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Alicia has designed a computer using Von Neumann architecture - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 4 - 2018 - Paper 1

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Alicia has designed a computer using Von Neumann architecture. (a) Describe the purpose of two registers that are used by Von Neumann architecture. 1. The Memory A... show full transcript

Worked Solution & Example Answer:Alicia has designed a computer using Von Neumann architecture - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 4 - 2018 - Paper 1

Step 1

Describe the purpose of two registers that are used by Von Neumann architecture.

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Answer

  1. The Memory Address Register (MAR) is responsible for storing the address of the memory location that is being accessed. It fetches data or instructions from that specific address in memory.

  2. The Memory Data Register (MDR) temporarily holds the data or instruction that has been fetched from or is to be written to the memory. It acts as a buffer between the CPU and the memory.

Step 2

Describe what is meant by a clock speed of 3.8GHz.

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Answer

A clock speed of 3.8GHz indicates that the CPU can perform approximately 3.8 billion cycles per second. Each cycle represents a tick of the clock, which dictates the timing for processing data and instructions.

Step 3

Explain why this statement is not always true.

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Answer

While having more cores can theoretically allow a CPU to handle more tasks simultaneously, it does not guarantee that the quad-core processor will run twice as fast as a dual-core processor. Factors such as software optimization, task parallelization, and the nature of the programs being executed can influence performance. Not all applications are designed to take full advantage of multiple cores, resulting in diminishing returns on processing speed.

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