01 - Section 1 - Memory and Computer performance

Question 1

What does RAM stand for?

Answer 1

Random Access Memory

Question 2

What are the features of RAM?

Answer 2

• used as the main memory on a computer
• read and write
• volatile(needs power to retain its data)

Question 3

What is RAM used for?

Answer 3

• RAM stores all the data, files and programs that are currently in use
• when a computer boots up the operating system is copied from secondary storage to RAM

Question 4

What is virtual memory?

Answer 4

Since computers have limited amounts of RAM, when RAM is full the computer puts the data which hasn’t been used recently to a location on the HDD

Question 5

What are the cons of virtual memory?

Answer 5

• A lot slower than RAM (have to go all the way to the HDD)

- can risk disc thrashing(if virtual memory is being used too much)

Question 6

Why is virtual memory used?

Answer 6

• if there are too many applications open so there isn’t enough space in RAM
• if you use a memory intensive application

Question 7

What does ROM stand for?

Answer 7

Read Only Memory

Question 8

What are the features of ROM?

Answer 8

• non-volatile memory(permanent memory)
• can only be read
• contains the boot up information(BIOS)

Question 9

Where is ROM located in a computer?

Answer 9

On the motherboard

-it is a small factory-made chip

Question 10

What are embedded systems controlled by?

Answer 10

firmware

Question 11

What is an example of firmware?

Answer 11

BIOS is a type of firmware

Question 12

What is firmware?

Answer 12

Firmware is hardware-specific software built into a device

Question 13

What do ROM chips often use for memory?

Answer 13

flash memory

Question 14

What happens as soon as a computer is turned on?

Answer 14

the CPU reads the information from ROM

this tells the CPU to perform self checks and set up the computer

Question 15

What factors affect CPU performance?

Answer 15

Clock speed
Number of cores
Cache size
using SSD rather than HDD

Question 16

What is clock speed measured in?

Answer 16

Hertz (Hz)

Question 17

How does increasing the clock speed improve the performance of a computer?

Answer 17

the higher the clock speed the greater the number of instructions can be carried out per second

Question 18

What is clock speed?

Answer 18

the number of instructions a single processing core can carry out each second

Question 19

How can increasing the number of cores improve the performance of a computer?

Answer 19

the more cores a CPU has, the more instructions it can carry out at once

Question 20

How can increasing cache size improve the performance of a computer?

Answer 20

a larger CPU cache gives the CPU faster access to more data it need to access

Question 21

How can more RAM mean a faster or smoother system?

Answer 21

• if a computer has too little RAM it may run slowly due to use of virtual memory
• the more RAM the more applications it can run

Question 22

How can you upgrade RAM in a computer?

Answer 22

You just replace the existing RAM sticks with higher capacity or higher speed ones

Question 23

What does GPU stand for?

Answer 23

Graphics Processing Units

Question 24

How can GPUs help CPUs process images?

Answer 24

they are specialised circuits for handling graphics and image processing, so they relieve the p[processing load on the CPU

Question 25

How can you get better graphics on a computer?

Answer 25

-by having a dedicated graphics card(GPU)

Question 26

How can having a high-end GPU improve the performance of a computer?

Answer 26

By taking some of the processing load of the CPU

-it can greatly improve the performance in graphics-intensive applications(gaming/design software)