Computer Processor Speed

oday, computers are used in just about every field. From multimedia to advertising to marketing, computers have found their place in every industry. The central idea for the invention of computers was in the hopes of improving computing. The time with which one can add numbers or multiply is the basic computing while the advanced applications include differential equations, advanced graphics, vector graphics among others. So, the power of computing is basically defined by the speed of the processor of the computer. Often known as the heart of the computer, processor is the core computing unit and rest of them assists in the same. Here is an insight to the computer processer and its speed.

A computer processor is made out of silicon chip if we are talking about the material, while the basic electronic unit is known as a flip-flop. The speed of the processor, often known as the clock speed is that frequency with which these flip-flop’s function. While there are technologies which are so advanced that we can improve this speed, the cryogenics which will cope with the amount of heat generated in the process is yet to be invented. Hence, the limit put on the computer processor speed is due to the limitation in the heat dissipation. Here are some other parameters which will enable the processor function faster.

With the upper limit cap on the computer processor speed, we will have to rely on manipulating other parameters so as to increase the speed. More than often computers slow down not because of the clock speed but due to the memory restrictions. For instance, let’s say a processor has the capability of 10 MIPS (Million Instructions per Second), but t might only do like 1 million instructions or 100 thousand instructions because of the time taken to access the data which should be processed. There are 3 kinds of memory which will be accessed in the process, the cache memory, primary and secondary memory. The cache memory is the one which is the fastest and is associated with the processor. Cache memory is so expensive that we often have 1MB or 2MB as cache which is mostly used to store the compiled program or the instructions to be executed by processor. The primary memory or RAM is the next fastest memory which stores all the files and programs which are in use currently. While this is also fast enough is again very expensive. Computers have like 1GB or 2GB. The last one is secondary memory which is a solid state device which is used to store data so that it can be cached when needed.

Another method to increase the computer processor speed is to increase the number of processing cores. With dual core and quad core processor becoming common in the marketplace, this seems to be the next thing in processing technology. In a layman’s language, a dual core processor is one where 2 processors are put together. While it functions as a single processor, provides the speed of having two with different technologies like multi threading among others.

With so many alternative options, one has to wait and watch to know the future of computing and processors.