iGNITED PROCESSOR GYAN

We are always pretty much confused with the choice of Processors when it comes to buying a smartphone or a notebook or a desktop or a processor itself. There are a few ground rules when it comes to the choice of a processor which we should follow nut they are not the ultimate measures of the efficiency of a processor. When it comes to ground rules, we should still keep one thing in mind that the brand of a processor also has a significant role to play in determining the efficiency of a processor. Let’s get through some of the ground rules now.

• MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Manufacturing process is in case the distance between two transistors in the processor die. The age old processors were manufactured at very large processes but presently we are in that technological world where the manufacturing process has shrinked to 10 nm. This means that the distance between two consecutive transistors is 10 nm. In layman’s terms, the lower the manufacturing process, less is the time and energy required to transmit an electric signal from one point to other in the processor. Thus, smaller manufacturing process means increased efficiency and performance and thus it is always advised to choose a processor which is manufactured in in a small process. For mid-range processors, the preferred manufacturing process is 14nm or 12 nm. For flagship processors a 10 nm processes based on the current technology is recommended

• ARCHITECTURE

Architecture refers to the no. of bits, the processor is configured to and is capable of processing. It also refers to the type of cores which is used in the processor. The type of cores used in a processor has a great impact on the performance of the processor. Like for intel, we have Pentium cores, Celeron Cores, i3 or i5 or i7 cores. The icores for intel are the best and among them the i7 is the most powerful. For AMD we have Ryzen cores or Sempron cores or others. When it comes to smart-phones, all the processors except Samsung’s Exynos and Apple’s A-series, are based on arm cores. Examples are A5, A7, A15, A17, A52, A53, A72, A73, etc. In this regard, it is worthy to note that as the number in the A-cores increases, the power of the cores also increases. Arm’s most powerful core is A73 in the present scenario. Generally, we would never find an octa-core CPU with all of the cores being A-73 cores. Generally, all the smartphone processor manufacturers like Qualcomm, Mediatek, Huwaei, etc. prefer to use both power and performance cores for their processors. A-53 is the most efficient core (Efficient here implies that it provides the best balance between power consumption and performance). Even we would recommend our readers to always go for a processor with a combination of Power cores like the A-72 or A-73 and performance cores like the A-53 or A-52. This will ensure you get the best battery life without compromising on power much because battery life is also a very major factor when it comes to the choice of smartphones. When it comes to flagship processors from Qualcomm, like the Snapdragon 835 or 821 or the recently launched Snapdragon 845, they use semi-custom cores based on ARM A-73 cores named Kryo. The Snapdragon 845 uses Kryo 280 cores. Recently launched premium mid-range processor, the Snapdragon 660 also uses Kryo 260 cores. Its very important to make a correct choice with the architecture of the processors because 70% of game is completed with this.

• GPU

This is also a very important point to consider. The Graphics Processing Unit actually determines the amount of graphics intensive tasks one can carry on without the help of any discreet Graphic cards. The prime reason why we should choose a processor with a good GPU is gaming. Guys, trust me you can’t carry out flawless gaming without frame drops in a mediate or spreadtrum SoC on phones. For laptops or desktops we have the option of a discreet card and hence we don’t care much about the GPU integrated with the processor in desktops or laptops. But when it comes to phone, GPU is what sets the Qualcomm and flagship Exynos SoC apart to a next level from the mediatek or the Spreadtrum SoC or the budget and premium budget Exynos SoC.

• CLOCK SPEED AND NUMBER OF CORES

Here let us clear a myth. People tend to look at the clock speed and the number of cores in a processor and draw a conclusion that it is the better than the one with a lower clock speed. This is absolutely a myth and the clock speed hardly makes any difference. To understand clock speed we need to first get the fact that signals are transmitted in a processor with the switching of a transistor off to on or on to off. Off denotes binary signal 0 nad on denotes binary signal 1. Now clock speed is the frequency or the number of times, a transistor is switched off and on in one second. A processor with clock speed 2 GHz means that transistors are switched off and on 2,000,000,000 times. Higher the frequency of switching or clock speed, higher is the transmission of signal in the processor. Now, when it comes to the number of cores or core count, we need to understand it with the help of an example. Assume the processor as a human, numbers of cores are the number of hands the human has. For instance, if a processor has 8 core or if it an octa-core processor, then it can execute 8 types of task simultaneously. This makes a difference if we compare two processors with the same type of cores. For instance, a 7th Gen octa-core i7 is better than a 7th Gen quad-core i7. But a octa-core i5 is not necessarily better than a quad core i7.

We hope you a got a brief idea about various factors determining the efficiency of processors. We welcome your suggestions for the improvement of our site in the comments box. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @iGNITED_iNFINITY and like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/AlienXT