PCs / Microprocessors - Worksheet 1


DIRECTIONS:  Answer the following questions.

1.  What does Moore's law state about the relationship between processor performance, disk storage capacity, and time?

 

2.  Describe the purpose of a BIOS (and what it stands for) in a PC system.

 

3.  Why is it that there are no clones or compatibles of the Apple Macintosh system?

 

4.  What company produces the majority of the operating systems for a PC?

5.  What company produces the majority of the motherboards and CPUs for a PC?

6.  Describe what the purpose of cache memory is for.  How does it affect overall performance of a system?

 

7.  As clock frequency increases, cycle time ________________.

8.  If the frequency is 66MHz, the cycle time is ______________.

9.  What is meant by overclocking a CPU?  List some of the disadvantages of overclocking.

 

10.  What is the external data bus for?  How wide is the data bus for Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4, Athlon, and Itanium?

 

 

11. How wide is the internal registers of a Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4, and Athlon?

12. How wide is the internal registers of an Itanium?

13. What is the address bus for?

14. What type of software runs in Real mode?

15. What type of software runs in Protected mode?

16. List two package styles that Celeron and Pentium III CPUs are available in.

17. What is the socket name that a Pentium 4 uses?

 

DIRECTIONS:  True/False.  Circle T or F.

T  F    1. A Pentium III running at 1GHz (1,000MHz) offers 5 times the computing power of a Pentium MMX running at 200MHz.

T  F    2. Overclocking a CPU is OK if reselling a system to someone else.

T  F    4. A CPU heatsink with a fan on it is referred to as being an "active" heatsink.

T  F    5. AMD Athlon and Duron CPUs fit into the same sockets and slots as a Pentium IIIs and Celeron CPUs.