What is the frequency in the processor. What is a central processing unit
CPU – central processing unit, or central processing device. It is an integrated circuit that executes machine instructions. Externally, a modern CPU looks like a small block about 4-5 cm in size with pin contacts on the bottom. Although it is customary to call this block integrated circuit is located inside this case and is a silicon crystal onto which electronic components are applied using lithography.
The top of the CPU housing serves to dissipate the heat generated by the billions of transistors. On the bottom there are contacts that are needed to connect the chip to motherboard using a socket - a specific connector. The CPU is the most powerful part of the computer.
Clock frequency as an important parameter of processor operation, and what it affects
The performance of a processor is usually measured by its clock speed. This is the number of operations or clock cycles that the CPU can perform in a second. Essentially, the time it takes the processor to process information. The whole catch is that different architectures and the CPU device can perform operations in different quantity beats That is, one CPU for a certain task may need one clock cycle, and another - 4. Thus, the first one may turn out to be more efficient with a value of 200 MHz, versus the second with a value of 600 MHz.
That is clock frequency, in fact, does not give full definition processor performance, which is usually positioned by many as such. But we are used to evaluating it based on more or less established norms. For example, for modern models The current range in numbers is from 2.5 to 3.7 GHz, and often higher. Naturally, the higher the value, the better. However, this does not mean that there is not a processor on the market with a lower frequency, but which works much more efficiently.
Operating principle of a clock generator
All PC components work with at different speeds. For example, system bus maybe 100 MHz, CPU - 2.8 GHz, and RAM - 800 MHz. The baseline for the system is set by the clock generator.
Most often in modern computers a programmable generation chip is used, which determines the value for each component separately. The principle of operation of the simplest clock pulse generator is to generate electrical pulses at a certain time interval. Most clear example using a generator - electronic watch. By counting ticks, seconds are formed, from which minutes and then hours are formed. We will talk about what Gigahertz, Megahertz, etc. are a little later.
How the speed of a computer and laptop depends on the clock frequency
The processor frequency is responsible for the number of clock cycles a computer can execute in one second, which in turn reflects performance. However, do not forget that different architectures use different numbers of clock cycles to solve one problem. That is, “measuring by indicators” is relevant within at least one class of processors.
What is affected by the clock speed of a single-core processor in a computer and laptop?
Single-core CPUs are rarely found in nature anymore. But you can use them as an example. One processor core contains at least an arithmetic-logical unit, a set of registers, a couple of cache levels and a coprocessor.
The frequency with which all these components perform their tasks directly affects overall performance CPU. But, again, with a relatively similar architecture and command execution mechanism.
What is affected by the number of cores in a laptop?
The CPU cores do not add up. That is, if 4 cores operate at 2 GHz, this does not mean that they are general meaning equals 8 GHz. Because tasks in multi-core architectures are executed in parallel. That is, a certain set of commands is distributed to the cores in parts, and after each execution a common response is generated.
In this way, a certain task can be completed faster. The whole problem is that not everyone software are able to work with several threads simultaneously. That is, until now, most applications, in fact, use only one core. There are, of course, mechanisms at the operating system level that can parallelize tasks across different cores, for example, one application loads one core, another loads a second, etc. But this also requires system resources. But in general, optimized programs and games perform much better on multi-core systems.
How is processor clock speed measured?
The unit of measurement Hertz usually indicates the number of times periodic processes are executed in one second. This is what became ideal solution for the units in which the processor clock speed will be measured. Now the work of all chips began to be measured in Hertz. Well, now it’s GHz. Giga is a prefix indicating that it contains 1000000000 Hertz. Throughout the history of PCs, set-top boxes have changed frequently - KHz, then MHz, and now GHz is the most relevant. In CPU specifications you can also find English abbreviations - MHz or GHz. Such prefixes mean the same as in Cyrillic.
How to find out the processor frequency of your computer
For operating room Windows systems there are several simple ways, both regular and with the help third party programs. The simplest and most obvious is to click right click on the “My Computer” icon and go to its properties. Next to the name of the CPU and its characteristics, its frequency will be indicated.
From third party solutions You can use the small but well-known program CPU-Z. You just need to download, install and run it. In the main window it will show the current clock speed. In addition to this data, it displays a lot of other useful information.
CPU-Z program
Ways to increase productivity
In order to, there are two main ways: increase the multiplier and the system bus frequency. A multiplier is a coefficient that shows the ratio base frequency processor to the system bus baseline.
It is factory set and can be either locked or unlocked in the end device. If it is possible to change the multiplier, it means that you can increase the frequency of the processor without making changes to the operation of other components. But in practice, this approach does not provide an effective increase, since the rest simply cannot keep up with the CPU. Changing the system bus indicator will lead to an increase in the values of all components: processor, RAM, northern and south bridges. This is the simplest and effective way overclocking your computer.
You can overclock a PC as a whole by increasing the voltage, which will increase the speed of the CPU transistors, and at the same time its frequency. But this method is quite complicated and dangerous for beginners. It is used mainly by people experienced in overclocking and electronics.
A whole generation has already grown up computer users, which did not catch the famous “megahertz race” that unfolded between the two leading manufacturers for desktop computers (who don’t know - Intel and AMD) at the turn of the millennium. Its end came around 2004, when it became obvious that processor frequency was not the only characteristic that affected its performance. The extremely “gluttonous” and extremely high-frequency Pentium IV processors on the Prescott core came very close to 4 GHz, and at the same time had difficulty competing with the K8 architecture, on which the new “stones” from AMD were built, which had a frequency of no higher than 2.6-2. 8 GHz.
After this, both manufacturers simultaneously moved away from the practice of identifying their products by operating frequency and moved on to abstract model indices. This decision was justified by the reluctance to introduce end user misleadingly about processor performance, focusing on only one of its characteristics. Indeed, there is also the processor bus frequency, the cache memory size, and process, according to which the core is made, and much more. But processor frequency still remains one of the most visual and intuitive measures of CPU “quality” for most people.
The processor actually affects its performance, characterizing the number of operations performed per second. But the fact is that processors built on different cores spend different numbers of clock cycles to perform one operation, and this parameter can differ significantly from generation to generation. It is thanks to this that the current processor with a nominal frequency of 2.0 GHz will leave far behind the flagship of seven years ago with a clock frequency of 3.8 GHz. In addition, the performance of the processor, as already mentioned above, is affected by both the size of the cache memory (the larger it is, the less often the processor will be forced to access the relatively slow RAM), and the frequency of the processor bus (the higher it is, the faster the data exchange will be). between the “stone” and RAM), and many other, not so noticeable, but no less important, characteristics.
IN lately such a concept as maximum frequency processor.
Gradually, both Intel and AMD are introducing such a feature as auto-overclocking into their products. The technology, which is essentially the same, is called by one manufacturer by another - Turbo Core, but this does not change its essence: the processor frequency can dynamically change, and automatically, without user intervention. The need to use such technology is due to the fact that multi-core modern processors have essentially become the norm, but multi-threading modern applications, unfortunately, not yet. operating system, seeing that one of the cores is loaded much more heavily than the others, independently increases the frequency of this core, while trying to leave the processor within its “native” thermal package (i.e., the system tries to protect itself from overheating of the equipment). Moreover, depending on the processor model and specific conditions, such a frequency increase can range from 100 to 600-700 MHz, and this, you see, is already a significant increase in performance. This technology is supported by most latest processors both manufacturers. For Intel, in particular, this is all CPUs model range Core i5 and Core i7, AMD has all processors on socket AM3+, processors on socket FM1 (except for processors with disabled graphics core), as well as some “stones” for the AM3 platform (six-core Tuban and quad-core Zosma). Moreover, for socket-based devices, such auto-overclocking is all the more relevant, considering that due to some architectural features, full-fledged “overclocking” by increasing the processor bus frequency is practically impossible. However, this is a topic for a completely different article...
| Parameter name | Meaning |
| Article topic: | Clock frequency. |
| Rubric (thematic category) | Computers |
Memory that can be addressed by the CPU.
Degree of chip integration (chip) shows how many transistors can fit in it. For Pentium processor(80586) Intel is approximately 3 million transistors per 3.5 cm 2.
Processor size shows how many bits of data it can receive and process in its registers at a time (in one clock cycle). Modern family processors Intel Pentium are 32-bit
Operating clock frequency determines the speed at which operations are carried out in the processor. Today, processor operating frequencies reach more than 1 billion cycles per second (1 GHz).
The CPU is in direct contact with the PC's RAM. The data processed by the CPU must be temporarily located in RAM and is again retrieved from memory for further processing. For the CPU86/88, this addressing area extends to a maximum of 1 MB; the 80486 processor can already provide access to 4 GB of memory.
Real Address Mode - real addressing mode (or simply real mode- Real Mode), fully compatible with 8086. In this mode, addressing up to 1 MB is possible physical memory(in fact, like the 80286, almost 64 KB more).
Protected Virtual Address Mode - protected virtual addressing mode (or simply protected mode - Protected Mode). In this mode, the processor allows you to address up to 4 GB of physical memory, through which up to 64 TB can be displayed using the page addressing mechanism virtual memory each task.
A significant addition is Virtual 8086 Mode - 8086 virtual processor mode. This mode is a special state of a protected mode task in which the processor functions as an 8086. In this mode, several tasks with resources isolated from each other can be executed in parallel on one processor.
An important difference between the elements RAM from other storage devices is the access time, characterized by the time interval during which information is written to or retrieved from memory. Access time for external media data such as hard drive, is expressed in milliseconds, and for a memory element it is measured in nanoseconds.
Disk drives (Floppy Disk Drive, FDD) are the oldest peripheral devices PC. They use floppy disks as a storage medium. (Floppy) 3.5" diameters and 5.25" dimensions.
To write and read information, it is extremely important to split the floppy disk into certain sections - create logical structure. This is done by formatting with special team, for example, for DOS - the command Format. The floppy disk is divided into tracks ( Tracks) and sectors (Sectors), in Fig. this partition is shown.
The main criterion for evaluation hard drive is its capacity, that is maximum volume data that must be written to the media
When accessing large amounts of data magnetic heads must be positioned on disk much more often than when accessing small arrays and data that are sequentially located on disk. So the read and write speed is determined by the average access time (A verage Seek Time) To various objects on disk. For best IDEs and SCSI HDD this time is less than 10 ms.
Data transfer speed is proposed as the second parameter to evaluate the performance of a hard drive. It is important to note that for modern models it is 10 MB/s.
A monitor is a device for visually displaying information. Signals that the monitor receives (numbers, symbols, graphic information and synchronization signals) are generated by the video card. However, the monitor and video card are a kind of tandem, which for optimal performance must be configured accordingly.
Video card.
For most applications, VGA resolution is sufficient. At the same time, graphics-oriented programs work much better and faster (there are cases when they are not even installed if the installed resolution or video card does not correspond to their capabilities), if the information density of the screen is higher. For this, it is extremely important to increase the resolution. Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, standard VGA developed into the so-called Super VGA (SVGA) standard. Standard Definition This mode is 800x600 pixels.
Let's note a regularity: with a video memory capacity of 256 KB and SVGA resolution, only 16 colors can be provided; 512 KB of video memory make it possible to display 256 color shades at the same resolution. Cards with 1 MB of memory, and this has now become commonplace, can display 32768, 65536 (HiColor) or even 16.7 million (TrueColor) color shades at the same resolution.
According to modern medical and psychological assessments, the human eye does not perceive screen flickering associated with image updating only at a vertical scanning frequency of at least 70 Hz. With increased resolution, the image on the monitor screen begins to flicker, which greatly increases fatigue and negatively affects vision.
Main consumer parameters monitors are screen size, screen mask pitch, maximum image refresh rate and protection class.
The most convenient and versatile monitors are those with screen sizes of 15 and 17 inches. To work with graphics, monitors and large sizes screen (19-21 inches).
The pitch of the screen mask determines the clarity of the image (resolution). Today, a pitch of 0.25-0.27 mm is used. All monitors with a grain greater than 0.28mm fall into the "cheap" and "rough" category. The best monitors have a grain size of 0.26 mm, and the highest quality monitor known to us (and, naturally, the most expensive) has this value of 0.21 mm.
The image refresh rate also determines the clarity and stability of the image and must be at least 75 Hz.
The protection class determines whether the monitor meets safety requirements. Fulfillment of the most stringent requirements for operational safety is ensured by the TSO-99 standard.
Image properties depend not only on the monitor, but also on the err properties and settings of the board located in system unit(video adapter). The monitor and video adapter must match each other (for example, a modern video adapter must have at least 4 MB of memory).
Let's say a few words about trade designations. In catalogs and advertisements for the sale of computers, special designations of its characteristics have become widespread. Let's look at the method of designating the type of computer adopted in most advertisements using a specific example:
PIII-600-Intel BX/64/6.4Gb/SVGA 8Mb/CD/SB16/ATX
Here PHI is the processor type - Pentium III;
600 - processor clock frequency in MHz;
VX - type motherboard;
64 - amount of RAM in MB;
6.4Gb - volume hard drive- 6.4 GB;
SVGA - video card type;
8Mb - amount of video memory in MB;
CD - indicates the presence of a CD drive;
SB16 - type sound card(Sound Blaster);
Clock frequency. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Clock frequency." 2017, 2018.
The operation of any digital computer depends on the clock frequency, which is determined by a quartz resonator. It is a tin container in which a quartz crystal is placed. Under the influence of electrical voltage, oscillations of electric current occur in the crystal. This same oscillation frequency is called the clock frequency. All changes in logical signals in any computer chip occur at certain intervals, called clock cycles. From this we conclude that smallest unit The measurement of time for most logical devices of a computer is a clock cycle or, in another way, a clock frequency period. Simply put, each operation requires at least one clock cycle (although some modern devices manage to perform several operations in one clock cycle). Clock frequency, in relation to personal computers, is measured in MHz, where Hertz is one vibration per second, respectively, 1 MHz is a million vibrations per second. Theoretically, if the system bus of your computer operates at a frequency of 100 MHz, then it can perform up to 100,000,000 operations per second. By the way, it is not at all necessary that each component of the system necessarily performs something with each clock cycle. There are so-called empty clocks (waiting cycles), when the device is in the process of waiting for a response from some other device. This is how, for example, the operation of RAM and a processor (CPU) is organized, the clock frequency of which is significantly higher than the clock frequency of RAM.
Bit depth
The bus consists of several channels for transmitting electrical signals. If they say that a bus is thirty-two-bit, then this means that it is capable of transmitting electrical signals through thirty-two channels simultaneously. There is one trick here. The fact is that a bus of any declared width (8, 16, 32, 64) actually has more channels. That is, if we take the same thirty-two-bit bus, then 32 channels are allocated for transmitting data itself, and additional channels are intended for transmitting specific information.
Data transfer rate
The name of this parameter speaks for itself. It is calculated by the formula:
clock speed * bit depth = baud rate
Let's calculate the data transfer rate for a 64-bit system bus operating at a clock frequency of 100 MHz.
100 * 64 = 6400 Mbps6400 / 8 = 800 Mbps
But the resulting number is not real. In life, tires are affected by a bunch of different factors: ineffective conductivity of materials, interference, design and assembly flaws, and much more. According to some reports, the difference between the theoretical data transfer speed and the practical one can be up to 25%.
The operation of each bus is monitored by dedicated controllers. They are part of the system logic set ( chipset).
isa bus
The ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) system bus has been used since the i80286 processor. The expansion card slot includes a 64-pin primary connector and a 36-pin secondary connector. The bus is 16-bit, has 24 address lines, and provides direct access to 16 MB of RAM. The number of hardware interrupts is 16, DMA channels are 7. It is possible to synchronize the operation of the bus and processor with different clock frequencies. Clock frequency - 8 MHz. The maximum data transfer speed is 16 MB/s.
PCI. (Peripheral Component Interconnect bus - peripheral component connection bus)
In June 1992 he appeared on stage new standard– PCI whose parent was Intel company, or rather the Special Interest Group organized by her. By the beginning of 1993, a modernized version of PCI appeared. In fact, this bus is not local. Let me remind you that the local bus is the bus that is directly connected to the system bus. PCI uses the Host Bridge (main bridge) to connect to it, as well as the Peer-to-Peer Bridge (peer-to-peer bridge), which is designed to connect two PCI buses. Among other things, PCI is itself a bridge between the ISA and the processor bus.
The PCI clock speed can be either 33 MHz or 66 MHz. Bit depth – 32 or 64. Data transfer speed – 132 MB/sec or 264 MB/sec.
The PCI standard provides three types of cards depending on the power supply:
1. 5 Volts – for desktop computers
2. 3.3 Volts – for laptop computers
3. Universal boards that can work in both types of computers.
A big plus PCI buses is to meet the Plug and Play specification –. In addition, on the PCI bus, any signal transmission occurs in a packet manner, where each packet is divided into phases. A packet begins with an address phase, usually followed by one or more data phases. The number of data phases in a packet can be indefinite, but is limited by a timer that determines the maximum time a device can be used by the bus. Each connected device has such a timer, and its value can be set during configuration. An arbiter is used to organize data transfer work. The fact is that there can be two types of devices on the bus - a master (initiator, master, master) of the bus and a slave. The master takes control of the bus and initiates data transfer to the destination, i.e. the slave. Any device connected to the bus can be a master or slave, and this hierarchy is constantly changing depending on which device has requested permission from the bus arbiter to transfer data and to whom. The chipset, or rather the North Bridge, is responsible for conflict-free operation of the PCI bus. But life did not stop at PCI. Constant improvement of video cards has led to the fact that physical parameters The PCI bus became insufficient, which led to the emergence of AGP.
When you purchase or collect desktop computer, then you can find out that one of the most expensive parts will be the processor. The processor is electronic unit or circuit that executes machine instructions, and also one of the main parts hardware computer.
The processor has many different parameters, one of which is called clock speed. What is it?
The processor clock frequency is the clock frequency of the synchronous electronic circuit, which come from outside to the input of the circuit in one second. In other words, this is the number of operations that the processor performs in one second. At the same time, it is important not to forget that processors with the same clock frequency can have different performance, so to perform one operation various systems different numbers of cycles are required.
Clock speed is measured in frequency units - megahertz and gigahertz.
It is believed that the higher the value, the more productive the processor itself. This is partly true, but only for models in the same manufacturer line. After all, processor performance is also influenced by other characteristics, for example, bus frequency or cache size. Some manufacturers allow you to “overclock” the processor clock speed.
By the way, interesting point. As you know, single-core processors are not so common today; their place has been replaced by multi-core processors. However, this is not surprising, but that is not what we are talking about. Many people ask how clock speed is calculated multi-core processors? Some users believe that it is enough to multiply the clock speed by the number of processor cores. That is, if an 8-core processor has a frequency of 3 GHz, then you need to multiply 8 by 3 and get a frequency of as much as 24 GHz. In fact, this calculation has nothing to do with reality.
To understand the principle of calculating the clock frequency, you need to consider a simple example. Let's say we have a car that reaches 200 km per hour (that is, a single-core processor). If we take 4 of these cars (4-core processor), then no matter how hard we try, we will not be able to accelerate these cars to a speed of 800 km per hour under any desire. The same is with the clock frequency - if it is 3 GHz, then the 4-core processor has a frequency of the same 3 GHz.