Processor

A processor is an integrated circuit, or microchip. There are a large variety of processors with varying capabilities, complexity and cost.

At one end of the spectrum there are microcontrollers such as the popular AVR ATmega328 that tend to be relatively inexpensive, and require little in the way of support circuitry. Microcontrollers can be a useful tool for a hobbyist that needs a powerful (as in flexible and useful) and low power (as in Watts),

On the other end of the spectrum there are the processors used in desktop computers. CPUs like the Intel Core i7 series microprocessors which require more external chips circuitry to be leveraged.

There also exist specialized processors for handling graphics processing units (GPU), physics processing units (PPU), etc.