Architecting the Machine · Computer Systems

The Central Processing Unit

Examining the Fetch-Execute cycle and how registers manage data flow within the processor.

Key Questions

  1. 1How does the clock speed of a processor dictate the limits of software performance?
  2. 2What are the trade-offs between increasing cache size and adding more processing cores?
  3. 3How would you design a processor to prioritize energy efficiency over raw speed?

National Curriculum Attainment Targets

GCSE: Computing - Computer Systems and Architecture
Year: Year 10
Subject: Computing
Unit: Architecting the Machine
Period: Computer Systems

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