CISC vs RISC Architecture Quiz

What is the primary design goal of CISC architecture?

• Maximize execution speed of instructions

• Minimize program size by using fewer instructions

• Simplify hardware design for better pipelining

• Use fixed-length instructions for uniformity

Which of the following is an example of a CISC instruction?

• LOAD r1, [r2]

• ADD [mem], eax

• STORE r1, [r2]

• ADD r1, r1, r3

Why is pipelining more challenging in CISC architecture compared to RISC?

• CISC uses fixed-length instructions

• CISC instructions have irregular sizes and execution times

• CISC has fewer addressing modes

• CISC relies on a hardwired control unit

Which architecture is referred to as a "Load-Store Architecture"?

• CISC

• RISC

• Both CISC and RISC

• Neither CISC nor RISC

What is a key feature of RISC architecture?

• Variable-length instructions

• Large number of special-purpose registers

• Uniform instruction length for easy decoding

• Complex instructions combining multiple operations

Which of the following is a disadvantage of CISC architecture?

• Larger program size

• Simpler hardware design

• Harder to decode instructions

• Uniform execution time per instruction

Which processor is an example of CISC architecture?

• ARM

• MIPS

• x86

• SPARC

In RISC architecture, which instructions are responsible for accessing memory?

• ADD and SUB

• LOAD and STORE

• MUL and AND

• All instructions can access memory

Why has x86 (CISC) architecture survived in modern computing?

• It uses simpler hardware than RISC

• It supports backward compatibility with older software

• It has a smaller instruction set

• It executes instructions faster than RISC

How does modern x86 architecture improve performance despite being CISC?

• By using only fixed-length instructions

• By translating CISC instructions into RISC-like micro-operations internally

• By eliminating the need for pipelining

• By reducing the number of registers