Factors Affecting Processor Speeds

Clock Speed - The clock executes a set of instructions by ticking.
                     - Each instruction takes one or more ticks.
                     - The faster the clock the faster a program can be executed.
                     - Double the clock speed and you would double the performance.

Bus Width - The number of wires within a bus (8, 16, 32, 64)
                 - Each wire has a high voltage or a low voltage (1 or 0)
                 - The larger the number of wires the larger number of instruction can be passed through
                 - The bigger the bus, the less data has to be broken into smaller pieces, therefore increasing performance.

Word Length - The number of bits in a binary number that can be sent
                     - The largest number sent has to be equal to the number of wires on the Bus
                     - Common word length is 32 or 64 bits
                     - The bigger the word length, the less data has to be broken into smaller pieces, therefore increasing performance.

Multicore Processors - Adding more than one processor allows the computer to do things at the same time
                                 - Dual Core is now standard in computers
                                 - Quad Core is becoming common in computers