How fast is a computer?

Fundementally, computers manage data
	Gaming:  What color should each pixel be?
		World state -> pixel colors
	Movie editing, rendering, compiling, etc. 

Frequency:  Underlies everything
	CPU speed
	Bus speed
	Response times calculated by cycles

Overclocking:  Increase frequency beyond manufacturer's intent
	So you can get more from your money
	Maybe increase voltage so transistors switch state quicker
	Waveforms, digital perfection, etc

The other factor:  What should we tell it to do?

Language:  Python vs. C comparison
	Why?  Number of instructions!
	Not all instructions are equal

Waiting:
	CPU has to wait for response from memory
	Could be a while!
	Cray XMT
		We'll get back to it!
	Pipelining, in general

Less waiting:
	Could we cache it somewhere?
	Better yet, keep it in a register?

A highly significant factor:  Algorithms
	Scaling defined
	But it's not just this!
	Taking-out-of-loop optimization
	Pre-calculated tables and dynamic programming
	Let's fix the fibonacci benchmark