What is a good processor speed for a college student

On one level, choosing a processor speed for your business' computers is simple. The faster your processor speed, the faster your computer will move, and, all things being equal, the more it will cost.

However, given the high speed of modern processors, it's possible to buy one that is faster than you need. On the other hand, there are other ways to speed up a computer that can have a more meaningful impact than CPU speed.

When you see a processor's speed in GHz, it refers to the speed of the processor's internal clock.

Every time that the clock ticks, the processor can execute an instruction or read and write data. A 3.0 GHz processor has 3 billion opportunities per second to do something, while a 3.6 GHz processor has 3.6 billion chances -- making it roughly 20 percent faster.

Article continues below this ad

Internal clock speeds don't tell you how fast the processor can communicate with the outside world.

That is defined by its external clock speed

how fast does my processor need to be

how can i increase my processor speed