Clock frequency: what it is and how it affects the speed of the computer

To synchronize and synchronize the work of various devices having different speed, the clock frequency is used. Any command is executed in one or several cycles (cycles), and the rate of alternation of pulses (frequency) sets the rhythm of operation of all components of the system and largely determines the speed of operation. The source of the clock frequency is a separate block-generator, which is a quartz resonator. The more pulses a generator generates in one second, the faster the computational operations take place, the faster the computer works. That's exactly until recently, and it was, but with the invention of multi-core processors, the situation changed somewhat. So, the clock frequency is the number of pulses per second that synchronize the computer.

Today, the performance of the computer is affected not only by the clock speed, but by the amount of caches, the number of cores, the speed of the video card, and the architecture of the processor. For example, modern multi-core processors have a relatively low clock speed, and work much faster. This is achieved by software separation of computing operations between processor cores. Thus, the operation at a slower processing speed is faster - the speed of the computer increases . After the appearance of multi-core processors, increasing the clock frequency became less urgent. Today, the speed of the computer, along with this parameter, is determined both by the number of cores and by the rate of response / data processing in other parts of the system.

During the manufacturing process, the processors are tested in different modes, at different temperatures and pressures. As a result of the tests, the maximum operating frequency is determined, which stands on the marking. But this is not its greatest significance, there is such a thing as CPU overclocking, in which the clock frequency increases much.

The production of multi-core processors has solved yet another problem: reducing the temperature of the processor. As the clock frequency increased, the heat released by the processor increased, which led to overheating and malfunctions. Multi-core processors allowed to increase performance at low frequencies. Many modern models with incomplete loading can temporarily lower the clock frequency, reducing power consumption and heat generation. During this time the processor manages to cool down, which leads to a decrease in fan speed, a reduction in power consumption and a reduction in noise (at high speeds, the fans "sound" loud enough).

For game computers , the clock speed of the video card plays no less important role. There is a direct dependence - the higher this parameter, the faster is the rendering of the finished pixels and the selection of texture data. But to install a high-speed graphics card and have a low-speed processor and a small RAM does not make sense. The parameters of all these devices must be balanced. Only in this case the computer will work with high speed and without failures.