GCSE A451 - CPU

Question 1

State the purpose of the CPU. (1)

Answer 1

• To carry out the processing on the computer

Question 2

Describe what is meant by 3MHz CPU (2)

Answer 2

• 3MHz is how fast the processor is.

- Indicates how many instructions may be processed in each second.

Question 3

Describe what is meant by quad-core CPU (2)

Answer 3

• The computer has 4 cores
• Which means there are separate processors within the CPU
• They work together to perform multiple tasks

Question 4

State two tasks carried out by the CPU when processing data (2)

Answer 4

• Fetches instructions (from memory)
• Fetches data (from memory)
• Decodes instructions
• Executes instructions

Question 5

Explain how the clock speed affects the performance of a CPU (2)

Answer 5

• The higher the clock speed the faster the CPU will run

- Represents the number of instructions the CPU can process in a given time

Question 6

Explain how the cache size affects the performance of a computer (2)

Answer 6

• the more cache the CPU has the less time is spent accessing memory/ programs run faster…
• cache is faster than memory/ built into the CPU/contains frequently accessed data

Question 7

Explain two ways by which the computer can be upgraded to improve its performance (4 marks)

Answer 7

 Higher processor speed (1) to increase the number of instructions the processor can carry out in a given time (1)
 CPU with more cores (1) which share the load of running the game (1).
 More RAM (1) to increase the number of programs/amount of data
that the computer can handle at the same time (1)