CPU Flashcards
What does CPU stand for?
Central processing unit
What does the CPU do in simple terms?
Processes all of the data and instructions that make the system work
What characteristics affect the processing power of the CPU?
Cache size
clock speed
number of cores
What are the 3 main parts of the CPU?
Control unit (CU)
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
The cache
What is the main job of the control unit?
To manage fetching, decoding and execution of program instructions by following the fetch, execute cycle.
What does the control unit control other than the CPU?
The flow of data inside the CPU and outside
What does the ALU do?
Completes all simple addition and subtraction, compares the size of numbers and can do multiplication and division using repeated addition and subtraction
Preforms logic operations such as AND, OR and NOT and binary shifts
What register does the ALU contain?
The accumulator
What is cache?
Cache is very fast memory in the CPU
Cache is slower than r……..s but faster than R..
Registers
RAM
What does cache do?
Stores regularly used data so that the CPU can access it quickly next time its needed
Where does the CPU check for data first?
The cache and if it is not there it looks in the RAM
What are some downsides to cache?
Very low capacity
Expensive
How many levels of cache are there?
L1- quickest lowest capacity
L2- Slower than L1 but can hold more
L3- Slower than L2 but can hold more
