How is clock speed, FSB and L2 Cache affect a computer's performance?

Question

Can anyone help me figure out what the numbers in CPUs are for? What exactly they mean and what each one really does. This will help me a lot in figuring out which processor I buy.
A core Duo, or a core 2 duo.. AMD perhaps?
I heard something about getting a low voltage since they generate less heat (for notebooks). Is this worth the sacrifice?

Thanks for everyone who'll respond.

Answer 1

If you are buying a laptop right now, get one with the Core 2 Duo if possible, it yields the highest performance, but also uses less power than other processors, which can help with your battery life.

On all three things you asked about, the more the better. Now on clock speed, that is not universally true, especially when comparing different types (Pentium M vs. Core 2 Duo). Front Side Bus is important, so much so that if you have a processor with higher front side bus and lower clock speed than another, it is still better. Cache is important as well, though I wouldn't worry too much about it. As I said, the best out by far right now are the Core 2 Duos, if you can afford one, get one, even if it has a lower clock speed.

Answer 2

2.0Ghz is the speed of the processor (each core). It's a dual core, so it's *almost* like having 4GHz single core, but not quite. If your application only uses 1 core, then it's capped at 2GHz. If your application can use multiple cores at once it's like having 4GHz of speed. 800MHz is the Front Side Bus of the processor. It's part of how to find the multiplier of a chip. The Front Side Bus / 4 * Multiplier = 2.0Ghz. In this case the multiplier is 10. It's not really important to you, other than to make sure a newer processor is compatible (if you ever upgrade). The L2 cache is part of the processor's on-board memory. More cache usually makes for a better processor, but not always. Don't use the L2 cache to figure out if you can run a program. It's not RAM.

Answer 3

a lot of the new processors that are coming out are low volate (ie: the pentium m)..they consume less power, and create less heat...but how much heat can there really be?...the FSB is the speed that all of your computer components communicate with eachother at. the faster...the better...

I personally recommend the core duo, because so far it has given me no problems at all..the speed is good as well...the amd turions are also nice becase they run on a 64bit system...this means that in the future, when a lot of the software will be written in 64 bit, it will make your computer faster than a core duo. currently, a lot of drivers, and software in general are in 32 bit.

good luck!

Answer 4

Here are some links with detailed descriptions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Side_Bus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_speed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L2_cache