GCE O-Level · Computing (7155)

Computer Architecture: Practice Questions

5 multiple-choice questions marked as you go, and 5 written questions with worked solutions. All on Computer Architecture.

10 questions22 marksFree, no account

Question 1

1 mark

Which of the following storage technologies uses microscopic pits and lands on a reflective surface that are read using a laser beam?

Question 2

1 mark

Which of the following statements correctly compares the typical applications and characteristics of I/O interfaces used in modern computer systems?

Question 3

1 mark

During the design solutions stage of Software Engineering, a developer is considering the fetch-execute cycle. If the processor needs to retrieve an instruction from a specific location in the main memory, which of the following describes the correct interaction between the buses and memory?

Question 4

1 mark

Which of the following is a key characteristic of the traditional Von Neumann architecture?

Question 5

1 mark

A computer system has an address bus that is 32 bits wide. If the system needs to be upgraded to address exactly 16 GiB of main memory, what is the minimum width, in bits, that the new address bus must have?

Question 6

2 marks

Which versatile input/output interface is commonly used for connecting a wide variety of external peripheral devices such as mice, keyboards, and flash drives to a computer?

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Question 7

4 marks

Compare solid-state drives (SSDs) and optical discs in terms of typical storage capacity and physical durability.

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Question 8

2 marks

How many bytes are contained in exactly \(4\) kibibytes (KiB)?

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Question 9

4 marks

During the operation of a computer processor, instructions are processed sequentially through a repeating cycle.

(a) Name the specific stage of the instruction cycle where the processor retrieves an instruction from main memory using its address.
(b) Name the stage that immediately follows fetching, where the processor determines what action the instruction requires.

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Question 10

5 marks

A computer uses a memory unit with addressable storage locations.

(a) Explain the difference in function between the data bus and the address bus during a read operation from main memory.
(b) If an address bus has 10 lines, calculate the maximum number of unique memory locations it can address.

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