More on Cores: Single Core? Dual Core? Quad Core? What's the Difference?

The core of a processor refers its components, along with system memory, that facilitate the fetch-execute cycle by which computers read (fetch) and process (execute) the instructions of programs. Although the physical implementation of a chip depends upon its architecture, all CPUs consist of two logical components: the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) and the control unit (CU) (Englander, 2003).