From 301ec55a386c9228052f39eaa38eb1ef92c02265 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Lucas Thompson Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2019 04:36:23 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Add wikipedia link for 64 bit architecture (#32416) Add Wikipedia link for "64-bit architecture" to ensure a curious reader is guided to appropriate and pertinent reading material. --- guide/english/computer-hardware/cpu/index.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/guide/english/computer-hardware/cpu/index.md b/guide/english/computer-hardware/cpu/index.md index 480941253c..05119e2847 100644 --- a/guide/english/computer-hardware/cpu/index.md +++ b/guide/english/computer-hardware/cpu/index.md @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ CPU speeds are measured in **gigahertz (GHz)**. For every gigahertz of speed, a [Gigahertz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz) is not the only determining factor in the actual speed of a processor, as different processors with the same gigahertz speed (also known as clock speed) can perform real-world tasks at different speeds due to using different sets of instructions to perform these tasks. These instruction sets are called **CPU architectures**. -Most modern CPUs use a 64-bit architecture, which means they use 64-bit long memory addresses. Older CPUs used 32-bit, 16-bit, and even 8-bit architectures. The largest number a 64-bit CPU can store is 18,446,744,073,709,552,000. A CPU needs memory addresses to get specified values from the [**Random Access Memory (RAM)**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory). If we call the length of the memory addresses n, 2^n is the number of memory cells a CPU can address. +Most modern CPUs use a 64-bit architecture, which means they use 64-bit long memory addresses. Older CPUs used 32-bit, 16-bit, and even 8-bit architectures. The largest number a 64-bit CPU can store is 18,446,744,073,709,552,000. A CPU needs memory addresses to get specified values from the [**Random Access Memory (RAM)**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory). If we call the length of the memory addresses n, 2^n is the number of memory cells a CPU can address. An instruction cycle for a CPU is called the [fetch-decode-execute cycle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction_cycle) - where the computer retrieves an instruction from its memory, determines which instruction it fetched and what it does, and then carries out said instructions.