Computer processor terms

Updated: 11/12/2023 by Computer Hope

Computer processor terms with full definitions and information on each term. Explore this list of over 50 terms like CPU, core, GHz, and machine cycle. Navigate quickly through the list by clicking one of the letters below; for example, click 'H' to find terms like 'heat sink' in the 'H' section.

Definition of a computer processor
Index of motherboard-related terms
Top 10 processor terms
FinFET Device Schematic

Central Processing Unit
Instruction set
Core
Machine cycle
GHz
Control unit
Instructions
Active heat sink
Processing
ALU

Number
Intel 4004

3DNow!
286
287
386
386DX
386SL
486
486DX
486DX4
486SL
486SX
486SX2
586
4004
8008
8080
8085
8086
8087
8088
68000
80286
80287
80386
80386DX
80386SL
80387
80387DX
80387SX
80486
80486DX
80486DX4
80486SL
80486SX
80486SX2
88000

A
Computer active heat sink

A4 processor
Accumulator
Active heat sink
Adder
ALU
AMD
AMD64
APU
ARM processor
Asymmetrical
Asymmetrical multi-processing
ATC
Athlon
Atom

B

Barrier
BGA
Branch prediction

C
Intel Celeron processor

Cache
Cache flush
CAS
Celeron
Central Processing Unit
Ceramic Pin Grid Array
CISC
Clock cycle
Clock-doubling
Clock pulse
Clock speed
Cobra
Column Access Strobe
Complex Instruction Set Computer
Computer instructions
Concurrent computing
Context switch
Control unit
Coppermine
Coprocessor
Core
Core 2
Core 2 Duo
Core 2 Extreme
Core 2 Quad
Core Duo
Core i3
Core i5
Core i7
Core i9
Core logic
Core Solo
CPGA
CPU
CPU-Z
Custom silicon

D

Data line
Data path
Digital Signal Processor
Downclock
DSP
DTS
Dual-core
Dual processor
Duron

E

EIST
Embarrassingly parallel
Epyc

F

Fab
FC-PGA
FinFET
Fin field effect transistor
Floating-point coprocessor
FLOPS
Flush
FPU

G

GHz
Green PC

H

Haswell
Heat sink
Heat sink backing plate
Hertz
Hexa-core
Hyper-threading
HyperTransport

I
Intel i7 processor

i7
IA-32
IA-64
iCOMP
ILP
Infinity Fabric
Instruction pipeline
Instructions
Instruction set
Intel
Intel Core
Intel Core i7
Intel Core i9
Intel Ultra Path Interconnect
Interposer
ISA
Itanium

J

Job number
Job queue

K

KHz
Killer micro
Kilohertz

L
LGA interface

L1 cache
L2 cache
L3 cache
Level 1 caching
Level 2 cache
Level 3 cache
LGA
LIF
Liquid cooling
Logic chip
Low-insert force

M
Gordon Moore, author of Moore's Law

Machine cycle
Math coprocessor
Megaflop
Megahertz
Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerabilities
Memory dependence prediction
Mendocino
Mflop
MHz
Microcontroller
Microprocessor
MIMD
MIPS
MMU
MMX
Moore's Law
MP1120
Multicore processor
Multiplier
Multiprocessing

N

NEC V20
NEC V30
NetBurst
Numeric coprocessor

O
Intel OverDrive socket

ODP
ODPR
Opteron
Out-of-order execution
Overclock
OverDrive
OverDrive Processor
OverDrive Processor Replacement

P
Pentium 4 Willamette processor

P1
P2
P4
P5
P6
Package
Parallelization
Parallel processing
Passive heat sink
Pentium
Pentium 4
Pentium II
Pentium III
Pentium III 533B
Pentium III 600B
Pentium IV
Pentium M
Pentium Pro
PGA
Pin Grid Array
Pipeline
Pipeline flush
Pipelining
PowerNow!
PowerPC
PPC
PPGA
Preprocessor
Process
Processing
Processing capacity
Processor
Processor slot
Processor throttling
Program counter
Protected mode
Pumping

Q

Quad-core
Quantum Computer

R

Real mode
Register
RISC
Ryzen

S
Socket 939 motherboard

Sandy Bridge
SECC
Secondary cache
Sequential processing
SIMD
Single threading
Slot
Slot 1
Slot A
Slotket
SMI
SMM
SMP
Snapdragon
SoC
Socket
Socket 1
Socket 2
Socket 3
Socket 4
Socket 5
Socket 6
Socket 7
Socket 8
Socket 370
Socket 423
Socket 462
Socket 478
Socket 603
Socket 604
Socket 939
Socket A
Socket AM2
Socket AM3
Socket F
Solo
SPARC
SPEC code
Speculative execution
SpeedStep
SPGA
SSE
SSE2
SSE3
SSSE3
Stack puke
Superscalar

T

TDP
Temperature
Teraflop
Tflop
Thermal compound
Thread
Threadripper
TLP
TPM
Trusted Execution Technology

U

Underclock
UPI

V

V20
V30
VAX
Virtual address extension
Virtual core
Virtual real mode
VRM

W

Wait state
Willamette
Work stealing
Wrapper

X

X86
Xeon
Xeon Phi
XScale

Y

Currently, no listings.

Z

Z80
Zen
Zero out
Zero wait state
ZIF socket

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