Hardware components of the PC
The CPU
Other Processors

There are other manufacturers which make processors which are referred to as ‘Intel Clones’, as they are marketed as "Windows compatible", i.e they can run the same basic instructions as the Intel x86 processors. The Intel clones generally use the Socket 7 configuration, which is a square socket mounted on the motherboard. The processor is held tight by closing a lever at the side of the socket. Intel deviated from this socket 7 with their Pentium II processor, which was mounted on a daughterboard with the Level 2 cache and plugged into a socket on the motherboard. There are two major manufacturers in this category - AMD and Cyrix. AMD and Cyrix are two separate organisations that design and manufacture x86 family processors. AMD and Cyrix have been manufacturing Microsoft® Windows® compatible processors for several years now, and in spite of having considerably less market share than Intel® (less than 20 % between them), they are firmly established in the supply of processors to the PC desktop market.  However, Intel is the preferred supplier of processors for the vast majority of PC desktop manufacturers.