1 Hardware Flashcards
What is FDE?
Fetch, Decode, Execute cycle
What is the purpose of the CPU?
To process data and instructions
What is the purpose of the Control Unit?
It directs the flow of data and information around the CPU and coordinates other components in the CPU
What is the purpose of the ALU?
The arithmetic and logic unit performs simple calculation’s and logical comparisons
What is the purpose of the registers?
The registers are temporary storage spaces used in the FDE cycle
What is the purpose of Cache memory / internal memory?
Cache memory is used to store data that is frequently accessed, it is split into three levels it is faster than RAM
What is computer architecture?
The ay a computer is designed and laid out, the most common type is Von Neumann
What is Harvard architecture?
An alternative architecture with the control unit as the most essential component
What are the key features of Von Neumann architecture?
> The CPU is the most important component
Instructions and data are stored in memory
Data input/output is important.
Why is storing instructions in memory important?
It allows the computer to be re-programmed more easily
What is the purpose of buses?
They allow data to be transferred to different parts of the computer.
What is the purpose of the address bus?
This carries the storage address of any data that needs to be loaded or saved
What is the purpose of the Data bus?
It carries data to and from RAM as well as input/output deivces
What is the purpose of the control bus?
The control unit uses the to send control signals to different parts of the computer
What is the purpose of Fetch in FDE?
Fetch takes the address from the PC puts it in MAR from memory stores it in the instruction register and increments the program counter
What is the purpose of Decode in FDE?
The control unit checks the instruction in the instruction register. The instruction is
decoded to find the action that needs to be carried out
What is the purpose of Execute in FDE?
The instruction fetched is performed this depends on the nature of the instruction
What is the purpose of the program counter?
It stores the RAM address of the next instruction to be fetched
What is the purpose of the memory address register?
The MAR stores the RAM address of the instruction / data that is to be fetched
What is the purpose of the memory data register?
THE MDR stores the instruction / data that has been transferred from RAM to the CPU
What is the purpose of the current instruction register?
This register stores the instruction that has been fetched from RAM and is about to be decoded or executed
What is the purpose of the Accumulator
The Acc stores the result of mathematical and logical calculations
What are the levels of cache memory?
There is level 1, 2 and 3. 1 is the fastest but smallest and 3 is slowest but larger and is located outside the CPU
How does cache memory work?
When the CPU looks for data, it looks in level 1 cache, then level 2 and then level 3. If the data is not found then the CPU searches in RAM instead which takes more time
How does cache memory improve performance?
> It is closer to the CPU so is faster than RAM
More cache memory allows repeatedly used instructions to be accessed faster
Cache memory is expensive so computers only have a small amount
What is clock speed?
Clock speed is the measure of how quickly a CPU can process instructions. measured in Ghz
How does clock speed improve performance?
The faster the clock speed, the faster the computer can perform the FDE cycle resulting in better performance because more instructions can be processed each second.
What is overclocking?
It’s when the clock speed is increased, allowing the computer to perform faster but can lead to overheating an could damage the machine
What is underclocking?
It’s when the clock speed is decreased making the computer to perform slower but will increase
What are cores in computers?
A core is a complete set of CPU components, a multi-core CPU has more than one set of components
How do cores effect performance?
In theory dual core processor is twice as fast as a single core but sometimes one core may be waiting for another or software is not written for multiple cores
What is a Reduced Instruction Set Computer?
> They process
