Why Do More Transistors in a CPU Lead to Better Performance?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the relationship between the number of transistors in a CPU and its performance. It highlights that while a basic understanding of CPU operations may suggest that only a few transistors are needed for registers, modern CPUs require billions of transistors to support complex functionalities like multithreading, multiple cores, and extensive cache memory. This increase in transistor count is essential for creating a general-purpose CPU capable of executing tasks efficiently within fewer clock cycles. Additionally, a participant shares their experience designing an 8-bit CPU for educational purposes and considers the implications of running an operating system on such a design. The conversation emphasizes the importance of various components, such as control logic and cache, in enhancing CPU speed and efficiency.
jforce93
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Hi,

I'm confused about something. Why is it that in magazines and videos it seems as though adding more transistors to a CPU will make it faster? Is it a numbers thing (like, instead of marking amps on signs, they show volts)? I mean, I understand that you can do multithreading, multiple cores etc. but from the assembly (z80 and PowerPC) I've done, it seems as though using a CPU is mainly just moving around memory from register to register. My physics teacher (a former electrical engineer) showed me the register structure in a simple CPU, and it seemed to only require a few transistors for each register. So, a few thousand transistors on a 64-bit chip seems reasonable, but billions?

Thanks,

Jordan
 
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floating point operations, cache memory
 
Oh, that makes sense.
 
To design a CPU that is "General", which is designed to be very flexible and do a lot of stuff,
needs a lot of logic, memories, cashes like Xitami said and then the transistor number will increase very rapidly. But in general if you want to make it faster it will cost you in hardware to be able to do everything you want in less number of clock cycles.
 
Yeah. I'm designing an 8-bit (I'm a junior in High School btw), that I eventually want to convert the design of to run with water. Maybe I could run Linux on the water one lol jk.

It's for educational purposes. I want it to be involved in my senior project or internship in some way.
 
run with water?

I recommend to start without an operating system at all, it uses virtual address and stuff, if you don't run uLinux.

Do you already have an instruction set you should implement?
Is the instructions decoded in a micro memory or is it pipelined?
 
jforce93 said:
Hi,
So, a few thousand transistors on a 64-bit chip seems reasonable, but billions?
The major concept behind all the other transistors (cache, control logic) is to allow the small arithmetic logic to execute without waiting.
 

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