Role of Processor in Computer speed | How to Select Best Processor

A computer is a combination of hardware and software. The hardware and software play important role in the design of the hardware. Companies such as Intel want hardware to be more responsible than the software so that the software can be simple and easy; companies such as Apple, on the hand, want the software to lead. Based on the entirely these constructing options, there are two different processor architectures. 

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Complex Instructions set computer (CISC)

              Intel's hardware oriented approach has given rise to CISC architecture in which more complexities are added in the hardware to allow the software to be simpler. In CISC most of the instructions are implemented using hardware.

Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)

Apple's software oriented approach has lead to RISC architecture, which utilizes a small but highly optimized set of instructions. The main principle of RISC is that it can takes long and complex instructions from a CISC design and reduce it to multiple shorter instructions, which can execute faster.

Whether RISC or CISC is used dependents on the applications, RISC performs better, whereas for others, CISC will be preferable.

Counting Cores

CPU statistics include two measurements: clock speed, measured in gigahertz, and the number of cores. Together, these stats give a rough estimation of speed. The number of cores affects how well a processor can handle multiple tasks at the same time. A CPU with a single core can perform only one task at a time -- it might seem like it can multitask, but it actually switches back and forth between tasks, offering worse performance than a multicore CPU. Some programs can split work between cores, offering a speed boost on multicore CPUs even when not multitasking.

Speed:

A processor's clock speed is sometimes referred to simply as "speed," but this description falsely implies that a higher rating universally produces a faster processor. To visualize how clock speed relates to actual speed, imagine two bicycles, one with large wheels and another with small wheels. If both bikes turned their wheels at the same number of rotations per minute, the bike with larger wheels would travel at a faster rate. Newer processors have "larger wheels" due to technological improvements, such as the ever-increasing number of transistors predicted by Moore's Law. In general, comparing clock speeds only helps when comparing CPUs of the same brand released within a year or two of one another.

The first thing you’ll notice from the table is that Core i5 and i7 processors have four cores, while Core i3 models only have two. Out of all the differences between the Intel processor ranges, this is the one that will affect performance the most.

Each core is effectively its own processor – your PC would still work (slowly) with just one core enabled. Having multiple cores means that the computer can work on more than one task at a time more efficiently, which will help keep your system running snappily even if you have tasks, such as an antivirus scan or video render, running in the background.

References:

Fundamentals of computer By Reema Thareja

www.techwalla.com

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