Central Processing Unit and Cooling Systems May 2016 | Page 12

Some AMD processors use hypertransport to enhance CPU performance. Hypertransport is a high-speed, low-latency connection
between the CPU and the Northbridge chip.
The power of a CPU is measured by the speed and the amount of data that it can process. The speed of a CPU is rated in cycles per
second, such as millions of cycles per second, called megahertz (MHz), or billions of cycles per second, called gigahertz (GHz). The
amount of data that a CPU can process at one time depends on the size of the front side bus (FSB). This is also called the CPU bus or the
processor data bus. Higher performance can be achieved when the width of the FSB increases. The width of the FSB is measured in bits.
A bit is the smallest unit of data in a computer. Current processors use a 32-bit or 64-bit FSB.

Overclocking is a technique used to make a processor work at a faster speed than its original specification. Overclocking is not a
recommended way to improve computer performance and can result in damage to the CPU. The opposite of overclocking is CPU
throttling. CPU throttling is a technique used when the processor runs at less than the rated speed to conserve power or produce less
heat. Throttling is commonly used on laptops and other mobile devices.