Computer Components Flashcards

1
Q

What is CPU?

A

central processing unit

controls the interpretation and execution of instructions, decodes instructions and carries out the corresponding arithmetic, logic, or control operations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is RAM?

A

random access memory

stores the short term data a pc requires to operate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is SDRAM?

A

synchronous dynamic RAM

DDR (double data rate) (DDR2…)

faster version of RAM (used in gaming PC)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is ROM?

A

read only memory

computer storage that contains non-volatile, permanent data that, normally, can only be read, not written to

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is BIOS?

A

basic input output system

the program a computer’s microprocessor uses to start the computer system after it is powered on, also manages data flow between the computer’s operating system (OS) and attached devices

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is PCI? What was it replaced with?

A

peripheral component interconnect, replaced with PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express)

connecting a computer to one or more peripheral devices

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is BUS?

A

the wires connecting the CPU and the other components

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How does data flow between input devices, output devices, storage devices, communication devices, and the CPU?

A

data flows from the input devices to the CPU, data flows in both directions from storage devices and communications to the CPU, and then data flows from CPU to the output devices

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Summarize Von Neumann architecture?

A

a computing model that is composed of a CPU, memory, and input/output devices

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Are CPU replacable?

A

sometimes (usually desktops), often smoldered onto the motherboard

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

How is processing speed represented?

A

computation occurs in cycles, the unit is Hz which represents the number of cycles per second

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How is storage space represented?

A

data is represented in bits, the base unit is a byte (8 bits)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How are larger magnitudes of processing speed and storage space represented?

A

combining them with metric or binary prefixes

ex. gigahertz, terabytes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How many bytes are in a kilobyte? What about a megabyte?

A

2^10 (1024 bytes)

2^20 (1048576 bytes)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is the difference between a control bus and a data bus?

A

control: carries control signals from the processor to other components, also carries the clock’s pulses

data: carries the data between the processor and other components. The data bus is bidirectional

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is used to prolong cell lifespan of flash storage?

A

wear leveling (does this by spreading the storage of the cells equally)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Can hyper-threading make CUP do 1+ intructor in one core?

A

yes (executes more than one instruction at a time)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Is the CPU-RAM BUS normally narrower thatn PCIe BUS?

A

no its noramlly wider

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Are solid state drive or hard disc drives more resistant to shock?

A

solid state

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is the control unit?

A

decodes instructions and activates the relavant components

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is the arithmetic logic unit?

A

instructions are applied to data, performs arithmatic, logical, and bit manipulation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is the instruction register?

A

contains the instructions being executed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is the program counter?

A

contains the location of the enxt instruction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is CPU speed often called? Why?

A

clock speed, all operations are synced to a clock

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Where is the data contained inthe CPU?

A

reigster file

26
Q

What is main memory also known as?

A

DRAM or RAM

27
Q

What is the main memory?

A

a collection of temporary storage locations each with their own address, contains volatile contents and data for currently running programs

28
Q

What does volatile contents mean?

A

erased once powered off

29
Q

What is the fetch-decode-execute cylce?

A

instrucitons and data stored in main memory are fetched, instructions/data is decoded in the control unit, the ALU exectues the instruction/data

30
Q

Up until 2005 how many core components did the CPU have?

A

only 1 set (CU,ALU,registers)

31
Q

Nowadays how do manufacturers design CPUs?

A

multiple modestly fast cores, rather than a single really fast core, or
1–2 fast cores and 6–7 power-efficient cores

32
Q

How many cores do smartphones usually have? What about laptops? Desktops? Servers?

A

2-8

2-4

2-8

4-64

33
Q

What is cache?

A

acts as temporary storage for recently acessed data, faster than main memory

34
Q

What is turbo boost? What does it typically require?

A

where you increase the processing speed one or more cores, disabling other cores to ensure continued stable operation

35
Q

What is hyper threading? Is it better than using two real cores?

A

processing two unrelated instructions at the same time in the same core

no

36
Q

What is GPU?

A

graphics processing unit

specializes in rendering 3D graphics

37
Q

How many cores can exist in a GPU? Why?

A

100s-1000s

do not require sophisticated computing
cores

38
Q

What does bus width mean?

A

the number of bits that can transfer at the same time

39
Q

What is the width of the CPU-RAM bus? What about the speed?

A

64 or more bits wide plus some additional bits for error detection, 2.4-4.8 GHz and transfer up to 20 GB/s in modern computets

40
Q

What is the width of the PCI-express bus? What about the speed?

A

1 bit to 32 bit wide (suaully 16 bits), 2.5-8+ GHz (usually 5 or 8)

41
Q

What are hard disc drives?

A

mechanical in nature, contains a magnetic spinning disc with a head that hovers over disc surface, fixed storage, non volatile, magnetically encoded info

42
Q

What are blue ray/CD/DVD?

A

optical in nature, lasers read the disc, lands reflect light (binary 1), pits disperse light (binary 0), can change what is being stored on it

43
Q

Do solid state or hard disc drives have a lower data access time?

A

solid state drives take 100 ns while hard disc takes 10ms

44
Q

Can SSDs or HDDs transfer more data?

A

SSDs transfer 500 MB/s – 3.5 GB/s while HDDs only can transfer 150–250 MB/s

45
Q

Are HHDs or SDDs more expensive?

A

SSDs

46
Q

What does flash based storage use? How is data stored?

A

solid state memory chips, contains non-volatile info (retain state w/out power)

in cells, 1-5 bits per cell

47
Q

What are some techniques to extending lifespan of cells?

A

provisiong: includes extra capacity to use when cells start to fail

wear levelling: distributing inf among cells equally

48
Q

What are USB “thumb” drive, flash cards used for?

A

removable and portable storage, Basic performance for occasionally
reading/writing a few files

49
Q

What are SSD used for?

A

fixed, internal storage, Improved performance for constantly reading/writing random
files, performing error checking, and securing data

50
Q

What are SSHD used for?

A

A hard drive with some solid state flash memory for storage, All data is stored on the hard drive, but frequently accessed data is copied to the flash memory for faster access

51
Q

How are the size, resolution, and density of a display monitor measured?

A

size is measured diagonally in inches

resolution is reported as (# of pixels wide) x (# of pixels tall)

desnity is measured in pixels per inch

52
Q

How do modern displays produce an image on screen? How do they do this?

A

Liquid crystal display and light emitting diodes

LCD panel forms an image and LED’s provide backlight

53
Q

What is twisted nematic? What is it used for?

A

accurate reproduction of fast moving images but colours appear distoreted when viewing from off centre angles

cheaper latops and some gaming displays

54
Q

What is in plane switching?

A

better reproduction of colours especially from angles

used in most contemporary dispalys, especially mobile phones

55
Q

What do input devices allow users to do?

A

provide info to the computer

56
Q

What do output deivces allow computers to do?

A

provide info to the user

57
Q

What do hybrid devices facilitate?

A

input and output devices

58
Q

What do resistive touch screens consist of?

A

two transparent sheet, seperated by a gap, they have electrical charges in perpendicular directions

59
Q

How do resistive touch screens work?

A

pressure causes the electrical charges to touch, sending a signal telling the device where the touch is

60
Q

What are some advantages and disadvantages of resistive touch screens?

A

pros: pressure from any object will register as touch, low cost

con: vulnerable to scratch/damage

61
Q

How do capacitive touch screens work?

A

an electric field exists on the surface of the screen, touching the screen disrupts this field and a grid of eelctrodes behind the screen detect the position of touch

62
Q

What are some pros and cons of capacitive touch screens?

A

pro: more durable, can detect multiple touch points

con: touch is only activated by bare finger or conductive material