– What is limiting computer processors to operate beyond the current range of clock frequencies (from 3 to up 5GHz)?
In: Engineering
The limiting factor for speed is simply the maximum frequency response of silicon. Most of the responses you are getting are more related to what are the bottlenecks to getting more throughput which is a little bit different question than raw maximum speed.
It’s been 20 years since I took semiconductor physics in college but I still remember that and nothing has changed there. If you want a cpu with a 10 GHz clock you’re going to have to use something other than silicon.
Radio circuitry that operates at higher frequencies use transistors made from different semiconductor material with a higher maximum frequency response. Gallium arsenide is one option. Silicon is still used for CPUs because we’ve gotten very good at making it with very few impurities which allow us to make smaller transistors and pack them in.
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