Million Instructions Per Second (Noun)
Meaning
(computer science) a unit for measuring the execution speed of a computer's CPU (but not the whole system); "4 MIPS is 4,000,000 instructions per second".
Classification
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure.
Examples
- A high-performance gaming computer typically requires a CPU that operates at thousands of MIPS to handle demanding graphics and game logic.
- For simpler applications such as embedded systems in microwaves and appliances, CPUs operating at mere MIPS are more than sufficient.
- In the context of designing video game consoles, system architects carefully balance cost with desired MIPS to avoid hardware that is overly expensive.
- Older operating systems like MS-DOS and CP/M found wide acceptance because they didn't require extremely high MIPS to run efficiently on the computers available at the time.
- Competition in the CPU manufacturing space is often characterized by the ability of companies to increase MIPS while maintaining low power consumption.