CPU

Question 1

The ___ is built around the CPU

Answer 1

system architecture

Question 2

Most client computers have one chip and are referred to as?

Answer 2

single-processor computers

Question 3

CPUs are manufactured on a silicon wafer called?

Answer 3

a die

Question 4

have multiple physical CPU chips

Answer 4

Multiprocessor computers

Question 5

an address that a CPU begins reading from whenever the CPU receives a reset signal

Answer 5

reset vector

Question 6

a register on a CPU that contains the address of the next instruction the CPU will execute

Answer 6

program counter

Question 7

What part of the CPU is responsible for reading and executing machine code?
−A) bus
−B) control unit
−C) core
−D) register

Answer 7

C) core

Question 8

provides timing and coordination between other parts of the CPU

Answer 8

the control Unit

Question 9

performs the primary task of executing instructions

Answer 9

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)

Question 10

a temporary holding location where data must be placed before the CPU can use it

Answer 10

registers

Question 11

intercepts accesses to memory for data or code and checks if the requested data is in cache first

Answer 11

Memory/cache controller

Question 12

A series of lanes used to communicate between the CPU and other major parts of the computer

Answer 12

system bus

Question 13

carries status signals between the CPU and other devices

Answer 13

control bus

Question 14

carries address signals to indicate where data should be read or written to in the system’s memory

Answer 14

address bus

Question 15

carries the actual data that is being read from or written to system memory

Answer 15

data bus

Question 16

Two general CPU designs are used today:

Answer 16

−Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC)
−Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC)

Question 17

a list of commands the CPU can understand and carry out

Answer 17

instruction set

Question 18

a small program inside the chip that interprets and executes each instruction

Answer 18

microcode

Question 19

a computer program that takes a high-level language and turns it into assembly code that is executed by the CPU

Answer 19

compiler

Question 20

turns those instructions into numeric values called opcodes

Answer 20

assembler

Question 21

what defines how fast it can perform operations?

Answer 21

the speed of the CPU

Question 22

The most frequently used indicator is ?

Answer 22

the internal clock speed

Question 23

the speed at which a CPU executes an instruction or part of an instruction

Answer 23

the internal clock

Question 24

what does the CPU use to communicate with other chips in the computer and the rest of the computer?

Answer 24

the external clock

Question 25

Most modern CPUs have ___ built into the chip

Answer 25

cache memory

Question 26

While the CPU is executing program code, instructions or data that are most
likely to be used next are fetched from main memory and placed in cache
memory

Answer 26

just fact

Question 27

the different levels of cache?

Answer 27

Level 1 (L1) cache is the fastest and usually runs at the same speed as the
CPU
−Level 2 (L2) cache is slower than L1, but much larger, where lvl 1 gets its speed
−Level 3 (L3) cache, until the last several years, was not part of the CPU
chip, but part of the motherboard
−Level 4 (L4) cache will usually be found on the motherboard (if it exists)

Question 28

predicts what data will be needed and makes the data available in cache before it is needed

Answer 28

cache controller

Question 29

an internal communications pathway that specifies the source and target addresses for memory reads and writes

-Typically runs at the external clock speed of the CPU
− The width is the number of bits that can be used to address memory

Answer 29

address bus

Question 30

allows computer components, such as the CPU, display adapter, and main memory, to share information

-The number of bits indicates how many bits of data can be transferred from memory to the CPU in one clock tick

Answer 30

data bus

Question 31

-Information is transported on ___ to keep the CPU informed about the status of resources and devices connected to the computer

-Memory read and write status is transported on this bus, as well as interrupt requests (IRQ)

Answer 31

control bus

Question 32

a request to the processor to “interrupt” whatever it is doing to take care of a process, which in turn might be interrupted by another process

Answer 32

interrupt request

Question 33

is the ability to run two or more processes (known as threads) at the same time

Answer 33

multithreading

Question 34

the smallest piece of computer code that can be independently scheduled for execution

Answer 34

thread

Question 35

allows two threads to run on each CPU core simultaneously

Answer 35

hyper-threading (HT)

Question 36

the description of a CPU’s internal circuitry, defining characteristics such as the technology used to create the chip, the supported instruction set, and the bit size

Answer 36

microarchitecture

Question 37

manufactures processors that compete with Intel’s line of processors

Answer 37

AMD Processor

Question 38

RISC processors that are commonly used in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets

-used in embedded systems and are starting to be used in notebook computers

Answer 38

Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) processors

Question 39

multiple CPU’s

Answer 39

multiptocessing

Question 40

multiple proceses

Answer 40

multithreading

Question 41

multiple tasks on the clock

Answer 41

pipelining

Question 42

the ability to run a processor faster than its stated clock speed

Answer 42

overclocking

Question 43

The ability of the CPU to perform more than one task on a single clock cycle is?

Answer 43

pipelining

Question 44

determines which process to start given the multiple processes waiting to run

Answer 44

CPU scheduling