The Processor. This is the mastermind of the computer: the part that computes. It is also called the Central Processing Unit, or CPU.

 

Processors were named by architecture, beginning with the 80x86. They evolved from the 2x86, 3x86, and 4x86. The Pentium is Intel’s version of the 5x86. Computers reached the 6x86 architecture in 1997.

 

Processor speed is also measured in Megahertz or Gigahertz. On your screen you may see something like AMD 6x86 CPU at 2.2 GHz.  According to Moore's Law, the speed of computers doubles every 18 months.

The RAM.  After the CPU, the computer counts the RAM. RAM is the memory for your computer. RAM means Random Access Memory. The RAM holds temporary instructions and data. It is fast! But it is temporary. Whatever is held in RAM is lost when the computer is turned off.

 

When the computer counts your RAM it isn’t an even number: it is an exponent of 2. If you have a Gigabyte of RAM, the computer will show 894 MB.