Core: A full CPU. Nowadays, computers typically have four cores.
Clock cycle: The frequency of the CPU’s clock in GHz, where each cycle a core usually executes 1 process.
Machine cycle: The fetch-decode-execute-store cycle executed for every process received by the CPU.
Overclocking: Speeding up a CPU’s clock to make it process faster, usually requires good cooling.
Hyper-threading: Technology that allows each processor to process 2 instructions at once.
Parallel computing: Breaking down large processes and spreading it among available processors.
Registers and caches: Items that store very small amounts of data (MB) but do so very quickly. Only used by the CPU.
L1 Cache:
Fastest register used to store things immediately being used. Each processor has one. L2 Cache:
An extra cache that is slower but usually larger in capacity than L1. Each processor has one.
L3 Cache:
A special slower and large capacity cache that is accessible by all processors and cores.
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