CPU Flashcards
What is clock speed?
The amount of calculations a computer can do per second, measured in Hz.
What is the cycle that the CPU uses to run?
The Fetch->Decode->Execute Cycle
What are the 3 main parts of a CPU?
- The control unit
- The Immediate Access Store (IAS)
- The Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)
What are “cores”?
Cores are, in a sense, “CPUs”, with a n-core processor theoretically having n separate CPUs
What benefit would using a multi-cored processor give you?
An extra core means that you can process more than 1 calculation at once, so theoretically (if programs were written for multiple cores) if you had a n-core computer it would run n x faster
What are the 3 main jobs of the Control Unit?
- It controls and monitors the hardware attached to the system - to make sure that the commands given to it by the application software are used. (For example, if you send something to print, the control unit will keep a check that the instructions are sent to the printer correctly).
- It controls input and output data, to guarantee that data goes to the right devices at the right time.
- It controls the flow of data in a CPU.
What does the IAS do?
The Immediate Access Store holds the data needed instantly by the CPU, as the ‘Backing store’ (basically the hard drive or SSD) is too slow.
What does the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) do?
Unsurprisingly, this consists of 2 parts:
- The Arithmetic Part
- This performs calculations on the data (e.g. 400/10 = 40) - The Logic Part
- This works with comparisons and logic (E.g. Whether a value is equal, less than or greater than another)
What is the cache and what is stored on it?
High speed static RAM (SRAM) which is faster than DRAM. Instructionst that are used my programs over and over are stored here so the computer can avoid accessing the slower DRAM.
