Module 1, Concepts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

The operating speed of a computer system depends on the time taken for hardware and software to interact and manipulate any necessary information. If one or more parts of a computer system operate slowly, the entire system can be slowed down. Below is a summary of the main factors that influence a computer’s speed:

• The clock speed of the CPU is one of the most important influences on the speed of a computer. A higher clock speed means more units of data can be processed each second. The clock speed of a CPU used to be measured in megahertz (MHz). However these days manufactured PCs have CPUs which are measured in gigahertz (GHz).
  
  
• Although the clock speed of the CPU is very important, and a good indicator of a computer’s speed, the type of CPU must also be considered. Different CPUs may be designed to process larger amounts of data at a time or process certain types of data more efficiently. When comparing different processors, the design may be as important as the clock speed. For example, an Intel Pentium 4 processor running at 2.0GHz may not be as fast as an AMD Athlon processor running at the same clock speed. This is because the Athlon generally has a more efficient design.
  
  
• The amount of cache RAM installed on components such as the CPU, motherboard and hard disk will affect the speed of the computer. Data stored in a component’s cache can be accessed and manipulated far more quickly than data stored elsewhere. Therefore, the more cache RAM each component has, the faster it will be able to manipulate data.
  
  
• A computer’s main memory is another important consideration. The more components and software have to access data directly from storage devices such as hard disks, and the more they have to wait for main memory to be freed, the slower the computer will perform tasks. Therefore, the amount of main memory fitted in a computer will have a significant effect on its performance. In fact, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve a computers performance is to expand the RAM memory to it's maximum.