CPU SELF QUIZ
On a PC, what do the BIOS (basic input/output system) instructions do?
-Load the operating system -Test hardware in the machine
Which type of CPU was used in the first IBM personal computer?
16-bit
When was the first commercial microprocessor introduced?
1971
How many transistors are included in the Intel Core i7 processor, introduced in 2008?
731 million
What is an important manufacturer of CPU chips?
AMD
What processor design company came to dominate the mobile device market with their low-power RISC based architecture?
ARM
Which of the following is not part of a computer chip's job? A) performing mathematical operations B) Moving data from one memory location to another C) Starting up computer
C) Starting up the computer
What is the memory that a CPU can use directly called?
Cache memory
What does CPU stand for?
Central processing unit
The Intel 8086 processor, introduced in 1978, included what important advance?
It was one of the first 16-bit processors.
The width of the smallest wire on a computer chip is typically measured in?
Microns
There's a concept that states that the number of transistors manufacturers can pack into a chip of the same size doubles every two years. What's it called?
Moore's Law
About how much address space can a 64-bit microprocessor access?
One billion GB
In this sort of processor architecture, the CPU is designed to perform tasks using a small, simplified set of computing instructions:
RISC
To what do buses and lines connect in a computer chip?
ROM and RAM
What does ROM stand for?
Read-only memory
What sort of substance has a variable ability to conduct electricity depending upon conditions?
Semiconductor
Out of what material are computer chips made?
Silicon
Computer chip designers create language instructions that the microprocessor reads. What translates the words from the instructions into bit patterns the chip can understand?
The assembler
The CPU is included on a central component of the computer known as?
The motherboard
What is a CPU's clock speed?
The rate at which it can execute instructions
The first commercial processor was used in:
a programmable business calculator
What does a transistor do?
acts as a switch to control the flow of electric current
Which term refers to how long it takes for the CPU to request and receive data from the cache?
cache latency
Every CPU needs to:
dissipate heat
What type of processor would be included in a household appliance with limited computing capabilities?
embedded processor
What;s another name for a microchip?
integrated circuit
What sort of CPU contains a very large number of cores on a single chip?
massive multi-core processor
The type of processing where multiple instructions are sent to more than one processor to execute at the same time is called:
parallel processing
What part of the CPU stores the location of the instruction to be executed?
program counter
This is a place on a CPU that holds a small amount of data:
register
A turbo boost allows a CPU to:
run at a speed faster than that for which it's rated
What's the term for a single chip that integrates all the computing components necessary to run a device?
system-on-a-chip
What part of the processor performs arithmetic and logic operations?
the ALU
The process size of a CPU refers to what?
the fineness of the manufacturing technique
What is the die size of a processor?
the physical size of a silicon chip
