Section A: Recall & Definitions
1
A computer has a Central Processing Unit (CPU).
Give
three characteristics of a CPU that can affect its performance.
[3]
2
The CPU has a clock speed of 3.8 GHz.
Describe what is meant by a clock speed of 3.8 GHz.
[2]
3
Tick
one box in each row to show whether each statement is True or False.
[3]
| Statement |
True |
False |
| If a CPU has many cores, this always slows down the computer. |
|
|
| Cache memory is slower to access than RAM. |
|
|
| A dual-core processor has two processing units. |
|
|
Turn over
Section B: Comparative Performance
4
The specification of two CPUs is shown in
Fig. 1.
| Feature |
Computer 1 |
Computer 2 |
| Clock Speed |
1 GHz |
1.4 GHz |
| Cache Size |
2 MB |
2 MB |
| Number of Cores |
4 |
2 |
Fig. 1
(a) When running a 3D flight simulator, Computer 1 is likely to run faster than Computer 2.
Using the information in
Fig. 1, identify
one reason for this.
[1]
(b) Explain why the reason you identified in part (a) improves the performance of the computer.
[2]
(c) Alicia says: "My computer has a quad-core processor (Computer 1), so it will run exactly twice as fast as the dual-core computer (Computer 2)."
Explain why this statement is
not always true.
[3]
Turn over