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Measuring Processor Performance
Early processor performance was measured in terms of how many instructions per second the architecture could execute on a standard set of data. As processors evolved and increased in complexity, a new approach was required. Frequency (the ability to switch a circuit quickly) became the popular measurement of computational speed. Frequency is best described as the rate at which an IC can change between its two states in a given period of time. Computer processor frequency is generally measured in megahertz. The term megahertz refers to millions of cycles per second, and the abbreviation is expressed as MHz. Gigahertz (expressed as GHz), or billions of cycles per second, is becoming the de facto standard due to significant speed gains in the latest generation of processors. Physical Properties of Integrated Circuits Several physical properties directly influence a processor's speed potential, but the die fabrication size of the processor's core circuitry is the most important. The core die size represents the actual physical distance between each trace signal route used to construct transistor pathways within the processor. A smaller die size means that the processor can generally operate at higher clock frequencies while using less voltage and producing less heat. The current industry standard die size is .18 micron (μ), which represents a balance between electrical and thermal constraints, yet retains scalability beyond 1 GHz. Popular designs using the .18 -micron die size include Intel's Pentium III Coppermine and Pentium 4 Willamette, and AMD's Athlon Thunderbird. A significant number of PCs still in use contain processors fabricated with the much older .25-micron core die size. These include processors like the Pentium II and K6-2. Massive cooling systems are needed when overclocking .25-micron processors, because these chips demand much higher voltage levels compared to those required by their .18-micron counterparts. It is difficult to scale these older designs beyond 600MHz. The core die size for the latest generation of processors, like Intel's Pentium III Tualatin and Pentium 4 Northwood, is the radically small .13 micron. These chips offer relatively low thermal dissipation rates (up to 50% lower than .18-micron models), as well as significantly lower core voltage requirements. Improved MHz scalability is the direct result of these advancements, and many .13-micron designs are expected to scale to 3 GHz and beyond before the next-generation fabrication process, which should be in the range of .7 to .9 micron, is introduced. These overclocked chips need more power to keep them stable at extended MHz operating speeds. Current designs are built atop a split-voltage architecture. Core voltage represents the internal electrical properties of the processor and corresponds with the die size employed during fabrication. Input/output voltage represents the operational voltage of the processor-to-chipset bus. It usually includes the power levels of other front-side bus components within a traditional system configuration.
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Contributor's Note
Modern hyper-threading Processors run well under their optimal performance, and can safely be made to run much faster than their shipped recommended speeds.
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Intel Quad core processor
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This intel was contributed by Puniksem
Puniksem
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May, 2012
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