As the “brains” of the computer, a central processing unit, also known as a processor or CPU, executes the arithmetic, logic, and control operations defined in any program. Since the 1950s, the idea of a CPU has been used in computer science.
The majority of contemporary CPUs are microchips with millions of tiny transistors. Each of those transistors, which stand in for the binary system’s ones and zeros, has the ability to switch on and off. Together, these transistors enable even the CPUs in smartphones to process billions of calculations every second.
A CPU controls not only its own operations but also those of the random-access memory (RAM), graphics processing unit (GPU), and other computer parts.
In the initial days of the crypto industry, CPUs were used for cryptocurrency mining. This process involves performing millions of hash functions to find a random output whose value will be less than a predetermined target. This requires the CPU to perform a large number of calculations per second.
