One of the most popular misconceptions about the increase in processor speed for computers is that it follows a pattern which has come to be known as Moore’s Law after the Intel Engineer who postulated the idea. What most people believe is that Moore’s law predicts is that the speed of processors increases roughly every 18 months, but this is not true. The prediction actually says that the number of transistors that can be fitted into a given area increases by a factor of two every 18 months, while the cost of the chip remains equivalent.

The fact is that doubling the number of transistors in a given area does have the effect of doubling the amount of information that can be processed on a chip, but this is a result of the process, rather than the aim of the process.

Of course, there is a finite level of component density on a computer chip. At the atomic level, it will become impossible to fit any more components into a chip, and the pace at which computer speed can be increased will level out, or will it?

There is a great deal more to how fast a computer works than simply the speed at which the chip performs its operations. The megahertz – now gigahertz rating of a chip is a convenient comparison for people to use when determining chip speed, but it is only a single factor, and is not particularly illustrative of computer speed, because there are many other factors that play a role. For example, a 4GHz chip on one computer may run twice as fast as the same chip on another computer when a more streamlined operating system is used. Although the chip works at the same rate, one computer may carry out tasks a lot faster.

Assuming that the most optimized OS is installed on a computer, there are still many other factors that can increase the speed of the machine. Having dedicated chips performing specific roles – such as installing a faster graphics card, and putting in a sound card will both make the computer work faster, because the CPU chip – the Pentium or Athlon chip that the computer is advertised with will have to do a smaller share of the overall jobs of running the computer.

Adding more memory to the machine will also allow it to perform tasks quicker, because the computer will be able to store more instructions at a time, and the pace at which it can cycle through the instructions of the program will be increased.

The other major factor governing how fast a computer can process information is how efficiently data is pushed around the various functions of the system. As with a road network, the more space that there is, the faster traffic can move around the network. By installing better circuit boards with better connections between the chips and the storage devices will also help to boost the speed of the system. New dual core chips and quad core chips also boost the efficiency, but there will eventually be a limit – it just won’t be reached soon!