CS04-05 Computer Science Watch
What makes a CPU fast
Subscribe on YouTubeLike this lesson on YouTube
In this lesson
In this video you'll learn about what makes a CPU fast for GCSE Computer Science, with worked examples and the mistakes examiners report. By the end you'll be able to explain what clock speed, cache size and the number of cores each are, say precisely how each one affects the performance of the CPU and why, and reason about what happens when more than one of them changes at once - including why more cores does not always mean a faster machine.
What it covers
- 2:48 What makes a CPU fast: clock speed first
- 4:00 The cores
- 5:20 Cache size next
- 6:15 Two of them at once, because a real machine never changes one thing on its own
Key words
For: AQA GCSE 8525, OCR GCSE J277
On the specification
| Board | Spec | Statement |
|---|---|---|
| AQA GCSE 8525 | 3.4.5 | Systems architecture |
| OCR GCSE J277 | 1.1.2 | Explain how clock speed, cache size and number of cores affect CPU performance, individually and in combination. |
For teachers
This GCSE Computer Science lesson teaches what makes a CPU fast. By the end, students should be able to explain what clock speed, cache size and the number of cores each are, say precisely how each one affects the performance of the CPU and why, and reason about what happens when more than one of them changes at once - including why more cores does not always mean a faster machine. It works through four worked examples and the mistakes examiners report.