6 exam-style questions with full mark schemes and model answers. Write your own answer and the AI examiner marks it against the mark scheme.
Learn this properly: Computer System ArchitectureA laptop contains both RAM and ROM. A student says: "They are both types of memory, so they do the same job."
Explain the difference between RAM and ROM. Your answer should explain what each is used for, state whether each is volatile or non-volatile (and what that means), and explain why a computer needs both. (6 marks)
Two laptops are being compared. Their CPUs differ as shown.
| Feature | Laptop A | Laptop B |
|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 2.4 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Number of cores | 2 | 4 |
| Cache size | 4 MB | 8 MB |
(a) State what is meant by the clock speed of a CPU, and explain how a higher clock speed affects performance. (2 marks)
(b) Other than clock speed, explain how having more cores can improve the performance of Laptop B. (2 marks)
The CPU continuously carries out the fetch-decode-execute cycle.
Describe, in order, what happens during the three stages of the fetch-decode-execute cycle. (3 marks)
A washing machine, a microwave oven and a fitness tracker all contain an embedded system.
(a) State what is meant by an embedded system. (1 mark)
(b) Give two reasons why an embedded system in a washing machine is designed to perform only a dedicated (specific) task, rather than being a general-purpose computer. (2 marks)
Inside the CPU there are several small, very fast storage locations called registers, each used during the fetch-decode-execute cycle.
(a) State the purpose of the program counter (PC). (1 mark)
(b) State the purpose of the memory address register (MAR). (1 mark)
Software is often classified as either system software or application software.
State which category an operating system belongs to. (1 mark)