Purpose and components of a CPU Flashcards
What is a CPU
The CPU fetches instructions from memory (RAM), it decodes the instructions and then executes them.
What is the purpose of the CPU
to process data; it’s where the searching, sorting, calculating and decision making takes place
What does it control
Hard drive, DVD drive, sound system, grpahics system
Where is it located on a computer
on the motherboard
What are the three sections of a CPU called
The control unit, the arithmetic logic unit and the registers
What does the control unit do?
It controls the way data moves around the CPU, monitors the flow of data between CPU and other components, executes the instructions provided by the program
What does the ALU do?
It does arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication etc. and does logic operations e.g. true or false if x < y
What is a register
A type of memory inside the CPU which can hold a value (8 bit or 16 bit depending on CPU). They hold temp data whilst a software program is running.
Is it faster to shift memory from CPU to RAM or from CPU to registers
CPU to registers, it speeds up processing time
What is cache
A cache is a small but extremely fast type of RAM stored in (and out) of the CPU. L1 and L2 reside in the CPU but L3 is outside. It stores data that is frequently used
What is the clock
A tiny quartz crystal in the CPU chip that ticks at a steady speed. Every time the clock ticks the CPU processes a single instruction. Typical clock speed = 3.2GHz
