What is the central processing unit
Where the data is processed and calculations take place
Outline the fetch execute cycle
A computer process that locates a program instruction, decodes the instruction and carries out the action required. This is then repeated for the rest of the program instructions
What if clock speed
Measures the number of instruction cycles the CPU can deal with in a second GHZ
What is cache
Temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data, quicker to search cache= increased processor speed
Why advanced CPUs have more processor cores
Allows them to run many programs at the same time
Learn computer hardware devices
What is high definition storage media
Uses laser technology to store and retrieve data at high data transfer speeds to and from optical discs
What is solid state storage devices
USB memory sticks
What are memory cards
Electronic flash memory storage devices
What are smart cards
Cards contain IC which allows data to be written to and read from the card using a smart card reader
What is random access memory
Memory can be read from or written to. Larger the RAM capacity the faster the processor
What is read only memory
Memory can be read from but not written to.
