Into the Core - Intel's New Core CPU

Tyler Too writes "Hannibal over at Ars Technica has an in-depth look at Intel's new Core processors. From the article: 'In a time when an increasing number of processors are moving away from out-of-order execution (OOOE, or sometimes just OOO) toward in-order, more VLIW-like designs that rely heavily on multithreading and compiler/coder smarts for their performance, Core is as full-throated an affirmation of the ongoing importance of OOOE as you can get.'"

Comments

Re:AMD Vs Intel: Round 8

[tpgp]

I will now support the underdog even if Intel drops below AMD just to insure stiff competition. You can call me a young idealist about capitalism!

Hmmmmn, I think I'll actually call you someone who needs to read up a bit on both idealism and capitalism!

Also, on a somewhat note - never care about a company, because the company cannot reciprocate your feelings.

If Intel comes out with a better, cheaper processor tomorrow, don't buy the AMD one, buy the intel one. Their is no point treating a company like a person.

Re:AMD Vs Intel: Round 8

[evilviper]

If Intel comes out with a better, cheaper processor tomorrow, don't buy the AMD one, buy the intel one. Their is no point treating a company like a person.

Clearly you've never heard of a boycott, picket, or any other similar form of consumer revolt.

Re:Apple's noisy Dual Core MacBooks-PCs seeing thi

[tayhimself]

Ian. These are often inductor coils on the MB power circuitry making this noise. Go to silentpcreview.com forums and search for coil whine. It happens in PSU coils or/and more frequently on MB power circuitry coils. It is a combination of components that causes it and unfortunately there is not much you can do other than change the PSU/video card etc which are not possible on a laptop. You can douse the coils in electronics grade silicone (which is acid free) but I am not suggesting this. Send it back for servicing if they take it.

Re:AMD Vs Intel: Round 8

[Anonymous Coward]

If Intel comes out with a better, cheaper processor tomorrow, don't buy the AMD one, buy the intel one. Their is no point treating a company like a person.

You missed his point entirely. You're advocating a short-term, passive outlook, while the GP is advocating a long-term, active one. If you buy whoever is less expensive now, you get the benefit of saving money on this purchase and every purchase from them until they decide to raise prices. And that will be shortly after they snuff all the competition out of existence. If you buy from whoever is the underdog, you'll likely get a less expensive item now (since they have to cut prices to get attention away from the market leader), and in the future, you'll see healthy competition where everyone (including the market leader) has to lower prices. And that makes all of your purchases less expensive overall.

It's not "caring about a company". It's evaluation of a company's credentials and market position. The word "care" is just used as a shorthand way of saying that. In context, it makes perfect sense. In the context of a person, "care" is a term of affection or affinity. In the context of a company whose product you're planning to purchase, "care" is a term of satisfaction with the product and acceptance of the purchase terms. And on that level, a company can reciprocate your feelings and "care" about you as a customer.

Re:AMD Vs Intel: Round 8

[antime]

If there are enough cores to compute both branches from the conditional

I don't see how that could really be useful.

Doing it with multiple cores would probably be a waste, but isn't that what the IA64's predicated execution is all about? To avoid pipeline bubbles it executes both paths from the branch, and once the branch condition is known the results from the not-taken path are thrown away.

Article summary

[Animats]

Here's the short version:

• Intel has a new x86 CPU coming out. It's basically an improved version of their last few CPUs, but because fabs have improved, they can fit more execution units in.
• The wide "vector"-like instructions now have real 128 bit execution units.
• There's a new branch prediction scheme for loop exit, which seems clever.
• Hoisting of loads from an unknown address is now performed more speculatively than it used to be, at the cost of some complexity in the retirement unit.
• The author of the article has no clue that the retirement unit is the hard part. That's where all the hard cases end up being unwound.
• No benchmarks yet.

That's what's in there.

Why So Few Registers?

[jinxidoru]

This is slightly off-topic, but can someone please tell me my Intel continues to have so few registers? I have done some assembly work on x86 and it is always such a chore because I spend 75% of the time moving data in and out of registers. I would love to at least be able to do a double for loop without having to move my iterators. It's just so frustrating.

Re:AMD Vs Intel: Round 8

[evilviper]

Those forms of consumer revolt deny the company money. Just like denying a car gasoline this will cause the company to eventually stop functioning.

The car, however, doesn't know you're going to stop giving it gasoline if it doesn't do what you want, and can't possibly respond. So TERRIBLE analogy. A company is certainly far closer to a human than a mindless machine.

Re:AMD Vs Intel: Round 8

[bigpat]

Also, on a somewhat note - never care about a company, because the company cannot reciprocate your feelings.

If Intel comes out with a better, cheaper processor tomorrow, don't buy the AMD one, buy the intel one. Their is no point treating a company like a person.

Well, the poster specifically said he did not care about either company, just that there was still competition. And I think there is a assumption of parity when you suggest buying the product from the company with less marketshare.

Especially, as you find yourself buying a greater volume of products or more frequently, the overall health of the market is an important consideration in your self interest. It is foolish to let yourself become locked into just one Vendor or manufacturer for a class of products that you buy regularly. Or to support one company to the exclusion of others to the extent that you will be left with no real choice down the road.

People need to understand the effects of their purchasing decisions both on a personal and corporate level. Sure if there is a clear basis of superiority for less cost, then go with the better choice and hope the competition picks up in the future. But if all other qualities are nearly equal then buying from a competative company that happens to have less marketshare will go a long way towards ensuring a healthy marketplace.