CPU

Question 1

What is clock speed

Answer 1

The speed at which a processor is quoted as the clock speed, and measured in hertz. How fast the CPU can retrieve and interpret instructions

Question 2

What is hertz

Answer 2

Hertz is the name for the number of cycles per second, or the rate at which electrical current changes in the actual circuits.

Question 3

What is overclocking

Answer 3

Increasing the clock speed of a CPU. if the clock is faster then the CPU can perform more calculations and perform faster

Question 4

What are cores

Answer 4

individual processing units within the computer’s CPU. Each core can process one operation per clock cycle. A duel core or a quad-core processor will be able to perform 2 or 4 operations simultaneously

Question 5

Advantages of multiple cores

Answer 5

A dual-core CPU has two central processing units, so it appears to the operating system as two CPUs. This means parallel processing can take place, with two or four instructions being executed simultaneously

Question 6

What is cache memory

Answer 6

Cache is a small amount of memory which is part of the CPU. When an instruction or data is fetched from RAM it is copied into the cache so if it is needed again soon after, it can be fetched from the cache instead of RAM

Question 7

Levels of cache memory

Answer 7

L1is usually part of the CPU chip itself and is both the smallest and the fastest to access. Its size is often restricted to between 2KBand 64 KB. L2andL3caches are bigger thanL1. They are extra caches built between the CPU and the RAM. L2 is built into the CPU with L1. L2 and L3 caches take slightly longer to access than L1. The more L2 and L3 memory available, the faster a computer can run.

Question 8

What is the difference between parallel processing and multi tasking?

Answer 8

Parallel processing is when a multi core CPU will process multiple instructions from a single program, at the same time. Some programs, however, are not written to allow more than one instruction to be processed at the same time. Multitasking is where multiple cores can process different program’s instructions at the same time.

Question 9

What does CU do

Answer 9

it manages and monitors hardware on the computer to ensure the correct data goes to the correct hardware.

Question 10

Cache (Immediate Access Store)

Answer 10

This part stores the data which is immediately processed

The CPU takes a chuck of instructions from RAM and keeps it close so that it has a constant supply of data to process

Question 11

ALU

Answer 11

Performs arithmetic and logical calculations

Question 12

Clock

Answer 12

an internal clock that is used to regulate the number of cycles carried out per second, and synchronize the other components. It manages cycle per second

Question 13

Registers

Answer 13

These are very small, very fast memory locations located inside the CPU

Question 14

MAR

Answer 14

Stores memory adresses used when searching for data in RAM

Question 15

MDR (Memory Data Register)

Answer 15

Stores the data when fetched from memory

Question 16

CIR

Answer 16

Holds the binary representation of the instruction to be executed.

Question 17

PC

Answer 17

This register counts up as each instruction is executed, keeping track of how many instructions are in a program.

Question 18

Acc

Answer 18

Stores important data being used in calculations.

Question 19

Buses

Answer 19

A bus is a set of parallel wires that transport data between the components inside the processor and memory

Question 20

Adress bus

Answer 20

Carries memory addresses from the processor to other components such as primary storage and input/output devices. The address bus only sends data in one direction - from the CPU toRAM

Question 21

Data bus

Answer 21

carries actual data thatis being processed

Question 22

Serial Transmission

Answer 22

Serial transmission occurs between two computers, or from a computer to an external device located far away. Bits are sent sequentially (one after the other) down the same wire (channel).

Question 23

Parallel Transmission

Answer 23

Parallel transmission can take place within acomputer system, through a computer bus, or to an external device located nearby. Multiple bits are sent simultaneously down different wires (channels) within the same cable.