Computer speed check tools are used for checking the clock speed of the CPU in your computer. You can download either the shareware or the freeware versions of the software and check various parameters concerning the speed of your computer system. You could also use one of several web-based computer speed check tools available on the Internet. There are two kinds of speed checks which are usually done on PCs; one which checks the CPU and other related speed elements in your computer, and the second one is the bandwidth speed of your ISP as related to your computer.

Computer speed check software measures the real time speed of the CPU in your PC. The tools available offer various features. A typical software would provide you with information such as, whether the CPU in your PC is over-clocked, which would mean that the CPU clock is running much faster than what it is supposed to, the speed of your CPU is faster than what has been specified, or the CPU is performing well within its specified limits.

Normally, the rated CPU speed is available on any Pentium 4 or later CPUs. The CPU of your PC should be running at this speed or below the rated speed specified by the manufacturer. Computer speed check software provides detailed description of your Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 caches as supported by your CPU. Having larger cache sizes would mean a faster computer system. The memory speed is defined by how fast your CPU can access data in the memory. This indication is usually provided in megabytes per second. The software times this speed by executing large memory to memory transfer. Larger transfer rates would mean a faster PC.

Your speed check software not only checks the speed of the CPU in your computer, but the features allow checking of every speed component in your computer system, your network speed, and the speed at which your computer accesses the Internet. Some of the professional computer speed check software provides a control panel by which you can change the settings of the parameters for measuring the different speed levels of the related components such as, CPU clock speed, memory speed, etc. Results of these measurements are made available in a separate graphical screen.

The CPU speed and memory timings in your computer are controlled by the settings in your BIOS. There could be several reasons for your PC to slow down. It could be lower CPU speed, or there might be something wrong with your memory timings. To find out the actual speed of the CPU in your PC, computer speed check utility provides the actual measured speed of the CPU. Depending on the features available, the tool also provides you with information regarding the other speed components in your PC. The analysis provided by the utility could be used to find out the reason your computer is running slow.

The type of CPU in your computer is automatically detected by the BIOS in your system. The BIOS also sets the clock speed of the CPU which can be adjusted by setting the multiplier factor in the BIOS. The overall functioning of your computer depends on the CPU clock speed, the multiplier factor, and the bus speed of your PC. The bus timings in your PC determine the speed at which data is transferred. If the rate at which the data is transported gets to be low, the performance of your computer degrades accordingly. Computer speed check utilities offer several features, and you can choose the one which is right for you. There are basic tools which just check the CPU speed, others provide detailed analysis of the speed related components in your PC.

The clock speed of your CPU could be set from your BIOS. This is done basically by setting the multiplier, which determines the overall CPU clock speed. Take the example of a processor having a speed of 550 MHz with a front side bus speed of 100 MHz. This would mean that the multiplier has been set to 5.5 times the speed of the front side bus, which in effect makes the processor work at 550 MHz. Before you set the CPU speed through your BIOS, you Sneed to find out the various parameter values that are governing the speed factor in your PC. Computer speed check software provides you with all the information that you require for setting the CPU speed correctly in your PC.