It is hard to imagine that there is any other processor than Intel. There is a processor called AMD (advanced micro devices) currently leading in the silicon race for the fastest processor at an affordable price. No longer shall Intel lead the market when AMD makes its name superior.
A CPU is a microprocessor that is generally constructed with millions of tiny switches called transistors that are imbedded in silicon. The outer shell is ceramic with gold pins protruding out of the processor to make a connection with the motherboard. The function of the processor is to take the data from memory, (a storage device) or an outside controller like a keyboard, joystick, or scanner. This is determined in the program by sending messages to the processor in binary language. Binary language is sent to the processor commanding the transistors to flip on or off, (on equals one and off equals zero). .
The processor is placed on a motherboard with a bus speed of that to match the processor. This allows the processor to go as fast as the wires making up the bus can handle. This means the less resistance in the wire the faster your system can run. The bus is measured in megahertz (MHz) and is connected to the memory for the processor to store in memory. The faster the operation can occur the better the system operates.
The CPU has a clock speed that tells you how many operations can happen in one second. A CPU's clock is found by multiplying the processor megahertz by 1,000,000. If you have a 500 MHz processor then the operations will equal 500,000,000 per second. The operation, is the individual commands sent by the program. The faster the processors bus and clock speed the faster FPU's (floating point units). This is the mathematical part of the processor. This allows the binary to work faster. .
Now that the processor has been explained. Why is AMD is better? In the beginning, AMD made CPU's (central processing units) in the second IBM compatible desktop systems ever developed.