Last update: 29/5/2000
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A Microprocessor is a single chip (integrated circuit) that contains the entire central processing unit of a computer - it does the bulk of the processing and controls the rest of the system.
For comparison here is a list of common microprocessors, along with their approximate speed in MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second). This is a bit inaccurate since different manufacturers have used different measures at different times. This measure also completely ignores other improvements, such as the greatly improved floating point arithmetic support in modern processors.
| Processor | Approx. speed (MIPS) |
| Pentium II 333MHz | 770 |
| Pentium II 233MHz | 560 |
| Cyrix 6x86MX PR233 | 510 |
| AMD K6 233MHz | 480 |
| Pentium Pro 200 MHz | 440 |
| Pentium 233MHz MMX | 435 |
| AMD K5-PR166 | 260 |
| Pentium 133MHz | 240 |
| Am5x86 | 150 |
| Pentium 66MHz | 100 |
| 486 DX4/100 100MHz | 60 |
| 486 DX 2-50 50MHz | 35 |
| 486 DX 25MHz | 20 |
| 68030 40MHz | 10 |
| 386 DX 33MHz | 10 |
| 68030 25 MHz | 6.3 |
| 386 SX 20 MHz | 6 |
| 68030 16MHz | 3.9 |
| 80286 12MHz | 2.7 |
| 68020 16 MHz | 2.6 |
| 68000 16 MHz | 1.3 |
| 8086 8MHz | 0.8 |
| 68000 8MHz | 0.7 |
| 8080 2MHz | 0.5 |
| 4004 108 KHz | 0.06 |