Hello, everyone! I’ve been doing some research into computer hardware lately, and one thing that I keep coming across is this idea that the speed of a processor, while important, isn’t the only thing that affects a computer’s overall performance. I’m having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around this because I always thought that a faster processor meant a faster computer. Can anyone explain why this isn’t necessarily the case? I’m really interested to learn more about this!
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Doesn’t matter how fast you think(processor speed) if you can’t remember anything(memory).
Then, you need to process the thoughts into a usable format. (Display, storage).
Then, if your storage/memory is slow, it doesn’t matter how fast you put out the data. You’re limited by the speed of your storage/memory.
On top of that, if the infrastructure you use to move/communicate the data is inefficient, like postal mail or rugged path to walk (motherboard), then you are limited by that.
Similarly, you’ll have issues with data transfer if you aren’t communicating efficiently in a way people expect (network/wifi). Trying to transfer a large amount of data over a distance in a tiny cup (10 megabit network) vs. a truck (10 gigabit network).
Then maybe you have to do some complex math your brain(cpu) isn’t very good at. On top of that, you’re a terrible artist. So you grab an artist to assist you (video card). They specialize in taking the directions you give them and making it into a foem you can see better than your cpu brain.
It’s more complicated than that, of course, but this is eli5.
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