Ch.6 Microprocessors

Question 1

External Data Bus

Answer 1

EDB; A set of wires that run from components within a computer to the CPU. These wires communicate data to the CPU by sending On/Off signals by the presence of a charge on the wire.

Question 2

Central Processing Unit

Answer 2

CPU, Microprocessor; A part of the computer in which arithmetic and logical operations are performed and instructions are decoded and executed. The CPU controls the operation of the computer.

Question 3

Registers

Answer 3

Worktables within the CPU for the purpose of performing calculations

Question 4

Name the General-Purpose Registers

Answer 4

AX
BX
CX
DX

Question 5

Machine Language

Answer 5

A set of instructions executed directly by a computer’s CPU. Each instruction performs a specific task, such as a load, a jump, or an ALU operation on a unit of data in a CPU register or memory.

Question 6

Instruction Set

Answer 6

The complete set of machine language commands a CPU understands

Question 7

Clock Wire

Answer 7

A wire connected to the CPU that tells the CPU that another piece of information is waiting to be processed.

Question 8

Clock Cycle

Answer 8

A single charge on the clock wire; the CPU requires at minimum two clock cycles to act on a command

Question 9

Clock Speed

Answer 9

The number of clock cycles a CPU can handle in a given period of time. It is the fastest speed at which a CPU can reliably operate.

Question 10

Clock Speeds

Answer 10

1 hertz (1 Hz) = 1 cycle per second
1 megahertz (1 MHz) = 1 million cycles per second
1 gigahertz (1 GHz) = 1 billion cycles per second

Question 11

System Crystal

Answer 11

A quartz oscillator that sends out an electrical pulse millions of times a second, determining the speed at which the CPU and the rest of the PC operate. It essentially creates the clock speed.

Question 12

Program

Answer 12

A series of commands sent to the CPU in a specific order in order for the CPU to do work

Question 13

1 or 0

Answer 13

Bit

Question 14

4 bits

Answer 14

Nibble

Question 15

8 bits

Answer 15

Byte

Question 16

16 bits

Answer 16

Word

Question 17

32 bits

Answer 17

Double word

Question 18

64 bits

Answer 18

Paragraph/Quad word

Question 19

RAM

Answer 19

Random Access Memory

Question 20

DRAM

Answer 20

Dynamic Random Access Memory

Question 21

MCC

Answer 21

Memory Controller Chip; A chip that stands between the CPU and RAM that selects the portion of RAM asked for by the CPU

Question 22

Address Bus

Answer 22

The wires running from the CPU to the MCC that facilitate the communication of which spot in memory the CPU wants

Question 23

Formula for calculating potential RAM

Answer 23

2 to the X power where X equals the number of wires on the address bus

Question 24

What is throttling?

Answer 24

Limiting the speed of something, such as a processor or network speed

Question 25

CPUID

Answer 25

CPU identifier; a function of the CPU that reports to the motherboard to set the speed and multiplier

Question 26

How are 64-bit and 32-bit software applications represented?

Answer 26

``` 64-bit = x64 32-bit = x86 ```

Question 27

Virtualization

Answer 27

The ability to run more than one OS at a time

Question 28

Parallel execution

Answer 28

The CPU is able to run multiple commands and parts of commands in parallel. he CPU uses multiple pipelines, dedicated cache, and the ability to work with multiple threads.

Question 29

4 steps of Pipelining

Answer 29

1. Fetch 2. Decode 3. Execute 4. Write

Question 30

Fetch

Answer 30

Get the data from the External Data Bus (EDB)

Question 31

Decode

Answer 31

Figure out what type of command needs to be executed

Question 32

Execute

Answer 32

Perform the calculation

Question 33

Write

Answer 33

Send the data back to the External Data Bus (EDB)

Question 34

Pipeline Stall

Answer 34

A halt in the pipeline due to a complex command that requires more clock cycles to complete

Question 35

ALU

Answer 35

Arithmetic Logic Unit; handles integer math, basic math for numbers with no decimal point

Question 36

FPU

Answer 36

Floating Point Unit; Special circuitry that handles complex numbers

Question 37

Wait State

Answer 37

A pipeline stall that results because RAM is unable to keep up with the CPU

Question 38

SRAM

Answer 38

Static RAM

Question 39

CPU Cache

Answer 39

L1, L2, and L3; a small amount of memory located on either the CPU (L1 and L2) or motherboard (L3) that stores frequently run commands by the CPU. The intention is to speed up the processing of data.

Question 40

Frontside Bus

Answer 40

The address bus and external data bus connecting the CPU, MCC, and RAM

Question 41

Backside Bus

Answer 41

The connection between the CPU and L2 cache

Question 42

Hyper-threading

Answer 42

The ability of a CPU to run multiple threads at the same time

Question 43

What are the 2 limitations of hyper-threading?

Answer 43

1. The OS and application must be designed to take advantage of hyper-threading 2. The processing power is not doubles because the main execution resources are not duplicated

Question 44

Multicore Processor

Answer 44

A processor that is the combination of two or more CPUs (or cores) into one

Question 45

GPU

Answer 45

Graphics Processing Unit; The generic term for the video processor

Question 46

LGA 775

Answer 46

Intel; 775 pins; Pentium 4, Celeron, Pentium 4 Extreme, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Xeon

Question 47

LGA 1155

Answer 47

Intel; 1155 pins; Core i3/i5/i7, Pentium, Celeron, Xeon

Question 48

LGA 1156

Answer 48

Intel; 1156 pins; Core i3/i5/i7, Pentium, Celeron, Xeon

Question 49

LGA 1366

Answer 49

Intel; 1366 pins; Core i7, Xeon, Celeron

Question 50

940

Answer 50

AMD; 940 pins; Opteron, Athlon 64 FX

Question 51

AM2

Answer 51

AMD; 940 pins; Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2; Athlon 64 FX, Opteron, Sempron, Phenom

Question 52

AM2+

Answer 52

AMD, 940 pins; Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon II, Opteron, Phenom, Phenom II

Question 53

AM3

Answer 53

AMD, 941 pins; Phenom II, Athlon II, Sempron, Opteron

Question 54

AM3+

Answer 54

AMD; 942 pins; FX

Question 55

FMI

Answer 55

AMD; 905 pins; A

Question 56

F

Answer 56

AMD; m1207 pins; Opteron, Athlon FX

Question 57

Zero Insertion Force

Answer 57

ZIF; Sockets are made in such a way that they require zero force to insert a CPU into them.

Question 58

What are the three cooling options for a CPU?

Answer 58

- An OEM heat-sink and fan - An after market heat-sink and fan - Liquid cooling

Question 59

What are the three parts to a liquid cooling system?

Answer 59

∙ A hollow metal block that sits on top of the CPU ∙ A pump to move the liquid around ∙ A device to cool the liquid

Question 60

What 3 things must be setup properly for the CPU to work properly?

Answer 60

∙ Motherboard speed ∙ Multiplier ∙ Voltage

Question 61

In what 2 categories to CPU failures typically fall?

Answer 61

∙ Overheating | ∙ Catastrophic failure

Question 62

What are potential causes of overheating of the CPU?

Answer 62

``` ∙ Overclocking ∙ Failure of the cooling elements ∙ Too much thermal paste ∙ Too little thermal paste ∙ Failure to connect the fan assembly to the system board ```

Question 63

What is the result of a catastrophic error?

Answer 63

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), otherwise known as a Windows Stop Error

Question 64

Symptoms of overheating

Answer 64

∙ Slow/sluggish PC | ∙ Random shutdowns