Slow Laptop? Do you know about i5, i7, 10th Gen, 12 Cores?

#computerscience #programming #webdev

I am pretty sure most of us always hear intel i5, i7, 10th generation 11th generation, 12 cores, 8 cores, 512 GB ssd and it goes beyond our head. Let's understand it today:

We all have learnt that Memory is of 2 types RAM and ROM.
RAM (Random Access Memory) stores memory temporarily. If you restart or shut down, all the info in RAM is cleared.
More RAM = more tasks you can do at the same time.
Less RAM = system will slow down or lag when multitasking

Whereas ROM (Read Only Memory) stores memory permanently. We rarely interact with ROM. It just quietly helps your computer boot up properly.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) acts as a brain. Just like your brain makes decisions and controls your actions, CPU does the same for your computer. It carries out all the instructions from hardware to software.

How it works?
It takes instructions from memory -> then it understand and decode that instruction -> it performs that action (for example, now I am typing this, CPU is understanding each and every letter and then displaying it on this post)

Btw CPU is also a type of Processor. But let me ask you this: Is your system 32-bit or 64-bit?

Sounds too technical? "but it’s actually just about how much data your processor can handle at a time".

Let’s break it down:
Let's take a 16 bit processor;
A 16-bit processor can handle numbers ranging from -32,768 to 32,767, that’s its processing limit in one go.

32-bit is twice the size of 16-bit
64-bit is 4x the size of 16-bit processor

That means a 64-bit processor can process larger chunks of data, access more memory (RAM), and run more powerful software. It’s not just about speed. It’s about capacity as well. Hence why it is important to know this. RAM helps with some specific task. CPU helps with the background tasks.

A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is another type of processor that specializes in rendering images and videos.

Now let's come to the real talk: What are these 8 cores, 12 cores in every system?

Each core is like a mini-CPU that can handle its own tasks.

1 Core = 1 task at a time
2 Cores = 2 tasks
8 Cores = Even more powerful for heavy tasks like video editing, or running many apps.

The more cores your system has the more background tasks you can run.

SSD (Solid State Drives) Long-Term Memory. This is where your files, apps, photos, and system software are permanently stored even when the computer is off. SSDs are way faster.They don’t have moving parts, so reading/writing data is lightning-fast.

A faster SSD = data reaches RAM & CPU faster.

I had never paid attention to RAM, CPU, storage until we were assigned to research:
What Makes a Computer Fast, RAM / CPU?