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GCSE Computer Science · key term
The number of clock cycles a CPU carries out per second, measured in hertz (Hz).
Used by OCR
Paper 1
Revise: CPU Characteristics and PerformanceThree important CPU characteristics are clock speed, cache size and number of cores. They help in different ways: clock speed affects the pace of processing, cache reduces waiting for data, and additional cores allow more work to happen at the same time.
Clock speed measures clock cycles per second, not necessarily completed instructions per second. Do not multiply GHz by the number of cores to claim an exact instruction rate.
When comparing CPUs, consider all the characteristics given and whether the software can use several cores. A higher clock speed alone does not guarantee better overall performance.
Use precise names: clock speed, cache size and number of cores.
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