Data is processed by the central processing unit (CPU) in a computer that has a Von Neumann architecture.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2025). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [5] Term: current instruction register (CIR), Definition: stores the instruction that is being decoded/executed Term: core, Definition: This is a processing unit within the CPU that can fetch, decode and execute instructions. Term: instruction set, Definition: This is a list of all the commands that can be processed by the CPU. Term: cache, Definition: stores frequently used data/instructions Term: accumulator, Definition: stores the result of interim calculations
2. [1] Control unit // CU
3. [3] Three from: • On each clock pulse, an FDE cycle is performed. • The clock speed is the number of FDE cycle performed in a second // The clock speed is the number of times the clock pulses per second/per unit of time. • If clock speed is increased more FDE cycles can be performed in a second // If clock speed is decreased fewer FDE cycles can be performed in a second. • If clock speed is increased, it can improve the performance of the CPU // If clock speed is decreases it decreases the performance of the CPU.