Factors Affecting Processing Speed of Computer

i. Registers

A register is a small, high-speed memory within a CPU. A CPU has several registers. Registers store instructions and data and the CPU processes them. Register size determines the amount of data a computer can work with at one time. This is also called word size.

The register size is in bytes. A register can be one, two, four or eight bytes. In computers with 32-bit registers, the CPU can process four bytes of data at a time. A larger registry size increases computer performance.

ii. Ram

The amount of RAM affects the processing speed of the computer. A larger amount of RAM allows more program instructions and data to be stored in memory. If the computer does not have enough memory to run the program, it must frequently transfer data between RAM and the hard disk. This process is called swapping which can greatly slow down the computer's performance.

iii. System Clock

The system clock is an electronic component. It generates electrical signals at high speed. It controls all computer functions using clock ticks. These ticks of the system clock are called clock cycles and set the speed of the CPU. The speed at which the CPU acts instructions is called clock speed or clock rate.

The performance power of a CPU is determined by the speed at which it processes data. The system clock is one of the main factors that affect the speed of a computer. A CPU with a higher clock speed processes more instructions per second than a CPU with a less clock speed. For example, a 3.2 GHz Core i7 processor will be faster than a 2.66 GHz Core i7 processor if all other components remain the same. Today's fastest CPUs have a clock speed of over 3 GHz.

iv. Buses

A bus is a path between computer components. Data and instructions move along these paths. The width of the bus determines how many bits can be transferred between the CPU and other devices. Bus width also affects computer performance. A bus can carry more data if the bus width is larger. It grow the performance of the computer.

V. Cache Memory

A cache is a high-speed memory that contains the latest data and instructions that are loaded by the CPU. It is designed to speed up the transfer of data and instructions Cache is located straightly on the CPU or between the CPU and RAM It is faster than RAM.

Data and instructions are retrieved from RAM the first time the CPU uses them. A copy of this data or instruction is stored in the cache. The next time the CPU needs that data or instruction, it is first looked up in the cache. If the desired data is found there, it is retrieved from cache memory instead of main memory. It speeds up the work of the CPU. The amount of cache memory has a huge impact on computer speed.