<P> Since the introduction of the first commercially available microprocessor , the Intel 4004 in 1970 , and the first widely used microprocessor , the Intel 8080 in 1974 , this class of CPUs has almost completely overtaken all other central processing unit implementation methods . Mainframe and minicomputer manufacturers of the time launched proprietary IC development programs to upgrade their older computer architectures , and eventually produced instruction set compatible microprocessors that were backward - compatible with their older hardware and software . Combined with the advent and eventual success of the ubiquitous personal computer , the term CPU is now applied almost exclusively to microprocessors . Several CPUs ( denoted cores ) can be combined in a single processing chip . </P>
<P> Since the introduction of the first commercially available microprocessor , the Intel 4004 in 1970 , and the first widely used microprocessor , the Intel 8080 in 1974 , this class of CPUs has almost completely overtaken all other central processing unit implementation methods . Mainframe and minicomputer manufacturers of the time launched proprietary IC development programs to upgrade their older computer architectures , and eventually produced instruction set compatible microprocessors that were backward - compatible with their older hardware and software . Combined with the advent and eventual success of the ubiquitous personal computer , the term CPU is now applied almost exclusively to microprocessors . Several CPUs ( denoted cores ) can be combined in a single processing chip . </P>
the central processing unit cpu is a type of
the central processing unit cpu is a type of
microprocessor
microprocessor