CPU and System Performance

Question 1

Clock Speed

Answer 1

Number of instructions a single processor core can carry out per second (Hz).
More clock speed = more instructions carried out per second

Question 2

Number of Cores

Answer 2

Each core in a CPU can process data independently from eachother
More cores = more instructions carried out at once = faster processing

Question 3

Cache Size

Answer 3

Larger CPU Cache gives CPU faster access to more data it needs to process

Question 4

RAM

Answer 4

more RAM = more applications can smoothly run (faster overall)
RAM can be easily upgraded (replace RAM sticks to higher speed or higher capacity ones)
If computer already has plenty of RAM, increasing the RAM won’t make a difference

Question 5

GPUs

Answer 5

Graphic Processing Unit
Help CPUs process images
They decrease the processing load on the CPU, letting it do other things
Built into motherboard
using high - end graphic cards can increase the performance of graphics-intensive applications e.g. PC gaming