CPU performance

what factors can affect a CPU’s performance?

clock speed, processor cores, and cache

what is clock speed?

the CPU contains a clock to coordinate all of the computer’s components, sending out a regular electrical pulse to keep all the components in time. the frequency of the pulses is known as the clock speed.

what is clock speed measured in?

hertz

higher clock speed frequency = ?

more instructions able to be performed in a given moment of time

what is a core?

a processing unit within a CPU capable of fetching, decoding and executing its own instructions

more cores = ?

a greater number of instructions able to process in a given amount of time. for example a dual core processor can perform two instructions at the same time, allowing twice as many instructions to be executed, although it doesn’t always perform at this rate as software may not be able to take full advantage of both cores

what is cache?

a small amount of high-speed RAM built within the processor, temporarily holding data and instructions the processor is likely to reuse

larger cache = ?

more instructions and data can be stored in cache so there is less need to access slower RAM or ROM, improving performance