I've been writing something up for past one hour but I then figured it was too advanced and not needed. Other people have given simple answers and I hope it helps you.
Begin with the basics, you have CPU alright? You send the first command down on the wires on the EDB( EXTERNAL DATA BUS) How does the CPU know you've finished sending the commands/instructions and it's time for it to act?
Well, a CPU has a type of crank. Imagine there's a bell inside the CPU activated by a button outside of the CPU. Each time you press the button to sound the bell; the CPU reads the next set of instructions on the EBD. It doesn't use a real bell. The bell on a real CPU is a special wire called the clock wire (CLK). A charge on the CLK tells the CPU that another piece of information waiting to be processed.
For the CPU to process a command placed on the external data bus, a certain minimum voltage must be applied to the CLk wire. A single charge to the CLK wire is called a clock cycle. Actually a CPU requires at least 2 clock cycles to act on a command and usually more. A CPU may require hundreds of cycles clock cycles to process some commands. The maximum number of clocks cycles that a CPU can handle in a given period of time is referred to as its clock speed.
A CPU with lower frequency may process a command quicker than the one with higher frequency, it all depends on the architecture of the CPU and how’s it designed with what features You have to see the benchmark to see the overall performance of the CPU
QUOTE said:
Begin with the basics, you have CPU alright? You send the first command down on the wires on the EDB( EXTERNAL DATA BUS) How does the CPU know you've finished sending the commands/instructions and it's time for it to act?
Well, a CPU has a type of crank. Imagine there's a bell inside the CPU activated by a button outside of the CPU. Each time you press the button to sound the bell; the CPU reads the next set of instructions on the EBD. It doesn't use a real bell. The bell on a real CPU is a special wire called the clock wire (CLK). A charge on the CLK tells the CPU that another piece of information waiting to be processed.
For the CPU to process a command placed on the external data bus, a certain minimum voltage must be applied to the CLk wire. A single charge to the CLK wire is called a clock cycle. Actually a CPU requires at least 2 clock cycles to act on a command and usually more. A CPU may require hundreds of cycles clock cycles to process some commands. The maximum number of clocks cycles that a CPU can handle in a given period of time is referred to as its clock speed.
A CPU with lower frequency may process a command quicker than the one with higher frequency, it all depends on the architecture of the CPU and how’s it designed with what features You have to see the benchmark to see the overall performance of the CPU
