SBOA431 September   2020 TMP1075 , TMP108 , TMP112 , TMP144 , TMP461 , TMP464 , TMP468

 

  1.   Trademarks
  2. 1Introduction
  3. 2What is a CPU, GPU, and SoC?
  4. 3Temperature vs. Performance
    1. 3.1 Benefits of Faster Processors
    2. 3.2 Overclocking and Underclocking (Clock Throttling)
      1. 3.2.1 Overclocking
      2. 3.2.2 Underclocking (Clock Throttling)
    3. 3.3 Cooling Systems
  5. 4Benchmarking
    1. 4.1 Benchmarking Data
      1. 4.1.1 Smartphones
      2. 4.1.2 Gaming PCs
        1. 4.1.2.1 Gaming PC CPU Performance
        2. 4.1.2.2 Gaming PC GPU Performance
  6. 5How to get Accurate CPU/GPU Temperature
    1. 5.1 Using Local Temperature Sensor
    2. 5.2 Using Remote Temperature Sensor
  7. 6Summary

2 What is a CPU, GPU, and SoC?

A CPU is the main chip on the motherboard or main board of a PC, smartphone, or other electronic device. Each CPU has three main components: an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), a Control Unit (CU), and memory unit. Today, it is common to find CPUs that have multiple cores, typically between 2-16, each having their own ALU, CU, and memory. The CPU is given instructions from a program or application and executes it. These instructions can be tasks such as basic arithmetic computations, numeric comparisons, or memory movement and storage. How fast these instructions can be processed is limited by the number of cores and clock rate of the CPU. The clock rate of a CPU is measured in GHz and is the number of instructions a CPU can execute per second. Therefore the faster the clock rate the faster the CPU can process instructions and the greater the performance of the CPU.

A GPU is a processing unit that is specifically designed to handle graphics. Similar to a CPU, a GPU consists of multiple cores that have ALUs, CUs, and memory units. The main difference is that GPUs are architected to have hundreds to thousands of cores. This makes them specially designed for handling parallel throughput computing. How fast a GPU can process data is also limited by its clock rate.

A system on chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that consists of multiple electrical components on a single platform. The CPU and GPU are usually integrated into a SoCs. SoCs are much smaller than multi-chip designs found in PCs or notebooks and consume less power, but are typically much slower. Because of their smaller size and power consumption they are generally used in smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.