Cache Miss and Hit MCQs – T4Tutorials.com

What is a cache miss?
a) When the requested data is not found in the cache and must be fetched from main memory
b) When the requested data is found in the cache and is immediately used
c) When data is incorrectly stored in the cache
d) When the cache size is exceeded
Answer: a) When the requested data is not found in the cache and must be fetched from main memory

What occurs during a cache hit?
a) The requested data is found in the cache and can be accessed quickly
b) The cache must fetch the data from main memory
c) The data is written to the cache
d) The cache size is increased
Answer: a) The requested data is found in the cache and can be accessed quickly

Which of the following can lead to a higher cache miss rate?
a) Larger cache size
b) Frequent access to data not present in the cache
c) Improved cache associativity
d) Larger cache line size
Answer: b) Frequent access to data not present in the cache

How does increasing the cache size generally affect the cache miss rate?
a) It typically reduces the cache miss rate
b) It increases the cache miss rate
c) It has no effect on the cache miss rate
d) It increases the frequency of cache hits
Answer: a) It typically reduces the cache miss rate

What is the impact of a cache hit on system performance?
a) It improves performance by reducing the time needed to access data
b) It degrades performance due to increased cache management overhead
c) It has no impact on performance
d) It causes a delay in data retrieval
Answer: a) It improves performance by reducing the time needed to access data

What typically happens when a cache miss occurs?
a) The system must fetch the data from main memory or another lower-level cache
b) The system writes data to the cache
c) The system increases the cache size
d) The cache is cleared
Answer: a) The system must fetch the data from main memory or another lower-level cache

Which factor does not influence the cache miss rate?
a) Cache size
b) Cache associativity
c) Cache replacement policy
d) CPU clock speed
Answer: d) CPU clock speed

What is the effect of a higher cache associativity on cache performance?
a) It generally reduces the cache miss rate
b) It increases the cache miss rate
c) It has no effect on cache miss rate
d) It speeds up the CPU clock
Answer: a) It generally reduces the cache miss rate

What is the primary goal of a cache replacement policy?
a) To decide which cache line to replace when a cache miss occurs
b) To increase the size of the cache
c) To improve the speed of the CPU
d) To reduce the power consumption of the cache
Answer: a) To decide which cache line to replace when a cache miss occurs

Which of the following is a common cache replacement policy?
a) Least Recently Used (LRU)
b) Write-through
c) Write-back
d) Direct-mapped
Answer: a) Least Recently Used (LRU)

What does a high cache miss rate indicate about a system?
a) The system may have inadequate cache size or poor cache utilization
b) The system has optimal cache performance
c) The cache size is too large
d) The cache replacement policy is perfect
Answer: a) The system may have inadequate cache size or poor cache utilization

Which cache mapping technique typically results in a higher cache miss rate?
a) Direct-mapped
b) Set-associative
c) Fully associative
d) Random
Answer: a) Direct-mapped

What is the effect of increasing the cache line size?
a) It can reduce the cache miss rate by fetching more contiguous data
b) It increases the number of cache misses
c) It has no impact on cache performance
d) It decreases the hit rate
Answer: a) It can reduce the cache miss rate by fetching more contiguous data

Which of the following strategies is likely to decrease the number of cache misses?
a) Increasing cache associativity
b) Reducing cache size
c) Using a direct-mapped cache
d) Implementing a more aggressive replacement policy
Answer: a) Increasing cache associativity

What is a consequence of a cache miss in a system with multiple cache levels?
a) The system may need to fetch data from a lower-level cache or main memory
b) The system immediately retrieves data from the cache
c) The system increases the cache size
d) The cache is reset
Answer: a) The system may need to fetch data from a lower-level cache or main memory

Which of the following is a characteristic of a direct-mapped cache?
a) Each block of memory maps to exactly one cache line
b) Each block of memory can map to multiple cache lines
c) Cache lines are chosen randomly
d) There is no mapping between memory blocks and cache lines
Answer: a) Each block of memory maps to exactly one cache line

In which cache configuration is the likelihood of a cache miss generally the highest?
a) Direct-mapped cache
b) Fully associative cache
c) Set-associative cache
d) Multi-level cache
Answer: a) Direct-mapped cache

What is the advantage of a set-associative cache over a direct-mapped cache?
a) It reduces the likelihood of cache collisions and thus reduces the miss rate
b) It increases the cache size
c) It simplifies cache management
d) It speeds up data retrieval from main memory
Answer: a) It reduces the likelihood of cache collisions and thus reduces the miss rate

What is a cache miss rate?
a) The fraction of memory accesses that result in a cache miss
b) The fraction of cache accesses that result in a hit
c) The total number of cache lines
d) The speed of the cache
Answer: a) The fraction of memory accesses that result in a cache miss

How does the cache size typically influence the cache hit rate?
a) A larger cache size generally increases the cache hit rate
b) A larger cache size decreases the cache hit rate
c) Cache size does not affect the cache hit rate
d) Cache size affects only the cache miss rate
Answer: a) A larger cache size generally increases the cache hit rate

What is the primary benefit of reducing the cache miss rate?
a) It improves overall system performance by reducing the time spent fetching data from main memory
b) It increases the complexity of the cache design
c) It reduces the cache size
d) It increases the cache line size
Answer: a) It improves overall system performance by reducing the time spent fetching data from main memory

What is a “compulsory miss”?
a) A cache miss that occurs when data is accessed for the first time
b) A cache miss caused by a cache line eviction
c) A cache miss due to a conflict in the cache
d) A cache miss caused by a faulty cache line
Answer: a) A cache miss that occurs when data is accessed for the first time

What is a “conflict miss”?
a) A cache miss that occurs due to multiple blocks mapping to the same cache line in a direct-mapped cache
b) A cache miss caused by a cache line eviction
c) A cache miss due to data being accessed for the first time
d) A cache miss caused by an invalid cache entry
Answer: a) A cache miss that occurs due to multiple blocks mapping to the same cache line in a direct-mapped cache

What is a “capacity miss”?
a) A cache miss that occurs when the cache cannot hold all the blocks needed for a program’s execution
b) A cache miss caused by a conflict in the cache
c) A cache miss due to the data being accessed for the first time
d) A cache miss caused by a faulty cache line
Answer: a) A cache miss that occurs when the cache cannot hold all the blocks needed for a program’s execution

What strategy can help reduce the impact of compulsory misses?
a) Implementing a prefetching mechanism to load data into the cache before it is requested
b) Increasing cache size
c) Increasing cache associativity
d) Using a more aggressive replacement policy
Answer: a) Implementing a prefetching mechanism to load data into the cache before it is requested

Which cache replacement policy would help reduce the number of conflict misses?
a) Least Recently Used (LRU)
b) First In, First Out (FIFO)
c) Random Replacement
d) Write-back
Answer: a) Least Recently Used (LRU)

What is the effect of a larger cache line size on cache misses?
a) It can reduce the number of compulsory and capacity misses by fetching more contiguous data
b) It increases the frequency of conflict misses
c) It has no effect on cache miss rate
d) It reduces the overall cache size
Answer: a) It can reduce the number of compulsory and capacity misses by fetching more contiguous data

Which type of cache miss is least affected by increasing cache size?
a) Conflict miss
b) Compulsory miss
c) Capacity miss
d) All types are equally affected
Answer: a) Conflict miss

What is a primary benefit of increasing the cache associativity in terms of cache misses?
a) It reduces conflict misses by allowing multiple blocks to map to the same cache line
b) It increases compulsory misses
c) It has no effect on cache misses
d) It increases the number of capacity misses
Answer: a) It reduces conflict misses by allowing multiple blocks to map to the same cache line

In which scenario is a “write-allocate” policy most useful?
a) When a cache miss occurs on a write operation and the cache line is loaded from main memory
b) When data is written directly to the main memory without affecting the cache
c) When data is only read from the cache
d) When the cache is being cleared
Answer: a) When a cache miss occurs on a write operation and the cache line is loaded from main memory

What is the effect of cache line replacement on cache misses?
a) It can potentially increase the number of conflict misses if the replaced line is frequently accessed
b) It decreases the number of cache misses
c) It has no impact on cache misses
d) It automatically reduces cache size
Answer: a) It can potentially increase the number of conflict misses if the replaced line is frequently accessed

How does a larger cache typically impact the time taken to resolve a cache miss?
a) It can reduce the time taken to resolve a miss by increasing the likelihood of data being present in the cache
b) It increases the time taken to resolve a miss
c) It has no effect on the time taken to resolve a miss
d) It speeds up data retrieval from main memory
Answer: a) It can reduce the time taken to resolve a miss by increasing the likelihood of data being present in the cache

What is the impact of cache hit latency on overall system performance?
a) Lower hit latency improves system performance by reducing the time needed to access data from the cache
b) Higher hit latency improves system performance
c) Cache hit latency does not affect system performance
d) It increases the number of cache misses
Answer: a) Lower hit latency improves system performance by reducing the time needed to access data from the cache

How does a cache’s replacement policy affect cache hit rate?
a) It can influence the likelihood of retaining frequently accessed data, thereby affecting the hit rate
b) It has no impact on the cache hit rate
c) It only affects cache miss rate
d) It reduces cache hit rate by increasing replacement frequency
Answer: a) It can influence the likelihood of retaining frequently accessed data, thereby affecting the hit rate

What is a common cause of a “cold miss” or “compulsory miss”?
a) Accessing data for the first time that has not been previously loaded into the cache
b) Accessing data that is not in the cache due to replacement
c) Accessing data that was recently written to the cache
d) Accessing data that was evicted due to cache size limitations
Answer: a) Accessing data for the first time that has not been previously loaded into the cache

What role does prefetching play in cache performance?
a) It helps reduce cache misses by loading data into the cache before it is requested
b) It increases the number of cache misses
c) It clears the cache periodically
d) It changes the cache replacement policy
Answer: a) It helps reduce cache misses by loading data into the cache before it is requested

How does a “write-around” policy affect cache misses compared to a “write-allocate” policy?
a) Write-around can increase cache misses on write operations by not loading the data into the cache
b) Write-allocate policy reduces cache misses on write operations by loading data into the cache
c) Write-around policy increases cache hits by keeping data out of the cache
d) Both policies have no impact on cache misses
Answer: a) Write-around can increase cache misses on write operations by not loading the data into the cache

Which type of cache miss is less frequent in a well-designed caching system?
a) Capacity miss
b) Compulsory miss
c) Conflict miss
d) All types are equally frequent
Answer: b) Compulsory miss

What is the primary purpose of a cache?
a) To speed up data access by storing frequently used data closer to the CPU
b) To increase the size of the main memory
c) To reduce the overall power consumption of the system
d) To replace main memory entirely
Answer: a) To speed up data access by storing frequently used data closer to the CPU

How can increasing the number of cache sets in a set-associative cache impact cache performance?
a) It can reduce the number of conflict misses by allowing more flexibility in data mapping
b) It increases the likelihood of cache misses
c) It has no effect on cache performance
d) It decreases the cache size
Answer: a) It can reduce the number of conflict misses by allowing more flexibility in data mapping

What is the main benefit of using a fully associative cache compared to a direct-mapped cache?
a) It reduces the number of conflict misses by allowing any block to be placed in any cache line
b) It simplifies cache management
c) It reduces the cache size
d) It increases the number of compulsory misses
Answer: a) It reduces the number of conflict misses by allowing any block to be placed in any cache line

How does a direct-mapped cache handle cache line replacement?
a) It replaces the cache line corresponding to a specific index when a new block maps to that index
b) It randomly selects a cache line to replace
c) It replaces the least recently used cache line
d) It replaces the cache line with the most recent access
Answer: a) It replaces the cache line corresponding to a specific index when a new block maps to that index

What impact does a high number of cache sets have on cache performance in a set-associative cache?
a) It generally reduces the number of conflict misses and improves performance
b) It increases the number of conflict misses
c) It has no effect on cache performance
d) It decreases cache size
Answer: a) It generally reduces the number of conflict misses and improves performance

Which of the following is most likely to improve cache performance for sequential access patterns?
a) Increasing cache line size
b) Reducing cache size
c) Decreasing cache associativity
d) Using a direct-mapped cache
Answer: a) Increasing cache line size

How does the cache line size impact the handling of spatial locality?
a) Larger cache lines can better exploit spatial locality by fetching contiguous data in one operation
b) Smaller cache lines are better for spatial locality
c) Cache line size does not affect spatial locality
d) Larger cache lines decrease the effectiveness of spatial locality
Answer: a) Larger cache lines can better exploit spatial locality by fetching contiguous data in one operation

What is a “miss rate” in the context of cache performance?
a) The percentage of memory accesses that result in a cache miss
b) The percentage of cache accesses that result in a hit
c) The total number of cache lines
d) The speed at which data is accessed from the cache
Answer: a) The percentage of memory accesses that result in a cache miss

What factor is least likely to affect cache hit rate?
a) Cache size
b) Cache associativity
c) Cache line size
d) CPU temperature
Answer: d) CPU temperature

What is the most effective way to reduce the number of capacity misses?
a) Increasing the cache size to accommodate more data
b) Reducing cache line size
c) Increasing the associativity of the cache
d) Using a write-back policy
Answer: a) Increasing the cache size to accommodate more data

How does the use of prefetching affect cache miss rates?
a) It can reduce cache miss rates by loading data into the cache before it is accessed
b) It increases cache miss rates
c) It has no impact on cache miss rates
d) It causes data to be discarded from the cache
Answer: a) It can reduce cache miss rates by loading data into the cache before it is accessed

What type of cache miss occurs when a program accesses data for the first time?
a) Compulsory miss
b) Capacity miss
c) Conflict miss
d) Coherence miss
Answer: a) Compulsory miss

What is the purpose of a cache hit rate?
a) To measure the proportion of cache accesses that result in a cache hit
b) To determine the size of the cache
c) To evaluate the speed of the CPU
d) To count the total number of cache misses
Answer: a) To measure the proportion of cache accesses that result in a cache hit

What strategy is most effective for reducing conflict misses in a direct-mapped cache?
a) Using a higher associativity cache configuration
b) Reducing the cache size
c) Increasing the cache line size
d) Using a write-around policy
Answer: a) Using a higher associativity cache configuration

Which of the following describes a cache line?
a) A block of data that is transferred between the cache and main memory
b) A single cache access operation
c) The total size of the cache
d) The cache’s replacement policy
Answer: a) A block of data that is transferred between the cache and main memory

Cache Miss and Hit MCQs
By: Prof. Dr. Fazal Rehman Shamil | Last updated: September 20, 2024

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