Building A PC Flashcards
What does the control unit in a CPU do?
Runs the fetch-execute cycle many times a second
What is stored in the PC in the CPU?
The address of the next operation that will run
Describe the fetch stage
The CPU places the address of the next item on the address bus. Data from this address is then moved to the CPU using the data bus
Describe the decode stage
The CPU interprets the instruction it has just fetched and sets up the registers to deal with it in the CPU
Describe the execute stage
The instruction is now processed
What factors does increasing the Machine Clock change?
The speed of the processor, memory and the number of other devices on the control bus
Describe the bus system
Transmits and receives data between the CPU and other components
What is the data bus?
Carries data between the CPU and memory
What is the control bus?
Carries control signals around the CPU and memory
What is an address bus?
Carries memory addresses for locations to be read from or written to
What is the role of the motherboard?
Connects everything together and hosts the internal bus system
How does a change to the motherboard layout speed up a computer?
Bringing devices closer together or allowing more connections to the devices
What is the point of the battery on a motherboard?
The battery powers a timer used to keep track of time when the computer is off
Benefits of an embedded system
More efficient and smaller than a general purpose system, though it’s not very versatile
How is overlocking done in a modern PC?
Increasing the clock speed by increasing the voltage where power is fed to the processor or increasing the machine clock
