However; other chip manufacturers, such as Cyrix and AMD, are rapidly climbing the industry ladder to compete with Intel in the CPU marketplace. Although these other microprocessors are probably just as good as an Intel, there may be some subtle differences in them that may affect their performance. The speed of the processor is very important; this is the measure of its clock rate - which indicates the number of instructions that can be processed per second. Ten years ago, the AAIntel 386@@ followed by the AAIntel 486@@ processors, where considered AAstate-of-the-art technology@@. In 1993, Intel introduced their AAPentium@@ model microprocessors. Today, we have processor speeds available up to1GHz. There are also alternatives as to the model or level of CPU we can purchase. Intel produces a CPU called the AACeleron@@, which uses the same instruction set and software, but has a less sophisticated architecture than the AAPentium@@ models. AACeleron@@ processors are less expensive, and could mean hundreds of dollars in savings. In addition, AMD produces two microprocessors that compete with Intel==s AAPentium@@ and AACeleron@@; they are the AAK6@@ and the AAAthlon@@ processors. The difference in the performance of computers that use either AMD or Intel processors, are virtually impossible to uncover; they run the same software, as well as, the same peripheral devices. Furthermore, computers with AMD processors retail for less than computers with Intel processors BB a great deal for a family on a limited budget. The next component to consider is memory (RAM). Random Access Memory (RAM), is system memory, or AAon board memory@@. Ram temporarily stores data while running application programs (from which one works.) The amount of RAM a computer needs depends on the operating system and application software you plan to use. To run Windows, your computer needs at least 32 MB of RAM. Today, most computers include at least 128 MB of RAM.
