CPU
CPU (noun) means the main chip inside a computer that carries out the instructions of a program, performing the calculations and logical decisions that make software run. Example: “The laptop felt slow because every browser tab was fighting for the same CPU.”
How to Use CPU
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe chip that does the actual thinking in a computer.
Standard in technical and everyday computing use. The sense meaning the desktop tower is informal and disliked by specialists.
Pronounce it letter by letter. It takes an article: say the CPU, not just CPU.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
The laptop felt slow because every browser tab was fighting for the same _____.
Etymology
An initialism of central processing unit.
Synonyms
View more →Related Words
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a CPU and a GPU?
A CPU handles a modest number of tasks but can switch between very different kinds of work quickly, so it runs the operating system and most ordinary programs. A GPU has thousands of much simpler cores that do the same kind of arithmetic on huge batches of data at once. A GPU is not a better CPU; it is built for a different shape of problem.
What do cores and threads mean?
A core is a complete processing unit within the chip, so a four-core CPU can genuinely work on four things at the same time. Threads are the separate streams of instructions the operating system hands out, and some CPUs let one core juggle two threads to keep it busy.
Does a higher clock speed always mean a faster CPU?
Not on its own. Clock speed in gigahertz counts cycles per second, but how much work a chip completes per cycle differs between designs and generations. Two chips at the same gigahertz figure can perform very differently.