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GCSE Computer Science > Components of a computer system (PAPER 1) > Flashcards

Components of a computer system (PAPER 1) Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a computer

A

A machine that processes data

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2
Q

What is the purpose of a computer

A

to take data, process it and then output it

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3
Q

What does a computer system consist of

A

hardware and software that work together to process data and complete tasks

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4
Q

What is hardware

A

physical things that make up a computer system

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5
Q

What is software

A

programs or applications that a computer system runs

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6
Q

What are external pieces of hardware known as

A

peripherals

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7
Q

What is a general purpose computer

A

a computer designed to perform many tasks

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8
Q

What is a dedicated system computer

A

a computer designed to perform one particular function

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9
Q

What is an embedded system

A

a computer inside a larger system

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10
Q

What are the two types of computer

A

general purpose and dedicated system

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11
Q

What type of computer do embedded systems tend to be

A

dedicated system

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12
Q

What is a control system

A

a system that monitors and controls machinery in order to achieve a desired result

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13
Q

What are the advantages of using a dedicated system instead of a general purpose computer

A
  • cheaper to produce
  • easier to design
  • more efficient
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14
Q

What are nine key parts to a desktop PC

A
  • power supply
  • case cooling fan
  • CPU heat sink, cooling fan
  • CPU
  • Graphics card
  • Motherboard
  • Hard Disk Drive
  • RAM
  • Optical Drive
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15
Q

What is the purpose of a power supply

A

supplies power to motherboard and other hardware

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16
Q

What is the purpose of a case cooling fan

A

to extract heat from the computer case

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17
Q

What is the purpose of a CPU heat sink and cooling fan

A

to keep the CPU at a constant temperature

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18
Q

What is the motherboard

A

The main circuit board where hardware is connected

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19
Q

What is the optical drive used for

A

for read / writing optical discs

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20
Q

What does CPU stand for

A

Central Processing Unit

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21
Q

What is the overall job of the CPU

A

to process the data and instructions that make the system work

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22
Q

What are the two main types of architecture of CPU

A

Harvard and Von Neumann

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23
Q

What are the three main parts of the CPU

A
  • control unit
  • Arithmetic Logic Unit
  • Cache
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24
Q

What are the two main jobs of the control unit

A
  • manage fetching, decoding, execution of program instruction
  • control the flow of data inside and outside the CPU
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25
Q

What does the ALU do

A
  • additions and subtractions
  • multiplying/ division using add/subtract
  • comparing size of numbers
  • logic operations e.g. AND, OR, NOT
  • binary shifts
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26
Q

What is the Cache

A

very fast memory in the CPU

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27
Q

How does the cache’s speed compare to other forms of memory

A

slower than registers, faster than RAM

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28
Q

What is the cache used for

A

to store regularly used data for quick access - CPU checks cache first before going to RAM

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29
Q

What is the drawback of using cache

A

it has a low capacity and is very expensive

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30
Q

What are the three levels of cache memory, how do they compare

A
  • L1 - quickest, lowest capacity
  • L2 - slower, larger capacity
  • L3 - slowest, largest capacity
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31
Q
  • What do registers do
  • How fast are they
  • What are the four key types
A

hold tiny bits of data needed by the CPU
very fast to read / write
- program counter
- memory address register
- memory data register
- accumulator

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32
Q

Where is the accumulator stored

A

in the ALU

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33
Q

What is the ALU

A

arithmetic logic unit

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34
Q

What is the CU

A

control unit

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35
Q

When and who created the Von Neumann architecture

A

John Von Neumann in 1945

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36
Q

What do programs consist of

A

instructions and data stored in memory addresses

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37
Q

What does PC stand for (register)

A

program counter

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38
Q

what does the PC do

A

holds the memory address of the instruction for each cycle

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39
Q

What does the accumulator do

A

stores the intermediate results of calculations in the ALU

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40
Q

What is a key feature special to the Von Neumann architecture

A

it only uses one memory for both the data and the instructions

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41
Q

What does MAR stand for

A

memory address register

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42
Q

What does MDR stand for

A

memory data register

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43
Q

What does the MAR do

A

holds any memory address about to be used by the CPU

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44
Q

What does the MDR do

A

holds the actual data or instruction. This may have been fetched from memory , or be waiting to be written to memory

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45
Q

What does the memory hold in a Von Neumann system

A

program instructions and program data

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46
Q

What holds the PC

A

Control Unit

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47
Q

What happens during the Fetch Instruction in a Fetch - Execute cycle

A
  • Copy memory address from program counter to MAR
  • Copy the instruction stored in MAR address to MDR
  • increase program counter to point to address of next instruction ready for next cycle
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48
Q

What happens during the Decode Instruction in a Fetch - Execute cycle

A

instruction in MDR is decoded by CU

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49
Q

What happens during the Execute Instruction in a Fetch - Execute cycle, give examples

A

instruction is performed.
- load data from memory
- write data to memory
- change address in PC
- halt program
- do caclulation / logic operation in ALU

50
Q

What is RAM

A

high speed, volatile memory

51
Q

what does RAM stand for

A

Random Access Memory

52
Q

What is volatile memory

A

memory that requires power to retain data

53
Q

what is non-volatile memory

A

memory that doesn’t require power to retain data

54
Q

can RAM be read and written to

A

YES

55
Q

What happens in main memory

A

main memory (RAM) is where all data, files and programs are stored while being used

56
Q

What happens to RAM when the computer boots up

A

OS is copied from secondary storage to RAM

57
Q

When are applications, documents and files in RAM

A

when they are opened until they are closed

58
Q

How does the speed of RAM compare to other forms of memory

A

slower than cache but much faster than secondary storage

59
Q

What is virtual memory

A

secondary storage used as extra RAM

60
Q

where is application data put when RAM is full

A

virtual memory

61
Q

How does the CPU read data stored in virtual memory; how fast is this process

A

the data is moved to RAM
It is slow because transfer rates are slower on secondary storage

62
Q

what does ROM do

A

tells the computer how to boot up

63
Q

What does ROM stand for

A

Read Only Memory

64
Q

What is ROM

A

non volatile memory that can only be read

65
Q

Where in the computer is the ROM

A

on a small chip in the motherboard

66
Q

What is BIOS, what does it stand for

A
  • instructions needed for a computer to properly boot up
  • Basic Input Output System
67
Q

What instructions does the ROM provide after booting up

A

to perform self-checks and set up the computer

68
Q

is it possible to update BIOS on a ROM chip

A

YES

69
Q

What 3 factors does CPU performance depend on

A
  • Clock Speed
  • Number of Cores
  • cache Size
70
Q

What is clock speed

A

the number of instructions a single processor core can carry out per second

71
Q

What is clock speed measured in

A

Hz

72
Q

What is the relation between clock speed and instructions carried out per second

A

the higher the clock speed, the more instructions can be carried out per second

73
Q

What is the danger of making CPUs run at higher clock speeds that the factory set rate
how can the risk be reduced

A
  • overheating
  • crashes or permanent damage to systems
    The risk can be reduced with high performance cooling systems
74
Q

what is the relation between number of cores and instructions carried out at once

A

the more cores, the more instructions able to be carried out at once

75
Q

How many cores do most PCs and smartphones have these days

A

4 or more

76
Q

How does the amount of RAM affect the functionality of the system

A

the more RAM, the smoother and faster the software

77
Q

What does GPU stand for

A

Graphics processing units

78
Q

What are GPUs

A

specialised circuits for handling graphics and image processing

79
Q

What are the two main types of storage and what are their properties

A
  • primary storage - memory which CPU can access quickly, fast, mostly volatile
  • secondary storage - non volatile, slower
80
Q

What are the 4 types of secondary storage

A
  • Hard disk Drives
  • Solid state drives
  • optical discs
  • magnetic tapes
81
Q

What are hard drives, how do they work and what are their benefits

A
  • traditional internal storage, can be portable.
  • data is stored magnetically in circular tracks
  • a movable arm accesses these and can read / write it
  • long lasting and reliable, can be damaged by large impacts
  • cheaper, high capacity, unlimited read/ write cycles
82
Q

What are Solid state drives, how do they work and what are their benefits

A
  • no moving parts
  • fast read / write times
  • limited read / write cycles, relatively expensive
  • electrons give off binary data
83
Q

What are examples of optical discs

A

CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray

84
Q

What is storage media

A

things that hold data e.g. optical discs

85
Q

What is a storage device

A

something that read/writes data to media e.g. optical DRIVES

86
Q

How do the capacities of (CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray) compare

A

blu-ray is largest (25GB)
DVDS (4.7GB)
Cds(700MB)

87
Q

What are the three forms of optical discs, what are their notations

A

Read only (e.g. CD-ROM)
Write - once (e.g. CD-R)
rewritable (e.g. CD-RW)

88
Q

What are the advantages of Optical discs

A

very cheap, portable, undamaged by water / shocks

89
Q

What does OS stand for

A

operating system

90
Q

What are the main purposes of an OS

A
  • communicate with internal and external hardware
  • provide a User Interface
  • allows multi-tasking
  • handles file and disk management
  • deal with user accounts
91
Q

What is a device driver

A

a software which acts as a translator for the signals between OS and hardware

92
Q

What are the two types of UI

A
  • graphical user interface
  • command line interface
93
Q

What does UI stand for

A

user interface

94
Q

What does GUI stand for

A

graphical user interface

95
Q

What does CLI stand for

A

Command line interface

96
Q

What does WIMP stand for

A

Windows, ICons, Menus, pointers

97
Q

What are two common touchscreen GUIs

A

Android and IOS

98
Q

What is CLI

A

text based UI - specific commands are entered

99
Q

What are the benefits of GUI and CLi

A
  • GUI is easier to use
  • CLI is much faster, less resource heavy
100
Q

What is a script

A

a simple program

101
Q

What are OSs that can run multiple applications at once called

A

multitasking OSs

102
Q

how does the OS help the CPU multitask

A
  • managing memory
  • managing CPU process time
103
Q

What does the OS need to make sure of in order to run multiple applications

A

they don’t overwrite or interfere with each other

104
Q

What does a memory manager do

A

allocate certain applications certain memory addresses so their processes are placed into separate locations

105
Q

how does OS manage CPU time

A

divides CPU time between open applications, can prioritise certain processes to maximise efficiency

106
Q

What do memory buffers do

A

help manage the flow of data - stores data until component / device / process is ready

107
Q

What is a file

A

a collection of data

108
Q

What do file extensions do, what are some examples

A
  • tell the computer what type of file it is
  • .jpg, .mp3
109
Q

what 6 parts of file management does the OS deal with

A
  • organisation of data into a hierarchical structure
  • naming
  • deleting
  • saving
  • editing
  • movement
110
Q

What does the OS do with the hard disk

A
  • chooses where to write data
  • splits disc into storage sectors
  • keeps track of free space
111
Q

What type of software does the OS use to maintain the hard disk

A

utility software

112
Q

What are single-user and multi-user OSs

A

single user allows one user at a time
multi user allows multiple users at the same time

113
Q

What does the OS use user account control for

A

to grant specific access to data or resources on a computer system

114
Q

What sort of anti-theft measures can be used on OSs

A
  • password
  • pin
  • pattern
  • fingerprint / retinal scanners
115
Q

What are the three main types of utility software

A
  • defragmentation software
  • compression software
  • encryption software
116
Q

How do small gaps appear on a disk

A

When a file is edited , deleted or moved

117
Q

Why does having data far apart in hard disks slow down reading / writing files

A

the read / write head has to move a lot further

118
Q

What does defragmentation do

A

groups files next to each other so that all free space is collected in one place to maximise efficiency

119
Q

why is defragmentation bad for SSDs

A
  • no moving arm - data can be accessed just as easily no matter where the file is
  • wastes the limited amount of read / write cycles
120
Q

What does compression software do and what are its benefits

A

reduces size of files by removing data from them (temporary or permanent)
- take up less disc space and are quicker to download

121
Q

What does encryption software do and why is it useful

A
  • scrambles data so it can’t be read from a third-party
122
Q

How does a computer decrypt a file

A

with a key and a set of instructions

GCSE Computer Science (7 decks)

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