Does the CPU clock speed dtermine the performance of the CPU?

Answer 1

Absolutely not. In fact, it's often largely irrelevent!

Pentium4 at 3.4 GHz is actually less than 1/4 the power of an Intel i7 at 2.2 GHz, for example.

Many different things dictate the speed of a processor. The frequency (or clock speed) is only one of these- Two identical processors, one 2.2 and one 2.4 GHz, the 2.4 GHz will be slightly faster. But make any other changes and the formula is different.

Generally, the biggest impact is the number of CPU cores the processor has. Each core is effectively an individual CPU on the processor. So a dual-core is effectively 2 CPUs, compared to a single-core. And thus roughly twice the power.

Secondly is the frontside bus. This is the speed at which the CPU can communicate with other components of the computer. A slow FSB will cause the CPU to have trouble keeping up with other devices, such as RAM.

Thirdly is the CPU Cache. The more L1, L2, and L3 cache you have, the better. Although there are some exceptions, it's a fair general rule.

Fourthly are instruction sets. Newer CPUs have more instruction sets, such as SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4, and so on. Newer instruction sets allow the same CPU to do the same work in less time, with less effort and resources.

Fifthly is the construction technique. CPUs constructed in smaller scales (such as 45nm versus 65nm) are able to fit more in the same space, and also have less physical distance between CPU components, thus increasing it's response time.

Other factors also are involved, such as if it's 64-bit or 32-bit. However it should be noted that unsimilar CPUs CANNOT BE COMPARED based on their configuration. IE, an IBM CPU cannot be compared to an Intel x86 CPU, because they work fundamentally different. This is why consoles and PCs act so differently on their capabilities.

Answer 2

Not really, if you have a cpu with 1 core and 3ghz vs a multi core with 2.6ghz, the multi core is much better, it can handle more stuff and do it quicker, more cache also helps determine performance.

Answer 3

No, by a long shot! There's so much more to processors that its confounding!

Clock speed is important indeed, but if it were the most important aspect, then a 4.2ghz Pentium 4 would have twice the performance of a 2 ghz Core 2 Duo.

In actuality, the Core 2 Duo is twice as fast as the Pentium. The Core 2 duo has two processing cores in it, but that's not the only reason it got faster--

Cache hit rate on the L1 Cache is important. The higher the hit rate, the less extra calculations the processor has to do. This carries over into the L2 cache too. Cache size is vital-- A larger cache size gives the computer a better bank to temporarily store and retrieve values, allowing it to prioritize commands properly.

The processor's design and sub-components are important, and the more efficient the processor is, the better it will be. Transistor count is important in some regards, but isn't absolutely vital. Clock speed simply determines how often the processor can run a command. Everything else determines how accurately the command is run, how quickly the calculation is finished, and how efficiently the process is completed.

Answer 4

Given that, the biggest effect on the day-to-day operation of your computer is the amount of RAM in it. The more you have, the better off you are, and this is why: ALL computer operating systems (as opposed to tablet, cellphone, digital camera or any other microprocessor-controlled device) rely on a technique called "demand-paged virtual memory" to handle the RAM demands of the sloppily-written RAM-hog programs we all run. What happens in a VM scheme, is the OS takes over a piece of your hard drive and labels it "VM Cache." If you need more RAM than you've got as physical RAM, the machine will pretend that VM cache is part of your computer's RAM. There are two problems with it. First is that hard disks, which are mechanical, will never be as fast as RAM, which is not mechanical. Worse, you're running your VM and your OS and applications on the same hard drive. If you need to open a file AND talk to your VM, your machine has to move the heads a lot to make it happen. If you jam as much RAM in the box as will fit (mine has 16GB) it'll run a lot faster because VM will not be required.

Answer 5

No, there are many other factors. Such as the video card, ram speed, hard disk speed, and the architecture of the CPU.

Answer 6

Yes CPU clock-speed determines the performance of CPU. The higher the clock speed,the greater is the speed of running applications. CPU overclocking is done due to this reason only.

Answer 7

NO

The main

things are CLOCK SPEED, WATTAGE, NUMBER OF CORES AND THREADS.