CPU Performance - Paper 1

Question 1

List 3 factors affecting CPU performance.

Answer 1

• Clock speed
• Cache size
• Number of cores

Question 2

How does clock speed affect CPU performance?

Question 3

Define overclocking

Answer 3

Overclocking is speeding up a CPU clock, which can cause long term damage to the CPU as it is working harder and producing more heat.

Question 4

How has common clock speed changed since the 1980s?

Answer 4

In the 1980s a clock speed of 3-5 MHz was common, now it is 3-5 GHz.

Question 5

How does cache size affect CPU performance?

Question 6

How does number of cores affect CPU performance?