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1.1 Processor Performance (Clock Speed (measured in hertz; 3GHz is common…
1.1 Processor Performance
Bus Speed
Copper fibre transfers fast ; optical fibre is faster but more expensive
Higher bus speed means data/instructions are transferred from/to memory more quickly
Clock Speed
measured in hertz; 3GHz is common = 3 billion instructions per second
High clock speed will process more FDE instructions per second = will have higher performance
faster clock is good for CPU, but generates more heat
Overclocking is where user tries to increase speed of clock, avoids warranty as it is beyond the speed the manufacturers recommend
Memory Bottle-neck
MAIN MEMORY <------> LEVEL 2 CACHE<------> LEVEL 1 CACHE<----> CPU
Cache memory is super fast memory that can be added
Can contain recently or frequently used programs/data
CPU can check cache first;if it is in cache it doesn't have to wait for RAM
RAM is much slower than the CPU
One solution is to use smaller amounts of very fast RAM(cache memory) with dedicated connections to the CPU(expensive)
Speed of computer is often limited by speed of RAM
Number of cores
Multiple cores can work together on same program (parallel processing)
Doubling number of cores will double the number of instructions executed per second, but not necessarily double the speed of the computer
Software must be designed to make use of multiple cores
Speed of memory or buses may be limiting factors
Cores can work on different programs at the same time (multitasking)