I doubt if anyone is going to write you a treatise on that, but you have a few sources
- Kernel Documentation, or help in the 'make config' stage
- Kernel archives of the discussions about it when the option was introduced.
I was one who went the hardware route, sticking crystals on early cpus in circuits where EVERYTHING was under the control of that crystal, things have changed teetotally. Speeds are fastest in the cores and controlled by hardware limitations outside. The tick was more a slow resetting timer than anything else. Why wait for the next tick if you don't have to? Go tickless.
