PROCESSOR TRENDS

Do you plan to run simulation and emulation software programs on your local machine? Are you a graphics designer hoping to harness the latest and best graphics tools in the market? Are you a web developer running and testing servers and databases on your laptop? One very important feature to look out for when purchasing such a laptop is the processor. As a tech savvy, you are looking towards having a laptop with a very high performance and good graphics quality, this consideration should lead one to pay particular attention to the processor. Let’s take a brief look at what a processor is.

A processor is often called the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the computer, often known as the place of central intelligence of the computer system, in other words it is the mind of the computer and it is responsible for every performance that goes on in the laptop computer such as inputing data, browsing on the internet, playing video games e.t.c. A typical processor is made of microprocessors, main memory, Arithmetic and Logic unit (ALU), Graphical processing unit (GPU) amidst others. The processor trend in current laptops are made by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), Intel, Apple, and Qualcomm snapdragon. A good processor speed ranges between 3.50 to 4.20 GHz, this is something to look out for when making a laptop purchase.

Choosing a processor for your work description seems like the most difficult task because you want to find a competent and productive processor to suit your purpose. But what if I tell you it’s actually very easy to choose. There are a lot of ways to go about it but a major one is understanding the various processor manufacturer types and identifying their strengths and drawbacks, this will lead to making better informed decisions when opting out for a particular type of processor.

The laptops that exist today mostly make use of Intel processor, while some others have utilized processor technologies from AMD and the Qualcomm Snapdragon. One of the latest processor technologies however, is that which was designed by Apple as they transitioned their laptops to use Custom M-series silicon in the manufacturing of its processors.

Intel?

"Integrated Electronics", Intel for short is the world’s largest manufacturer of microprocessors for PC (Personal Computer), they hold the patent for the x86 processor architecture, this technical detail is beyond the scope of this article, perhaps we would know what the x86 processor architecture means in another article. Intel processors are chosen for a number of reasons, let’s look at some of the characteristics of an Intel processor:

1. The CPU performance of Intel processors is very high. This is largely due to the high clock speed.
2. The clock speed is measured by how fast a computer can process information, it is a measure of the performance of a processor. The clock speed of Intel processors are higher than that of AMD processor, however this is compensated by Intel processors consuming higher power and requiring higher battery life.
3. The speed can be up 5.0GHz or greater.
4. In terms of efficiency, the Intel processor is better than the AMD processor.
5. One drawback of Intel is that they can heat up whenever they are used with Clock Speed Boost of 14nm.

Examples of Intel Processors are Intel Celeron, Pentium, Intel Core i series, Intel Core m series, Intel Xeon etc.

AMD?

Founded in May 1, 1969 AMD is the second largest manufacturer of PC microprocessors after Intel. They make ICs (Integrated Circuits) for network devices, Programmable logic devices and flash memory. AMD processors have the following characteristics:

1. For the same computing power, AMD microprocessors are cheaper than INTEL processors.
2. For higher clock speeds it generates more heat compared to the Intel processor, this is why it is less efficient.
3. AMD has smaller lithography when used with a higher clock speed boost.
4. They are better for running productivity tasks than the Intel Processors and are also particularly the best choice when considering gaming functions on laptops.

Examples are AMD Athlon 64, AMD Opteron, AMD EPYC, AMD FX-Series, AMD Ryzen, AMD Thread dripper.

Qualcomm Snapdragon?

The Qualcomm is one of the leading manufacturers of processors for mobile devices, the Snapdragon processor is part of the Snapdragon series of the Qualcomm manufacturer. Snapdragon-835 processors being the first Qualcomm processor for laptops laptops cannot be used for running heavy applications such as programming or gaming as they are meant for light tasks. made out of Snapdragon-835 processors are meant for light tasks as it can not handle heavy application such as gaming and programming. It was implemented in Lenovo MIIX 630, HP Envy x2, Asus NovaGo. Its main features are about 20 hours battery life; laptops undergo quiet Operation because complex cooling fans are not required as the processor dissipates less heat compared to other processors.

Apple?

Apple designs its own SoC (System on a chip) and SiP (System in package) processors for the manufacture of its devices. In 2006 however, Apple relied on Intel for the manufacture of its processors, but transitioned in the year 2020 from using Intel processors to the Apple M1 chip. The M1 was the first Apple-designed SoC that was developed to be used in Macs. The following are the characteristics of this processor:

1. The M1 chip includes an 8-core CPU with four high-performance cores and four high efficiency cores for multiple tasks at once.
2. Machine learning tasks such as voice recognition, image processing and video analysis become easier as these processors have a built-in Neural Engine.
3. It has better CPU performance than Intel processors.
4. Its speed and battery life cannot comparable to any other processor in the market today.

Examples of Apple products where these are used are M1 iPad Pro models, M1 iMac, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and the MacBook Air. Its major challenge is the cost effectiveness.

References:

1. https://cashify.in
2. https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-choose-a-laptop-cpu
3. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-intel-and-amd/
4. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/m1/
5. https://www.qualcomm.com/products/application/mobile-computing/consumer/windows