L2 cache is the second tier of a multi-cache memory system and provides memory to a processor without delay. An L2 cache sits between an L1 and L3 cache and is generally either 256 KB or 512 KB in size. An L2 cache contains frequently used information and prevents the processor from having to search the L3 cache or RAM, which are both much larger in size. Although a processor will first search the L1 cache, it is often the L2 cache that contains the needed information due to the Read More

Socket-370 is a CPU socket utilized by some Celeron, Pentium III, and Via C3 processors. The “370” in Socket-370 means that the socket has 370 contacts. The socket-370 is a Pin Grid Array (PGA) Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket. A ZIF socket features a lever on one side of the socket. When this lever is pulled up, the spring contacts inside the socket are opened. This allows the CPU to be inserted easily into the socket. The lever is then pushed down, closing the spring contacts and clamping the CPU Read More

Socket-604 is a 603-contact CPU socket used by some Intel Xeon processors. The Socket-604 has 604 contact holes, the empty contact hole is used for a dummy pin. This dummy pin allows Socket-603 and Socket-604 CPU's to be used in Socket-604 mothterboards, while preventing Socket-604 CPU's from being utilized in Socket-603 motherboards. Socket-604 supports a 533MHz Front Side Bus. The Socket-603 supports a 400Mhz Front Side Bus (FSB). The Socket-604 is a Pin Grid Array (PGA) Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket. A ZIF socket features a lever on one side Read More

Overclocking is the process making a computer component run at a higher speed than that specified by the manufacturer. The components that can be overclocked include the CPU, the memory and the video cards. Although there may be many different reasons for overclocking, the most common reason is to increase hardware performance. For example the AMD Athlon 2500+ processor which normally runs at a CPU clock speed of 1.83 GHz may me made to run at a clock speed of 2.20 GHz or the GeForce 6800 cards may be converted Read More

Socket-A is a 462-contact CPU socket which is used by AMD CPUs, such as the K7, Athlon, Athlon XP, Duron, and Sempron. The Socket-A is a Pin Grid Array (PGA) Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket. A ZIF socket features a lever on one side of the socket. When this lever is pulled up, the spring contacts inside the socket are opened. This allows the CPU to be inserted easily into the socket. The lever is then pushed down, closing the spring contacts and clamping the CPU into place.

Celeron is an marketing name for Intel's lower-cost CPUs from the Pentium family. Intel has manufactured and sold Celeron versions of the Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4, and Pentium-M CPUs. Intel purposefully limits the performance of their Celeron processors to prevent them from competing with their higher-end Pentium and Xeon processors. At the same time, the Intel Celeron processors are designed to compete against processors from AMD. The original Celeron design was a poor performer due to the lack of L2 cache. The next generation of the Celeron included Read More

Excessive heat damages electronics. Monitoring CPU and other computer components’ temperature help them run properly. To make the most of monitoring software, users must ensure that ACPI functionality is enabled in their motherboard BIOS. Why CPU Temperature is so Important When the first affordable PCs were offered to the general public in the early 80’s, system engineers and designers took into consideration the heat that system components emitted and ensured that their case and cooling designs handled the appropriate amount of heat so system damage or instability was rarely an Read More

Sempron is a name for AMD's line of lower-cost CPUs. The Sempron line is designed to complete against the Intel Celeron lower-cost CPUs. Sempron CPUs feature a L1 cache with 64KB of memory for data and another 64KB of memory for instructions. The L2 cache on Sempron CPUs operates at the full speed of the CPU and ranges from 128KB to 512KB in size. Sempron CPUs support MMX, 3DNow!, and SSE. Some models of Sempron CPUs also support SSE2. Sempron CPUs are designed to fit Socket-A or Socket-754 CPU sockets.

Multi-core technology is the term that describes today's processors that have two or more working processor chips (more commonly referred to as cores) working simultaneously as one system. Dual cores or chips with two processors that work as one system are the first type of multi-core technology applications. How It Works The multi-core processor technology was conceptualized and has revolved around the idea of being able to make parallel computing possible. Parallel computing could dramatically increase the speed, efficiency and performance of computers by simply putting 2 or more Central Read More

To benchmark a CPU, we recommend CPU Right Mark. The CPU RightMark suite is designed to create objective measurements of the performance of modern and future processors in different computational tasks such as numerical modeling of physical processes and solving of 3D graphic problems. CPU RightMark focuses on testing loaded FPU/SIMD units and CPU/RAM in tandem. As a result, CPU RightMark is able to measure pure CPU performance, an objective parameter obtained without the influence of other subsystems, like video and disk systems, with the exception of the critical memory Read More