1.1 System Architecture

Question 1

CPU

Answer 1

Responsible for carrying out all the instructions.

Question 2

Number of institutions that can be performed in 1 second

Answer 2

GHz

Question 3

CU

Answer 3

Control unit

• decides which instruction to carry out and fetches it and executes it
• executes instructions

Question 4

ALU

Answer 4

Performs calculation, makes logical decisions. Gateway between CPU and rest of computer.

Question 5

Register contains…

Answer 5

PC
MDR
MAR
CIR
ACC

Question 6

Fetch- Decode- Execute cycle

Answer 6

How the CPU processes all of the data and institutions

Question 7

Cache

Answer 7

• Very fast memory within the CPU
• Slower than register but faster than RAM
• Stores data and instructions that are used regularly so CPU can access it quickly

Question 8

Three main factors that effect the performance of the CPU

Answer 8

1. Clock speed
2. Number of cores
3. Cache size

Question 9

1 hertz = __ pulses per second

Answer 9

1

Question 10

1 Megahertz=____pulses per second

Answer 10

1000,000

Question 11

Dangers of over clocking include

Answer 11

• data can get corrupted

- overheating

Question 12

How many processing units can a CPU contain ?

Answer 12

• One or more (dual core, quad core)

- Each unit is called a core

Question 13

What does a core contain

Answer 13

ALU, control unit and registers

Question 14

What happens if a computer has too little RAM?

Answer 14

It may run slowly due to having to use virtual memory

Question 15

What does having lots of RAM allow you to do?

Answer 15

-You will be able to run more programs at the same time and also run more memory intensive programs.

Question 16

GPU

Answer 16

• Graphics processing unit

- Specialises in processing graphics and images

Question 17

The 2 parts of a computer instruction

Answer 17

Opcode- operation that needs to be performed

Address (location) in memory the data for the instruction can be found

Question 18

What does each instruction go through

Answer 18

Fetch, decode and execute

Question 19

Registers

Answer 19

small areas of memory

Question 20

PC

Answer 20

Program counter

Question 21

MAR

Answer 21

Memory address register

Question 22

MDR

Answer 22

Memory data register

Question 23

ACC

Answer 23

Accumulator

Question 24

CIR

Answer 24

Current instruction register