• 1.3: The Role of Processor Performance

    • CPU and Processor Time Counter Page

      Read this introduction to computer performance and information about computing processor time. In most programming languages, there is a process to measure elapsed time, such as time() in C. By subtracting the time at the beginning of a process from the time at the end you get the total time for a particular operation. Usually short operations are put in a loop that repeats the operation a sufficient number of times to get an accurate measurement.

    • Microprocessor Design and Performance Page

      This article gives more information on computer performance, including some helpful definitions.

    • Computing Benchmarks Page

      This article discusses benchmarks, which help measure computer performance.

    • Amdahl's Law Page

      This article introduces Amdahl's law, which can be used to measure how certain improvements to performance can be measured. A general form of Amdahl's law is: (that part of the time that is improved/the improvement factor) plus that part of the time that is not improved equals the new improved time. Speedup factor is the old time divided by the new time. Be sure to study the examples.