Which characteristic of the CPU determines how many instructions it can process per second?

Correct option is B

The correct answer is: (b) Clock speed

Explanation:

• Clock speed refers to the frequency at which a CPU operates, measured in Hertz (Hz), typically in Gigahertz (GHz) for modern processors.

• It determines how many instruction cycles the CPU can perform per second.

• For example, a CPU with a clock speed of 3.0 GHz can theoretically execute 3 billion cycles per second, directly influencing how fast instructions are processed.

• Higher clock speed generally means faster performance, but other factors like core count, architecture, and cache also play roles.

• 1 GHz = 1 billion cycles per second.

• Most modern CPUs have multiple cores, each with their own clock speeds.

• Clock speed is set by an internal oscillator synchronized to a system clock.

• Modern CPUs use dynamic frequency scaling to balance power and performance.

• Clock speed can be overclocked for performance or underclocked for efficiency.