How Is the CPU Speed Measured?
Overview of CPU Performance CPU speed is the central factor in a computer’s performance. While many people use the clock speed of a CPU to gauge performance, this is not the only variable to consider. Elements such as the front side bus and cache also play an important role in CPU speed. Clock Speed The most common measure of CPU speed is the clock speed, which is measured in MHz or GHz. One GHz equals 1,000 MHz, so a speed of 2.4 GHz could also be expressed as 2,400 MHz. The higher the clock speed, the more operations the CPU can execute per second. It’s important to realize that the clock speed of a CPU is not the only factor determining performance. Because of differences in chip architecture, one processor may be able to perform more operations than another over one cycle. Therefore, even if the first processor has a lower clock speed than the second, it may actually be faster. Multi-Core Technology Some processors are “dual core” or “quad core.” These terms indicate the use of mul
