A real time clock is a clock that keeps track of the time even when the system is turned off. Real time clocks run on a special battery that is not connected to the normal power supply of the system. In contrast, clocks that are not real-time do not function when the system is off. Do not confuse a computer’s real-time clock with its CPU clock. Most of the real-time clocks operate at 32.768KHz comparing to the CPU clocks operate at either 33MHz or 50MHz. The CPU clock regulates the execution of instructions and other functions.