Find the CPU (processor) speed and model under Linux

This article will show you how to find CPU (processor) type, speed, cache size, and much more under Linux. To find this information you will need to login to the Linux command-line shell and and enter the following command at the $ (or #) prompt:

$ cat /proc/cpuinfo

Sample Output

processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 3
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
stepping : 4
cpu MHz : 2800.320
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl cid xtpr
bogomips : 5599.45

What does this mean?

The interesting fields to look at in the output are: processor, model_name, and cpu MHz.

processor – It is likely that the output of this command will leave you more than 1 set of information. Each set represents each physical processor or each core of a single CPU. Now days most computers are Dual-Core so there will be 2 sets of output.

model_name – The field usually indicates the manufacturer, model, and speed of the CPU. In this case, we have an Intel Pentium 4 CPU that has a speed of 2.8 GHz

cpu MHz – This indicates the speed of the processor. In this example it is 2.8 GHz.