If a computer is powerful enough, how does it know not to play videos or perform logic for games at a faster speed?

Question

I don’t know if I’m explaining this right…
A computer can run logic at some speed based on how powerful the components of it are, so if it can perform the logic of something, for example, movement in a game, how does it know how much should be done based on its power, instead of essentially running in “fast-forward” or conversely in slow motion?

In: 1307

Answer 1

Great Question! Modern computers have very accurate clocks built into them. When you write a computer program, you can write a command like “do nothing for .002 seconds”. Video programs and games will use pauses to make sure they update the screen and look for user input at the correct times.

Many older computers did not have this ability, and if you played a game on a computer that was too fast, it might be impossible to play because everything would move too fast.