Choosing which component to upgrade

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A school laptop takes 3 minutes to start up, but runs one program fine. Which upgrade targets the bottleneck?

A Swap the HDD for an SSD

B Add a faster GPU

2. A computer slows down a lot when you open many programs and browser tabs at once. What should you upgrade?

A Buy a bigger monitor

B Add more RAM

3. Your game runs at 15 frames per second even on low settings, but everything else feels quick. Which part is the likely bottleneck?

A The storage size

B The GPU

4. Which is the best first step when a computer feels slow?

A Work out which part is the bottleneck for the task

B Upgrade the most expensive part

5. A student adds a powerful new GPU to a computer that is slow to start up. What happens?

A Start-up stays slow because the bottleneck was not fixed

B Start-up becomes much faster

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Slow to start up -> upgrade to an SSD		AAll parts old -> replace the device
2Slow with many programs open -> add RAM		BMore RAM lets the computer keep more programs running at once without slowing down
3Low frame rate in a game points to the graphics part, so upgrade that part		CLow FPS in games -> upgrade the GPU
4If every part is old and slow, upgrading one part will not help much, so get a new device		DSwapping an old HDD for an SSD makes the computer boot and open programs much faster
5Game has a low frame rate -> add more RAM		EA bigger HDD is still slow. Start-up is slow because of the storage type, so swap the HDD for an SSD.
6Slow start-up -> buy a bigger HDD		FRAM is the wrong part to upgrade. Low frame rate is a GPU bottleneck, so the GPU should be upgraded.

Definitions

upgrade the bottleneck

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

IF slowStartup THEN upgrade(___)

IF manyProgramsSlow THEN upgrade(___)

IF lowFrameRate THEN upgrade(___)

IF allPartsOld THEN _______(device)

upgrade(______________(task))

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A fps = 15

B if fps < 30:

C part = "GPU"

D print("Upgrade the " + GPU)

Question 2

A symptom = "slow start-up"

B if symptom = "slow start-up":

C part = "SSD"

D print(part)

Question 3

A symptom = "many programs"

B if symptom == "many programs":

C part = "SSD"

D print(part)

Question 4

A def choose(symptom):

B if symptom == "low fps"

C return "GPU"

D return "replace device"

Question 5

A all_old = True

B if all_old:

C print("Add a new SSD")

D else:

E print("Upgrade one part")

Answer Key

Choosing which component to upgrade

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Swap the HDD for an SSD

B — Add more RAM

B — The GPU

A — Work out which part is the bottleneck for the task

A — Start-up stays slow because the bottleneck was not fixed

Section B: Match the Pairs

Slow to start up -> upgrade to an SSD → Swapping an old HDD for an SSD makes the computer boot and open programs much faster

Slow with many programs open -> add RAM → More RAM lets the computer keep more programs running at once without slowing down

Low frame rate in a game points to the graphics part, so upgrade that part → Low FPS in games -> upgrade the GPU

If every part is old and slow, upgrading one part will not help much, so get a new device → All parts old -> replace the device

Game has a low frame rate -> add more RAM → RAM is the wrong part to upgrade. Low frame rate is a GPU bottleneck, so the GPU should be upgraded.

Slow start-up -> buy a bigger HDD → A bigger HDD is still slow. Start-up is slow because of the storage type, so swap the HDD for an SSD.

Section C: Definitions

upgrade the bottleneck — Find the slowest part for your task, then upgrade just that part: SSD for slow start-up, RAM for many programs, GPU for low frame rate. If everything is old, replace the device.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

IF slowStartup THEN upgrade(SSD)

IF manyProgramsSlow THEN upgrade(RAM)

IF lowFrameRate THEN upgrade(GPU)

IF allPartsOld THEN replace(device)

upgrade(findBottleneck(task))

Section E: Spot the Error

D — GPU is not a variable, so the program would crash. It should use the variable part: print("Upgrade the " + part).

B — A single = assigns a value. An if test needs == to compare, so it should be: if symptom == "slow start-up":

C — Slowing down when many programs are open points to too little RAM, not storage. It should be part = "RAM".

B — The if line is missing its colon at the end. It should be: if symptom == "low fps":

C — If every part is old, upgrading one part will not fix it. The program should say to replace the device: print("Replace the device").