If you’re reading this website (you flatter us) you’re probably one of the more tech-savvy people in the family. So doubtless you get tapped occasionally to fix Aunt Estella’s printer or de-spyware your parents’ machine. And every once in a while, someone will want to buy a new computer. While there’s no better time than the present, they will certainly be mystified by the array of possible configurations, and none more confusing than the processors. How many cores? Front side what? Celer-who?
This article is a good primer for what the story is with multi-core CPUs. There’s really nothing new in it, and it won’t tell you which is the best of course, but in terms of explaining just why the selection is the way it is (if you don’t already know), it’s a pretty good read — suitable to forward to Aunt Estella.