CPU Flashcards
The ___ is built around the CPU
system architecture
Most client computers have one chip and are referred to as?
single-processor computers
CPUs are manufactured on a silicon wafer called?
a die
have multiple physical CPU chips
Multiprocessor computers
an address that a CPU begins reading from whenever the CPU receives a reset signal
reset vector
a register on a CPU that contains the address of the next instruction the CPU will execute
program counter
What part of the CPU is responsible for reading and executing machine code?
−A) bus
−B) control unit
−C) core
−D) register
C) core
provides timing and coordination between other parts of the CPU
the control Unit
performs the primary task of executing instructions
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
a temporary holding location where data must be placed before the CPU can use it
registers
intercepts accesses to memory for data or code and checks if the requested data is in cache first
Memory/cache controller
A series of lanes used to communicate between the CPU and other major parts of the computer
system bus
carries status signals between the CPU and other devices
control bus
carries address signals to indicate where data should be read or written to in the system’s memory
address bus
carries the actual data that is being read from or written to system memory
data bus
Two general CPU designs are used today:
−Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC)
−Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC)
a list of commands the CPU can understand and carry out
instruction set
a small program inside the chip that interprets and executes each instruction
microcode
a computer program that takes a high-level language and turns it into assembly code that is executed by the CPU
compiler
turns those instructions into numeric values called opcodes
assembler
what defines how fast it can perform operations?
the speed of the CPU
The most frequently used indicator is ?
the internal clock speed
the speed at which a CPU executes an instruction or part of an instruction
the internal clock
what does the CPU use to communicate with other chips in the computer and the rest of the computer?
the external clock