The term “gigahertz” is composed of two parts, “giga” and “hertz”. To understand “gigahertz” we’ll dive into what each of these parts mean separately, and then apply this understanding to what in relation to a computer, and more specifically a computer’s CPU.

术语“千兆赫”由两部分组成：“千兆”和“赫兹”。 为了理解“千兆赫”，我们将深入研究这些部分各自的含义，然后将这种理解应用于与计算机(尤其是计算机的CPU)有关的内容。

Let’s start with the “hertz” part of “gigahertz.”

让我们从“千兆赫”的“赫兹”部分开始。

赫兹(Hz)和频率 (Hertz (Hz) and Frequency)

Frequency is a word we use to describe how often something happens. It is a measure of the “oftenness” of things.

频率是我们用来描述事物发生频率的一个词。 它是事物“频繁性”的量度。

For example,

例如，

• How often (frequently) do you go to the store? Once a week.您多久(一次)去商店？ 一个星期一次。
• How often do you brush your teeth? Twice a day.您多久刷一次牙？ 一天两次。
• How often do you grab a snack? Once an hour.你多久吃一次点心？ 一个小时一次。
• How often does the clock’s second hand tick? Sixty times a minute.时钟的秒针多长时间计时一次？ 一分钟六十次。

In the above, the responses were all frequencies. Frequencies are made up of two parts, a count of occurrences and a duration. For example:

在上面，响应是所有频率。 频率由两部分组成：发生次数和持续时间 。 例如：

One time per hour.

每小时一次 。

In the above “one” is the count of occurrences and “hour” is the duration. A duration is a period of time like a week, day, month, hour, or second.

在上面，“一个”是出现的次数 ，“小时”是持续时间 。 持续时间是一段时间，例如一周，一天，一个月，一小时或一秒。

So how does this relate to Hertz (Hz)? Well, Hertz is a shorthand to talk about frequency. It specifies the duration component of a frequency.

那么，这与赫兹(Hz)有何关系？ 好吧，赫​​兹是谈论频率的简写。 它指定频率的持续时间分量。

赫兹(Hz) (The Hertz (Hz))

Hertz (Hz) is a shorthand when talking about frequency. When we use it we don’t have to wonder what the duration part of the frequency is. The duration is always seconds. Since the duration is fixed, we just need to specify the count of occurrences part of the frequency.

谈论频率时，赫兹(Hz)是简写。 当我们使用它时，我们不必怀疑频率的持续时间部分是多少。 持续时间始终为秒。 由于持续时间是固定的，因此我们只需要指定频率出现部分的计数即可 。

A Hertz means:

赫兹的意思是：

“times per second”

“每秒次数”

That’s it. That’s all it means. Here’s a few examples:

而已。 这就是全部。 以下是一些示例：

1 Hertz (Hz) is:

1赫兹(Hz)为：

One time per second is

每秒一次是

50 Hertz (Hz) is:

50赫兹(Hz)为 ：

Fifty times per second

每秒五十次

1,000 Hertz (Hz) is:

1,000赫兹(Hz)为 ：

One thousand times per second

每秒一千次

Using hertz is nice because you know the frequency is not “times per year,” “per hour,” “minute,” or anything else. With hertz we know we’re talking about “times per second.”

使用赫兹很好，因为您知道频率不是“每年的次数”，“每小时的时间”，“分钟的”或其他任何频率。 有了赫兹，我们知道我们正在谈论“每秒的时间”。

国际单位制(SI)前缀 (The International System of Units (SI) Prefixes)

Now that we know what the “hertz” (Hz) part of “gigahertz” (GHz) is we can explore the “giga” (G) part.

现在，我们知道“千兆赫兹”(GHz)的“赫兹”(Hz)部分是什么，我们可以探索“千兆赫兹”(G)部分。

In the previous section we had an example that was 1,000 Hz (1,000 times per second). 1,000 is a pretty big number and might be somewhat difficult to use if we had to reference it a lot, but if it was even larger like 1,000,000 Hz (A million times per second), or 1,000,000,000 Hz (A billion times per second)? Wouldn’t we want a better way to deal with these large numbers? With the International System of Units (SI) prefixes, we have a better way.

在上一节中，我们有一个示例，该示例为1,000 Hz(每秒1,000次)。 1,000是一个很大的数字，如果我们不得不经常引用它，可能会有点难用，但是如果它甚至更大，例如1,000,000 Hz(每秒百万次)或1,000,000,000 Hz(每秒十亿次)？ 我们难道不想要一种更好的方法来处理这些大量数据吗？ 使用国际单位制(SI)前缀，我们有了更好的方法。

SI prefixes are an international standard of referring to very large and very small numbers. Some of them we’re familiar with:

SI前缀是指非常大和非常小的数字的国际标准。 我们熟悉其中一些：

• The “centi” in “centimeter”“厘米”中的“厘米”
• The “kilo” in “kilometer”“公里”中的“千”

A comprehensive list of the SI prefixes can be viewed here:

您可以在此处查看SI前缀的完整列表：

Let’s look at some of the prefixes that represent large numbers:

让我们看一些代表大数字的前缀：

kilo (k) — 1,000 times more than without the prefix

千(k) —比没有前缀大1000倍

mega (M) — 1,000,000 (million) times more than without the prefix

mega(M) —比没有前缀大 1,000,000(百万)倍

giga (G) — 1,000,000,000 (billion) times more than without the prefix

giga(G) —比没有前缀多1,000,000,000(十亿)倍

tera (T) —1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) times more than without the prefix

tera(T)-无前缀的则增加1,000,000,000,000(万亿)倍

Applying this to distances we get:

将其应用于距离，我们得到：

• A “kilometer” is 1,000 meters“公里”是1,000米
• A “megameter” is 1,000,000 (a million) meters“兆米”是1,000,000(百万)米
• A “gigameter” is 1,000,000,000 (a billion) meters“千兆米”为1,000,000,000(十亿)米
• A “terameter” is 1,000,000,000,000 (a trillion) meters“兆米”是1,000,000,000,000(万亿)米

Ah, there it is — “giga.” Now we’re on the right track to understand “gigahertz” (GHz).

啊，那里-“千兆”。 现在我们处在正确理解“千兆赫”(GHz)的轨道上。

应用于赫兹(Hz)的国际单位制(SI)前缀 (International System of Units (SI) Prefixes Applied to Hertz (Hz))

Let’s combine the “kilo” SI prefix with “hertz”:

让我们结合“ kilo” SI前缀和“ hertz”：

• “kilo”(k) SI prefix — means 1,000

  “ kilo”(k)SI前缀 -表示1,000

• “hertz” (Hz) — means “times per second”

  “赫兹”(Hz) -表示“每秒次”

• “kilohertz” (kHz) — means “A thousand times per second.”

  “千赫兹”(kHz) -表示“每秒千次。”

If we add a number in front we get:

如果在前面加上数字，则会得到：

• 1 kHz — A thousand times per second

  1 kHz —每秒千次

• 5 kHz — Five thousand times per second

  5 kHz —每秒五千次

• 75 kHz — Seventy-five thousand times per second

  75 kHz —每秒七万五千次

Exploring these SI prefixes we get:

探索这些SI前缀，我们得到：

• “kilohertz” (kHz) — 1,000 times per second

  “千赫”(kHz) -每秒1,000次

• “megahertz” (MHz) — 1,000,000 (a million) times per second

  “兆赫兹”(MHz) -每秒1,000,000(百万)次

• “gigahertz” (GHz) — 1,000,000,000 (a billion) times per second

  “千兆赫”(GHz) —每秒1,000,000,000(十亿)次

• “terahertz” (THz) — 1,000,000,000,000 (a trillion) times per second

  “太赫兹”(THz) —每秒1,000,000,000,000(万亿)次

Ah, there it is — “gigahertz.” Now we’re on the right track to understand “gigahertz” (GHz) in relation to computer processors, CPUs.

啊，就是-“ 千兆赫” 。 现在，我们在正确的方向上了解与计算机处理器，CPU相关的“千兆赫”(GHz)。

计算机处理器(CPU)中的千兆赫(GHz) (Gigahertz (GHz) in Computer Processors (CPUs))

We’re ready now. We know that a Gigahertz (GHz) means:

我们准备好了。 我们知道千兆赫(GHz)的意思是：

A billion times per second

每秒十亿次

Cool. So we know that something is happening a billion times per second — but what? For that we look to a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) — the “brain” of the computer. This is the component of a machine that executes the instructions written in computer programs.

凉。 因此，我们知道每秒发生十亿次事情-但​​是呢？ 为此，我们着眼于计算机的中央处理器(CPU)-计算机的“大脑”。 这是执行计算机程序中编写的指令的机器的组件。

Before we move forward, let’s define three types of instructions. The distinction will be important shortly.

在继续进行之前，让我们定义三种类型的指令。 区别很快将很重要。

• Code—These are instructions written by a computer programmer in a programming language.

  代码 -这些是计算机程序员以编程语言编写的指令。

• Processor Instructions (Opcodes) — These are the instructions that are generated from a programmer’s “code” that can be understood by a computer’s processor.

  处理器指令(Opcodes) -这些是从程序员的“代码”生成的指令，计算机的处理器可以理解。

• Processor Instruction Sub-Steps — These are the instructions that a processor follows for every processor instruction (opcode) it receives.

  处理器指令子步骤 -这些是处理器针对其接收的每个处理器指令(操作码)遵循的指令。

So, a programmer writes code, which is converted into processor instructions, which when received by the processor is carried out as a sequence of sub-steps.

因此，程序员编写代码 ，该代码被转换为处理器指令 ，当处理器接收该代码时 ，将其作为一系列子步骤来执行 。

For example, a programmer writes code to increment a number X by 1, which is translated into processor instructions (Opcode of INC X), which when received by the processor is recognized as a series of sub-steps. The sub-steps for this processor instruction might be something like:

例如，程序员编写代码以使数字X加1，然后将其转换为处理器指令(INC X的操作码)，该指令在被处理器接收时被识别为一系列子步骤。 该处理器指令的子步骤可能类似于：

1. Retrieve the value from the address that X is located and place in a short-term memory location从X所在的地址中检索值并将其放置在短期存储器中
2. Load the value 1 into another short-term memory location将值1加载到另一个短期存储位置
3. Add the values in both short-term memory locations在两个短期存储位置中添加值
4. Load the result into the original memory location of X将结果加载到X的原始存储位置

So, in this example the programmer’s 1 code instruction was translated into 1 processor instruction which was in turn carried out as 4 processor instruction sub-steps. With this we now understand that there are different levels of instructions which, as more granularity is introduced, will expand.

因此，在此示例中，程序员的1条代码指令被转换为1条处理器指令 ，而该处理器指令又作为4条处理器指令子步骤执行 。 有了这一点，我们现在可以理解，随着引入更多的粒度，指令的级别将有所不同。

So, now we can say the following:

因此，现在我们可以说以下内容：

A 1 gigahertz (Ghz) computer can process a billion processor instruction sub-steps per second.

一台千兆赫(Ghz)的计算机每秒可以处理十亿个处理器指令子步骤。

To emphasize, it is neither the code instructions produced by the programmer, nor the processor instructions generated from the programmer’s code that we’re talking about. The instructions we’re referring to are the processor instruction sub-steps.

要强调的是，我们所讨论的既不是程序员产生的代码指令，也不是从程序员代码产生的处理器指令。 我们所指的指令是处理器指令的子步骤。

Each processor instruction sub-step is carried out during one of the CPU’s “clock cycles,” which is like a pulse of action. So, equivalently:

每个处理器指令的子步骤都是在CPU的“时钟周期”之一内执行的，就像一个动作脉冲一样。 因此，等效地：

A 1 gigahertz (GHz) computer completes a billion clock cycles per second.

一台1 GHz的计算机每秒完成十亿个时钟周期。

Here 1 GHz is said to be the CPU’s “clock rate” or “clock speed.” The clock “ticks” with a pulse of action 1 billion times per second.

此处1 GHz被称为CPU的“时钟速率”或“时钟速度”。 时钟以每秒10亿次的动作脉冲“滴答”。

Pretty neat right? So, that 2.5 GHz processor of yours can process 2.5 billion processor sub-steps each and every second. Wow, that’s pretty impressive. And that’s just with one core.

很整洁吧？ 因此，您的2.5 GHz处理器可以每秒处理25 亿个处理器子步骤。 哇，真令人印象深刻。 那只是一个核心。

核心？ (Cores?)

Right, so modern computers have processors with multiple cores. Each “core” is like a mini-processor. So, a 4 core 2.5Ghz processor has 4 mini-processors within it, each of which can process 2.5 billion processor instruction sub-steps per second at the same time as the others. If software is written accordingly, all four cores can be utilized, resulting in:

是的，因此现代计算机的处理器具有多个内核。 每个“核心”就像一个微型处理器。 因此，一个4核2.5Ghz处理器中有4个微型处理器，每个微型处理器每秒可同时处理25亿个处理器指令子步骤。 如果相应地编写软件，则可以利用所有四个核心，从而得到：

10 billion processor instruction sub-steps (4 x 2.5 billion = 10 billion) per second

每秒100亿个处理器指令子步骤(4 x 25亿= 100亿)

Wow. Your CPU is pretty impressive.

哇。 您的CPU令人印象深刻。

时钟频率和速度 (Clock Rate and Speed)

When a CPU has higher clock frequency, as we’ve seen above it means that more processor instruction sub-steps can be handled per second. The higher the clock frequency, the greater the steps processed per second. When a lot of steps are processed quickly, a programs execution as a whole is faster. When running computationally intensive programs, like a video game, a swift CPU is much appreciated.

当CPU具有更高的时钟频率时，如我们上面所见，这意味着每秒可以处理更多的处理器指令子步骤。 时钟频率越高，每秒处理的步数越大。 快速处理许多步骤时，整个程序的执行速度会更快。 当运行诸如视频游戏之类的计算密集型程序时，非常需要快速的CPU。

When someone asks “how fast is your computer?” they’re talking about the CPU’s clock rate. Now you know you can say, “oh, my computer can process 2.5 billion processor sub-steps per second, and 10 billion per second when using all cores.”

当有人问“您的计算机有多快？” 他们在谈论CPU的时钟频率。 现在您知道您可以说：“哦，我的计算机每秒可以处理25亿个处理器子步骤，而在使用所有内核时，每秒可以处理100亿个子步骤。”

Just kidding — Say “2.5GHz”

只是开玩笑-说“ 2.5GHz”

摘要 (Summary)

A “hertz” (Hz) means “times per second” and “giga” (G) is a SI prefix that means “a billion.” When the term “hertz” is used with a computer’s CPU processor it is in reference the number of “clock cycles.” A 2.5Ghz processor completes a clock cycle 2.5 billion times per second. This equates to the execution of 2.5 billion processor instruction sub-steps in one second for a single core. With 4 cores in use that number would be 10 billion. Super impressive.

“赫兹”(Hz)表示“每秒次数”，“ giga”(G)是SI前缀，表示“十亿”。 当术语“赫兹”与计算机的CPU处理器一起使用时，指的是“时钟周期”的数量。 2.5Ghz处理器每秒可完成25亿次时钟周期。 这等同于单个内核在一秒钟内执行25亿个处理器指令子步骤。 如果使用4个内核，那么这个数字将达到100亿。 超级令人印象深刻。

I hope this article was helpful!

希望本文对您有所帮助！

Thanks!Patrick

谢谢！帕特里克

资源资源 (Resources)

• https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/prefixes.html

  https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/prefixes.html

• https://techgearoid.com/articles/difference-between-physical-cores-and-logical-processors/

  https://techgearoid.com/articles/difference-between-physical-cores-and-logical-processors/