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12 Days of Christmas 2024 - 2025 Competition with $30,000 of PrizesSome of the most advanced processors often need to rapidly switch between different tasks. However, during intensive computational activities, processors occasionally experience sudden drops in performance before resuming normal operation. One hypothesis is that the processor's thermal management system is unable to cope with the heat generated during such tasks, requiring a temporary reduction in processing speed; an alternative hypothesis is that the processor’s voltage regulators are unable to maintain a stable power supply under high demand, leading to performance drops.
Which of the following, if discovered in computational loads, would support one of the two hypotheses and undermine the other?
A) When the computational load is suddenly increased, processors equipped with advanced cooling systems show no drop in performance, while those with standard cooling systems do.
B) Processors show a consistent decrease in performance as computational tasks become more complex, regardless of variations in the processor’s cooling system or voltage regulator quality.
C) Under high computational demand, processors that maintain a stable voltage supply do not exhibit performance drops, regardless of the efficiency of their cooling system.
D) When a processor’s cooling system is enhanced, it shows performance drops less frequently during computational tasks that are consistent in nature.
E) The more rapidly a task switches between different computational demands, the more frequently a processor experiences performance drops.
GMAT Club's Official Explanation:
A) Incorrect. Only one hypothesis is mentioned in this answer choice. Note that this is not an exclusive either/or situation where by supporting one hypothesis, the other is automatically refuted. For example, cooling may be at fault or voltage system or both may be at fault. Just knowing that one fixes the problem, does not automatically eliminate the other hypothesis. Thus, this answer choice only gives us half of the required answer while we have 2 requirements: supports one and undermines the other. Therefore, we can eliminate A as insufficient.
B) Incorrect. This option suggests a general decline in performance with increased task complexity but does not isolate the cause to either thermal or voltage issues, thus not supporting one hypothesis over the other.
C) Correct Answer: this option supports the hypothesis that voltage instability is the primary reason for performance drops while undermining the hypothesis that thermal management is the key issue. If maintaining stable voltage prevents performance drops regardless of the cooling system's effectiveness, this indicates that the voltage supply, not temperature control, is the critical factor in maintaining consistent processor performance.
D) Incorrect. This answer choice does not undermine the voltage stability hypothesis, as voltage issues could still coexist since we are only told about the cooling system and thermal issues.
E) Incorrect. This answer choice tells us that there is a situation when the problem is worse. However, it does not support one hypothesis while undermining the other, as both thermal and voltage problems could be at fault and affect performance under these conditions.