Difference between CPU and processor

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by pluto2, Dec 6, 2008.

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  1. pluto2 Banned Valued Senior Member

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    What is the difference between the CPU and the processor? Can a CPU contain several processors?
     
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  3. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    the cpu and the processor are identical in the context of which you speak.
    can a cpu have more than one processor?
    i would say no, even if it could then those processors would still be one cpu.

    processors and processes are two different subjects.
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2008
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  5. pluto2 Banned Valued Senior Member

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    So does a four-socket motherboard like Socket 604 have 4 CPUs?
     
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  7. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    Yes. And of course you can now get dual and quad core CPU's, several processors on the same chip.
     
  8. Dr Mabuse Percipient Thaumaturgist Registered Senior Member

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    SUN has had 8 cores for around four years now.

    The best from SUN is 16 cores now.

    But Sparc has always been the industry leader.
     
  9. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    actually when computers first came out there was a different "maths" proccesor to the CPU.

    Futher more some game consols (x-box i think) use a CPU and a compleatly different prossor called a GPU
     
  10. soadfreak2005 Registered Member

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    CPU = Central Processing Unit... Therefore, CPU is the same shit as Processor
     
  11. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    Dude, that's just not correct.

    Some computers have used separate processors for mathematical operations, such as floating point calculations to speed up processing, but that was optional. They were offered with 386 processors, probably the most prevalent offering.

    A GPU is a separate Graphics Processor, ie, a video card.

    Oh, and learn to spell.
     
  12. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    yes i know the 386's had them. I used to have one

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    And as for for the GPU being graphics, a) what difference does that make?
    and b) i THINK you are wrong, i belive if i rember the thread right that its was called the GAMES proccessing unit but thats nither here nor there.

    Its still a proccessor which is what was asked
     
  13. Xelios We're setting you adrift idiot Registered Senior Member

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    I don't think we can say a processor is the same thing as a CPU. It used to be, but nowadays we have processors for other functions (like the GPU) and even multiple processors on a single chip. I'd call the chip as a whole the CPU and the 4 cores processors.

    But who cares, it's just semantics.
     
  14. John99 Banned Banned

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    yeah. socket is something that something gets plugged into.
     
  15. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    It takes the load of the CPU if the application is graphically intensive, allowing the CPU to do the maths, disk IO, networking etc etc.


    Er, no, I'm not wrong, you are. This isn't your field of expertise, is it?

    A GPU is not a CPU.
     
  16. Xelios We're setting you adrift idiot Registered Senior Member

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    But a GPU is a processor.
     
  17. MacGyver1968 Fixin' Shit that Ain't Broke Valued Senior Member

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    GPU stands for graphical processing unit..not game processing unit.
     
  18. kevinalm Registered Senior Member

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    Iirc, gpu's have (least experimentally) been used as an auxiliary fpu (floating point unit, aka math coprocessor) for computation intensive apps. "Number crunching"

    Fpu's are integrated in all modern processors. Infact if memory serves, fpu's were integrated into _all_ processors starting with the 386's, but in the 386 and 486 SX's it was deliberately disabled for marketing reasons. Well, some were. What intel did was take the culls with bad fpu's and market them as SX's. Then when the demand for the less expensive SX's grew they 'killed' the onchip 387 fpu on some DX's to make more SX's. Of course you could always buy an external 387.

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  19. soulstar Registered Senior Member

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    Wow...intel's description of the Core2duo processor is 2 CPU's on one die....so seems every one's confusing the CPU chip(processor) and the die it lies on

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  20. soulstar Registered Senior Member

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    Well, that sums up to the CPU and the processor being one and the same thing...stop complicating the issue by introducing ALU and GPU
     
  21. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    Nah, DEC held that title for many years, Sun are Johnny come latelies, they haven't always lead.

    DEC had VMS, which was groundbreaking, and then the 64bit Alpha chip, on which you could run VMS, Ultrix, or NT4. No other platform offered such flexibility at the time.
     
  22. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    Exactly it does not sum it up that way! The CPU is the CENTRAL processor, not a secondary maths or graphics unit. We're not complicating matters mentioning ALU or GPU, those need to be explained, esp to Assguard, who thinks they have something to do with games, ....
     
  23. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    sure, if you want to limit it to CPU's then why didnt the operning post say "are CPU's, CPUs?" because it would have been redundent thats why. A CPU is a TYPE of proccessor, wether a GPU is a game proccessing unit or a graphics one is beside the point. They are another type of proccessor.
     
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