computer systems and the cpu Flashcards
what is hardware
the physical stuff inside the computer
give 3 examples of hardware
cpu, gpu, ram
what is software
the programs a computer system runs
embedded systems
small computer usually built into other devices, usually control systems
give 3 examples of where you might find an embedded system
dishwasher, sat nav, microwave
why are embedded systems used
they are usually easier to design, cheaper to produce and more efficient at their tasks than general purpose systems
what are peripherals
larger pieces of external hardware
give 3 examples of peripherals
keyboard, mouse, headphones
what does cpu stand for
central processing unit
what happens in the cpu
it is where the computer processes all data and instuctions
what does the cu stand for
control unit
what happens in the control unit
controls the flow of data in and out of the cpu
it also manages the fetch decode and execution of instructions
what does the ALU stand for
arithmetic logic unit
what happens in the ALU
carry’s out calculations including addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. also preforms binary shifts and logic operations
what happens in the cache
stores regularly used instructions/data
low capacity but high speeds
what are the three levels of cache memory
L1-decreasing speed
L2 - in the middle
L3- increasing capacity
what happens in the registers
temporarily holds small amounts of dat. very fast to read or write to
what are the 4 common cpu components
control unit
arithmetic logic unit
cache
registers
three factors affecting cpu preformance
number of cores
clock speed
cache size
what is the importance of the amount of cores
each core processes data independently, so the more cores the more F,D,E cycles can be preformed at once
some software is designed to take advantage of multicore processing
what is the importance of clock speed
this is the amount of F,D,E cycles a single core can preform a second
what is the importance of the cache size
a larger cache size gives the cpu access to more data faster
what will affect the performance of the cpu but also the price
if a cpu has more cores and a higher clock speed it will have better performance but it will also cost more
