You can see this in action in our screenshot above. Both Intel and AMD support automated systems which allow the CPU to boost above its normal speed when thermal limits allow. One immediate consideration is that the 'base speed' doesn't consider the possible turbo speed of your processor. In practice, it is increasingly rare for this number alone to give you a useful insight into how fast a particular CPU is, relative to any other model.
The rated speed of your processor will be displayed under 'Base speed' in the bottom-right – in this case, 4.2 GHz.Īs a general rule, the higher this number becomes, the faster your PC should be. You'll land right on the CPU details page. Click the 'Performance' tab at the top of the screen. You can see what your CPU (stands for 'central processing unit) is rated for by launching Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc). Although a computer's overall performance is defined by the aggregate 'speed' of multiple hardware devices, processor clock speed tends to be seen as the most significant contributor of all. If there's one metric that all PCs are judged on, it's how 'fast' they are.
