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The CPU is the “brain” of a computer and its clock speed determines its performance. Frequency scaling increases performance, but has limits due to heat production. Multi-core processors double effective speed, but require software optimization.
The “brain” of a computer is its central processing unit (CPU). In normal operation, the CPU processes all operations for the computer, allowing programs to run and the operating system to function. CPUs vary in speed and efficiency. The primary determinant of a computer’s CPU performance is the CPU unit’s clock speed, which measures the number of basic arithmetic operations — addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division — it can perform each second. Frequency scaling is the simplest way to increase the performance of a processor; increasing the clock frequency, which is the execution speed of the CPU, will also increase the performance of the computer.
Until recently, with the advent of multi-core processors, frequency scaling was the most basic way to get additional performance for new processor models. Older processors used to run slower than 1.0GHz. Now, processors commonly run at speeds above 2.0GHz, with some going as high as 3.0GHz. On paper, a 3.0GHz CPU “seems” faster than a 2.0GHz CPU, but in the real world, overall computer performance is determined by an aggregate of all of its parts. In other words, if both 2.0GHz and 3.0GHz computers contain the same type of memory, same motherboard, and so on, the weakest link in the chain can “bottleneck” the computer, preventing it from optimizing all 3.0GHz.
While it may seem like frequency scaling has no limits, it doesn’t. Increasing the clock speed of a CPU increases heat production in the unit; over time, this extra heat works to degrade the circuitry, causing the processor to malfunction or fail. This places a very real limit on the maximum speed of commercial processors, limiting the speeds at which processors can be built.
Increasing CPU performance in the absence of frequency scaling requires more innovative solutions; CPU manufacturers can no longer simply “turn up the volume” for more performance. To get around these limitations, CPU manufacturers have designed multi-core CPU solutions. By placing more than one CPU core on a chip, the processor’s effective speed is doubled. However, unlike frequency scaling, whose performance gains apply equally across the board, this places the onus on computer software designers. Unless software designers specifically tailor a program to use two or more CPU cores, the added benefit is lost, making frequency scaling one of the purest ways to increase performance on a CPU chip.
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