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124 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the component of the CPU that takes in commands from other areas and ships out other data?
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External Data Bus (EDB)
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What are the four most commonly used registers in a Intel 8088 CPU called?
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General Purpose Registers, AX,BX,CX,DX
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What are high-order and low-order bits? What information do they carry?
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High order bits are commands stored in bits 8,7,6,5. Low-order bits are data stored in bits 1,2,3,4
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What are the machine language commands in a CPU called?
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The instruction set
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What is the clock's function in a CPU?
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The Clock (CLK) sends constant electrical signals to the CPU telling it when to make the next calculation.
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What is a clock cycle? Clock Speed?
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A clock cycle is a single charge on the clock wire. The clock speed is how many clock cycles there are in a given period of time.
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What was the clock speed of the Intel 8088?
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4.77 MHz
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What is the average clockspeed of today's CPUs?
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3 GHz
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True or False: A CPU must run at its clock speed?
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False, the CPU can safely run at any speed under the clock speed.
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What device charges the Clock Wire?
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The system crystal, which is usuallya quartz oscillator.
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What are the semiconductor circuits that serve as registers in the CPU called?
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TTL Logic
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How many bits in a nibble? A byte? A word?
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4,8,16
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What is the device that retrieves code from RAM for the CPU to operate on?
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Northbridge
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What are the wires between the CPU and the Northbridge?
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The address bus
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What is the address space of a computer with 20 wires on the address bus?
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2 to the 20th power bytes
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True or False: You can determine the maximum RAM capacity for a CPU by counting the wires on the address bus.
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True. The max capacity of RAM would be 2 to that number power, as that's the most lines such a CPU could identify.
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How many bytes are in 1 kilobyte?
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1,024
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Who was the first company to dominate the CPU market?
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Intel, after teaming with IBM.
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What are low end Intel CPUs called?
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Celeron
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What are high end Intel CPUs called?
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Xeon
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What company is the chief competitor to Intel?
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AMD, Advanced Micro Devices
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How did AMD survive originally in the CPU market with Intel?
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It teamed up with Intel, who needed AMD at the time. They signed cross-license agreements. Later, when Intel no longer needed AMD, AMD continued to use these earlier agreements to clone Intel CPUs.
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When did a settlement between AMD and Intel mean that the two company's CPUs would no longer be compatible with each other?
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First half of the 1990's, starting with Pentium II processors.
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What are the two types of CPU packages and what do they stand for?
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SEC- Single Edge Cartridge
PGA - Pin Grid Array |
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What are CPGA, PPGA, & FC-PGA?
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Ceramic PGA, Plastic PGA, and Flip-Chip PGA (soldered to a small board)
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What's a ZIF?
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The name of a common socket for PGA CPU's. Stands for Zero Insertion Force. Developed by Intel.
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How do you identify a ZIF socket?
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By the number of pins.
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What is the predominant socket for Pentium CPUs? How many pins?
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Socket 7, 321 pins
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What kind of socket do AMD CPUs use? How many pins?
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Socket A, with 462 pins
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Where do you put an Intel SEC CPU?
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Into Slot 1.
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Where do you put an AMD SEC CPU?
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Into Slot A
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What were the next three Intel CPUs following the 8088?
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The 80286, 80386, 80486
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When was the first Pentium made?
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In the early 90's
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How big were the registers for the first Pentium CPUs?
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32 bit
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What was the speed of the first Pentium processers?
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300 MHz
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What werre new three features of the first Pentium CPUs that are still in use today?
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ability to run multiple programs at once, access super fast cache RAM, process two or more lines of code (seemingly) simultaneously
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What is multiprocessing?
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Running more than one line of code (seemingly) simultaneously
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What two additional features of Pentium CPUs enabled them to multiprocess?
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A wider address bus
Special registers that track all programs |
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True or False: Today's CPUs can process many lines of code at the same time.
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False, CPUs that run multiple programs simultaneously do it by quickly alternating between different programs lines of codes and storing progress on memory management registers
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What are the two main categories of cache?
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Disk cache - storage between hard drive and RAM
RAM cache - storage between RAM and CPU |
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What is DRAM? How does DRAM store memory?
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Dynamic RAM. It stores memory through charges stored on capacitors. These lose their charge every 16 msecs and must be refreshed.
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True or False: The DRAM is faster than the CPU, creating frequent wait states for the DRAM?
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False, the CPU is faster and it is the CPU that is waiting during the wait states.
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What is SRAM? Compare and contrast to DRAM
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Static RAM. Uses switches instead of capacitors to store memory. Does not need refreshing. Faster, but much more expensive
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What is branch prediction? Where does it occur and how does it make your CPU faster?
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Branch prediction is the process by which the RAM cache recognizes potential branch points in the code (ie IF statements) and takes code from both directions of the branch to prevent wait states
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What is external cache?
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Cache that is outside the CPU but used by it.
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What was the first Intel CPU to have a second internal cache (L2 cache)?
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Pentium Pro
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What is the series of steps by which the CPU processes a command called?
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A pipeline
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True or False, early Pentiums had single pipelining?
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False, they had dual pipelining from the beginning
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Why is clock multiplying needed?
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Because the CPU runs at a faster speed than other chips on the motherboard, but they are controlled by the same clock.
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What is faster, the external or internal speed of a CPU?
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The internal speed. Most of its processing occurs internally rather than in shipping stuff to the buses.
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True or False, though today's CPUs have clock multipliers that are automatically configured, previous CPUs' multipliers had to be modified through jumpers on the motherboard.
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True
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How does the CPU report the multiplier needed to the motherboard?
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Through the CPU Identifier (CPUID)
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What is a VRM and why is it needed?
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Voltage Regulator Modules. They are needed to change the voltage on the motherboard to the lower voltage that is needed for the CPU.
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True or False: Most CPUs today require coinstallation of a VRM to regulate voltage.
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False, the CPU tells the motherboard the voltage it needs automatically nowadays.
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Fill in as many of these blanks as you can for early Intel Pentiums:
External speed range: Internal Speed range: Multiplier range: L1 Cache? L2 Cache? L3? Package: Sockets used: |
50-66 MHz, 60-200 MHz
x1-x3 L1 Cache PGA Socket 4,5 |
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What three features distinguished Pentium Pro from earlier Pentiums?
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quad pipelining
dynamic processing on chip L2 Cache |
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What is dynamic processing?
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If the CPU is waiting for more code from RAM, it will search for code it can process out of order ahead of time.
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What's another name for the Pentium Pro?
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P6
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True or False: On the P6, there is a L2 Cache on the chip but it is electronically separate from the CPU.
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True
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What are the frontside bus and backside bus on the P6 CPUs?
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frontside - connections between EDB, Address Bus, Northbridge and RAM
backside - connections between L2 Cache and CPU |
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What were improvements on the later Pentium-class CPUs (Pentiums after first but before Pentium II)
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multimedia extensions (MMX),
split voltage, increased multipliers, improved processing |
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Later Pentium-class CPUs:
External speed range: Internal: Mult. Range: Caches: Package: Socket: |
66-75 MHz
166-200 MHz x2.5-x4.5 L1 Cache (32 KB) PGA, Socket 7 |
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What is MMX?
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Multi-media Extension Registers for CPUs. 4 registers and 57 commands
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True or False: You can get a cheaper CPU today if you can do without MMX.
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False, all CPUs today come with MMX.
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What does split voltage do for a CPU?
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It enables reduction of internal voltage (to reduce heat) while still allowing it to use 3.3 V on connections with motherboard.
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What were some changes between Pentium Pro and Pentium II
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II is SEC. a bit faster, refined instruction set, more space for L2 cache
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Intel Pentium II:
EXT/INT speed range: Mult range: Caches: Package/Slot: |
66-100 MHz
233-450 MHz x3.5-x4.5 L1 - 32 KB L2 - 512 KB SEC, Slot 1 |
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True or False: Today you need to use a motherboard tailored to the brand of microprocessor you have.
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True, though it wasn't this way before Pentium II
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What was AMD's answer to the Pentium II?
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AMD K6
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What was a key feature added to the first AMD K6 CPUs?
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Compatible with mother board at speed of 100 MHz
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What feature was introduced with the AMD K6-2
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3DNow! Instruction set for improved graphics handling
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What socket was used by AMD K6 Series CPUs?
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Socket 7
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How big is the L1 and L2 Cache on AMD K6-III CPUs?
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64 KB, 256 KB
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What was the Intel lower end version of the Pentium II?
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Intel Celeron
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What was the package for the first Intel Celeron?
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SEP Single Edge Processor, like SEC but no casing
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What was the socket for the first Intel Celerons?
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Slot 1
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What were sockets for later Celerons called?
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Socket 370
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Why were the original Celerons unpopular
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They had no L2 Cache
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What was the first Celeron with an L2 Cache (128 KB)
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The Celeron 300A, this was the first to gain a wide market share
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What was a new component of Pentium III not in II?
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SSE, Streaming SIMD Extensions, their answer to 3DNow!
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What two packages did the Pentium III come in?
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PGA, SEC-2
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What socket is used by Celeron CPUs based on Pentium III (aka Celeron II)?
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Socket 370
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What was the "CPU that kept Intel awake at night?"
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The AMD Athlon
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Who were the classic Athlon's key competitors?
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Pentium III and IV
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What package and socket did the first Athlons use
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SEC, Slot A
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L1 and L2 Cache sizes for classic Athlons
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128 KB and 512 KB
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What was the most talked about aspect of classic Athlons?
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200 MHz or 266 MHz front system bus
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What was the first improvement on Classic Athlons?
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AMD Thunderbird Athlons
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What socket and package were the Thunderbird CPUs?
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PGA, 462-pin, Socket A
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What was AMDs competitor to the Celeron?
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The Duron
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T/F: The Duron is an Athlon with a larger cache.
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False, it has a smaller cache
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Duron Package/Slot
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PGA, Socket A
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What were the major improvements embodied in Pentium IV?
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20-step pipeline
graphics enhancements more intelligent processing 400 MHz system bus speed |
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What packages and sockets for the two classes of Pentium IVs?
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1st: 423-pin PGA, Socket 423
2nd: 478-pin PGA Socket 478 |
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What was AMD's answer to the Pentium IV?
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The Athlon XP
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What is the key strength of Intel Xeon CPUs?
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Multi-processor support
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What Package and Socket for Xeon CPUs?
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SEC, Slot 2
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What is one main reason people bought Xeons?
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They work well in sets, whereas most CPUs do not.
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To what microprocessors do the Xeons serve as a higher end model?
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Pentium II,III, IV
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Slot for Pentium II an III Xeons?
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SEC Slot 2
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What was the key feature of the Pentium 4 Xeon MP?
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4 or 8 multiprocessor systems
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Pentium 4 Xeon package?
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603-pin PGA
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Pentium II Xeon Speed Range
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External 100 MHz
Internal 400-450 MHz |
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Pentium III Xeons Speed Range
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Ex: 100-133 MHz
Int: 500 MHz - 1 GHz |
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Pentium IV based Xeon Speed range?
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Ex: 100-133 MHz
Int: 1.4-3.06 GHz |
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To what does the 64-bit processing of the newest CPUs refer?
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To the address bus, the last component to have reached this mark
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What are the first 64-bit processors for Intel and AMD called?
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Intel - Itanium
AMD - Opteron |
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How many levels of cache on the Itanium and Opteron?
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3 - Opteron <3MB
Itanium <4 MB |
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Socket for Itanium I
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Socket 418
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What is OLGA?
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Organic Land Grid Array, the PGA form of the Itanium II
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Socket for Itanium II
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Socket 611
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What is Hypertransport and where can you find it?
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It is a new I/O data path found on AMD Opterons
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Package for Opteron?
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micro PGA
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How do address bus speeds of the Itanium and the Opteron differ?
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Itanium runs only at 64-bit, Opteron can run at 32-bit as well.
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What are the three differences between regular and mobile versions of CPUs?
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They have thinner packages and lower speed (to produce less heat), and use less power
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What was the first packaging type for modified mobile CPUs?
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TCP - Tape Carrier Package
like PGA without the packaging |
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What was the first CPU to have a mobile model?
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Pentium II
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What can you say about AMDs mobile CPUs?
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Not much. They don't make them differently than regular
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What fraction of the speed of desktop CPUs do laptop CPUs run at?
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75%
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What was the first attempt at power saving for mobile CPUs?
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SMM, System Management Mode, had ability to turn off power hogs in inactive periods
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What are Speedstep and PowerNow!?
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Intel's and AMD's mobile CPU feature allowing them to slow themselves down in periods of low use
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What do you need to consider when trying to determine the right CPU?
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Its compatibility with the motherboard
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True or False: A device called a slocket can help you install a CPU into a motherboard that it is not designed for, and this is considered a good idea by those in the know.
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False, it is not recommended
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What is the primary reason for unsuccessful CPU installations?
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Failure to check motherboard book to see if there are jumpers or switches that need to be move first
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