CPU performance
How common characteristics of CPUs affect their performance
Even though today's Central processing unit - the brain of the computer that processes program instructions. are tremendously fast, their performance can be affected by a number of factors:
- The speed of a computer's CPU, measured in hertz. This indicates the number of fetch-decode-execute cycles that can run per second.
- A piece of temporary memory. It can refer to a part of the RAM, storage disk, CPU, or an area for storing web pages. size
- number of A processing unit within a CPU. CPUs can have multiple cores.
Clock speed
The CPU contains a clock which is used to coordinate all of the computer's components. The clock sends out a regular electrical pulse which synchronises (keeps in time) all the components.
The frequency of the pulses is known as the The speed of a computer's CPU, measured in hertz. This indicates the number of fetch-decode-execute cycles that can run per second.. Clock speed is measured in The unit of frequency, symbol 'Hz'. 1 Hz is 1 wave or cycle per second.. The higher the frequency, the more instructions can be performed in any given moment of time.
CPU clocks can sometimes be sped up slightly by the user. This process is known as overclocking. The more pulses per second, the more Retrieve data from memory.-Interpret an instruction.-Carry out an instruction. cycles that can be performed and the more instructions that are processed in a given space of time. Overclocking can cause long term damage to the CPU as it is working harder and producing more heat.
In the 1980s, processors commonly ran at a rate of between 3 1,000,000 hertz - a measure of frequency, or cycles per second. to 5 MHz, which is 3 million to 5 million pulses or cycles per second. Today, processors commonly run at a rate of 3 Gigahertz. One billion hertz per second = one gigahertz. This is a measure of frequency and is used to describe bus speeds and CPU clock speeds. to 5 GHz, which is 3 billion to 5 billion pulses or cycles per second.
Cache size
Cache is a small amount of high-speed Random access memory. This is volatile memory that is constantly being written to and read from. It does not retain its contents without a constant supply of power. When a computer is turned off, everything stored in its RAM is lost. built directly within the processor. It is used to temporarily hold Units of information. In computing there can be different data types, including integers, characters and Boolean. Data is often acted on by instructions. and A single action that can be performed by a computer processor. that the processor is likely to reuse.
The bigger its cache, the less time a processor has to wait for instructions to be fetched.
Number of cores
A processing unit within a CPU is known as a core. Each core is capable of fetching, decoding and executing its own instructions.
The more cores a CPU has, the greater the number of instructions it can process in a given space of time. Many modern CPUs are dual (two) or quad (four) core processors. This provides vastly superior processing power.
