Microprocessor

This little chip is the heart of a computer. The microprocessor, often referred to as just the processor, does all the computations like adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, duplicating, etc. In PCs, the most popular microprocessor used is the Intel Pentium, whereas Apple Macintosh computers use the PowerPC chip (developed by Motorola, IBM, and Apple). Microprocessors perform many operations using instructions that are integrated into each chip, but software programs can tell the processor to do specific instructions as well. Megahertz are used to measure the clock speed of microprocessors but higher Megahertz don't always mean faster speeds. Though a 600-MHz chip has a clock speed that is twice as fast as a 300-Mhz chip, it doesn't mean the computer with the 600-Mhz chip will run all tasks twice as fast. This is because the speed of a computer is also influenced by other factors, such as the amount of memory available, the design of the program you're running, and most importantly, the efficiency of the processor. Some processors can complete more operations per clock cycle than other processors, making them more efficient than other processors with higher clock speeds. This is why the PowerPC is usually faster than Pentium chips at that are clocked at higher Megahertz.