Chapter 2

Question 0

Processor word size

Answer 0

The number of bits processed at one time is the processor’s register size (word size). Intel’s 8086 processor’s register size was 16 bits, or 2 bytes. Today’s CPUs have register sizes of 64 or 128 bits.

Question 1

Processor speed

Answer 1

Processors come in a variety of speeds, measured in gigahertz (GHz). Hertz is a measurement of cycles per second. One hertz equals one cycle per second. One gigahertz is 1 billion cycles per second, or 1GHz. The original PC CPU, the 8088 microprocessor, ran at 4.77MHz. Today’s processors run at speeds over 3GHz.

Question 2

Bus line

Answer 2

The 1s and 0s must travel from one place to another inside the processor, as well as outside to other chips. To move the 1s and 0s around, electronic lines called a bus are used. The electronic lines inside the CPU are known as the internal data bus or system bus

Question 3

External BUS line

Answer 3

For a CPU to communicate with devices in the outside world, such as a printer, the 1s and 0s travel on the external data bus. The external data bus connects the processor to adapters, the keyboard, the mouse, the hard drive, and other devices. An external data bus is also known as an external data path. You can see the external data lines by looking between the expansion slots on the motherboard

Question 4

Algorithm logic unit

Answer 4

A processor has a special component called the ALU (arithmetic logic unit), which does all the calculations and comparison logic that the computer needs. Figure 2.1 shows the basic concept of how the ALU connects to the registers, control unit, and internal bus.

Question 5

I/O unit

Answer 5

manages data entering and leaving the processor. The registers within the CPU are a very high-speed storage area for 1s and 0s before the bits are processed.

Question 6

Clock or clock speed

Answer 6

The speed of the processor’s internal clock, measured in gigahertz.

Question 7

Bus speed

Answer 7

bus speed

The speed at which data is delivered when a particular bus on the motherboard is being used.

Question 8

FBS front bus speed

Answer 8

The speed between the CPU and some of the motherboard components. This is what most people would term the motherboard speed. Sometimes the speed is listed in megatransfers per second, or MT/s. With MT/s, not only is the speed of the FSB considered but how many processor transfers occur each clock cycle. A 266 MHz FSB that can do four transfers per second could list as 1064MT/s. The FSB is being upgraded with technologies such as AMD’s HyperTransport and Intel’s QPI (QuickPath Interconnect) and DMI (Direct Media Interface).

Question 9

Back side bus

Answer 9

back side bus

The speed between the CPU and the L2 cache located outside the main CPU but on the same chip.

Question 10

PCI bus speed

Answer 10

The speed at which data is delivered when the PCI bus is being used. The PCI bus is the main bus used on the motherboard. Common speeds for the PCI bus are 33 and 66MHz, allowing bandwidths up to 533MBps.

Question 11

PCIe bus speed

Answer 11

PCIe bus speed

The speed at which data is delivered when the PCIe bus is being used. This bus is used for PCI Express cards.

Question 12

AGP BUS SPEED

Answer 12

AGP bus speed

The speed at which data is delivered when the AGP bus is being used. The AGP bus is an older standard used for video cards.

Question 13

CPU speed

Answer 13

CPU speed

The speed at which the CPU operates. Some motherboards have a BIOS option to change the speed. Other motherboards either use motherboard jumpers or cannot be changed.

Question 14

CPU throttling

Answer 14

CPU throttling

Reducing the clock frequency to slow the CPU in order to reduce power consumption and heat. This is especially useful in mobile devices.

Question 15

Cache

Answer 15

The data or instruction the CPU needs to operate on is usually found in one of three places: the cache, the motherboard memory (main memory), or the hard drive.
is a very fast type of memory designed to increase the speed of processor operations. When cache memory is integrated as part of the processor, it is called L1 cache. Included in the processor packaging, but not part of the CPU, is L2 cache, which some refer to as on-die cache. Finally, a third level of memory is found when using higher-end computer processors; it is called L3 cache and can be located in the CPU housing or on the mother-board. CPU efficiency is increased when data continuously flows into the CPU. Cache provides the fastest access

Question 16

Clocking

Answer 16

The motherboard generates a clock signal that is used to control the transfer of 1s and 0s to and from the processor. In older computers, data was sent to the CPU only once during a clock cycle. Then, newer memory technologies evolved that allow data to be sent twice during every clock cycle. Today, data is sent four times during a single clock cycle

Question 17

Threading

Answer 17

A thread is a small piece of an application process that can be handled by an operating system. An operating system such as Windows schedules and assigns resources to a thread. Each thread can share resources (such as the processor or cache memory) with other threads. A thread in the pipeline might have a delay due to waiting on data to be retrieved or access to a port or another hardware component.

Question 18

Socket

Answer 18

A processor inserts into a socket or slot, depending on the model. Most processors today insert into a socket
Processor sockets are also called ZIF (zero insertion force) sockets; they come in different sizes. A processor socket accepts one or more specific processor models. The socket has a small lever to the side that, when lifted, brings the processor slightly up and out of the socket holes.

Question 19

Throttle management

Answer 19

is the ability to control the CPU speed by slowing it when it is not being used heavily or is hot

Question 20

Overclocking

Answer 20

is changing the front side bus speed and/or multiplier to boost CPU and system speed.

Question 21

AGP

Answer 21

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is a bus interface for graphics adapters developed from the PCI bus. Intel provided the majority of the development for AGP, and the specification was originally designed around the Pentium II processor. AGP speeds up 3-D graphics, 3-D acceleration, and full-motion playback.