining. Eight bits make up a byte; 1024 bytes make up a kilobyte, 1024 kilobytes make up a megabyte; 1024 megabytes make up a gigabyte. Any one number in today's common processors is stored in 32 bits of data, which limits the size of the number. The number can only be so big which poses a problem when you're trying to calculate PI, but it doesn't matter much to those of us just doing word processing.

Microsoft doesn't even have a version of Windows that supports 64 bit processors, which doesn't mean that you can't run windows on AMD 64 Athlon. It just means that you don't get many benefits from doing it. However if you're in college and looking at buying a computer, it's not so much about performance as it is about value in the first place. "What will give me the most bang for the buck?" is the question I ask myself often. The AMD Athlon XP 3000 can give you about the same performance as the Pentium IV 3.0 GHz processor for about 80 dollars less.

All in all, try not to be fooled by high processor speeds. Search around for results specific to the processor you want and find out how it compares to other options. One of the best places to search for reviews is http://www.google.com as usual. Probably the best place to find low priced computer parts if you're looking to build your own computer is http://www.pricewatch.com.