CPU Performance (OCR A-Level Computer Science): Flashcards
📚Flashcards
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15 cards from this deck
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Practise the cards
15 cards from this deck
What unit is clock speed measured in?
What unit is clock speed measured in?
Hertz (Hz) or gigahertz (GHz)
Cycles per second for a 3.5 GHz CPU
Cycles per second for a 3.5 GHz CPU
3.5 billion cycles per second
Cycle directly impacted by clock speed
Cycle directly impacted by clock speed
Fetch-Decode-Execute (FDE) cycle
Type of processing benefiting from higher clock speed
Type of processing benefiting from higher clock speed
Single-thread processing
Two drawbacks of higher clock speed
Two drawbacks of higher clock speed
Heat generation and increased power consumption
Definition of a CPU core
Definition of a CPU core
An independent processing unit within the CPU
What multiple cores enable
What multiple cores enable
Parallel processing - multiple tasks simultaneously
Applications benefiting from more cores (3 examples)
Applications benefiting from more cores (3 examples)
Video editing, gaming, and complex simulations
Do single-threaded applications benefit from multiple cores?
Do single-threaded applications benefit from multiple cores?
May not benefit as much
Where is cache memory located?
Where is cache memory located?
On or close to the CPU - high-speed memory
L1 cache vs L3 cache characteristics
L1 cache vs L3 cache characteristics
L1: smallest & fastest; L3: larger & slower
What cache stores
What cache stores
Frequently accessed data and instructions
Main benefit of cache memory
Main benefit of cache memory
Reduces latency and increases speed of data access
Two limitations of cache memory
Two limitations of cache memory
Expensive and takes up space on CPU chip
What does overall CPU performance depend on?
What does overall CPU performance depend on?
All factors working together in balance