Measure the speed of a processor.
The CPU or central processing unit is the processor that carries out instructions of the computer program. CPU speed is measured in megahertz (MHz) and a 1 MHz CPU can complete 1 million CPU cycles per second. The processor is installed on the motherboard, but it communicates data to the motherboard at a much slower rate, called the Front Side Bus or FSB rate. The ratio at which the motherboard and the processor communicate is called the multiplier. CPU speed is calculated as a product of FSB and the multiplier. You can compare CPUs by calculating their CPU speeds to find out which hardware can perform faster and better.
Instructions
1. Download a software that will gather and display technical specifications of your computer, particularly the Front Side Bus (FSB) and the multiplier of the processor installed in the computer. To do this, visit "cpuid.com" and download the software entitled "CPU-Z."
2. Open the downloaded folder and click on the application file found inside it to display the CPU-Z window. On the "CPU" tab, locate the "multiplier" and "bus speed" figures.
3. Multiply the "bus speed" by the "multiplier" using a calculator. The resulting product is the speed of the CPU in megahertz (MHz). Perform the same procedure for other computers that you wish to compare with the first computer and rank their speeds from highest to lowest. The higher the MHz, the faster a computer will be in performing its operations.
4. Download a speed testing software. An alternative method is to make an actual test of the CPU speed by downloading CPU speed test software. Browse the Internet and visit websites that offer free CPU speed testing software, or visit the websites of "wizard-soft.com" or "cpuspeedpro.com" to directly download CPU speed testing software. You can quickly find out the actual CPU speed of any computer by running the application. The resulting actual speed will be displayed as well as the manufacturer's published speed. Compare actual and published CPU speeds of each computer that you wish to compare in order to rank their speeds and to know which machines can perform faster.
Tags: speed testing, speed testing software, testing software, their speeds, actual speed, Front Side, multiplier speed