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News on Pentium IV
MotaK writes "Ace's Hardware and ARS-Technica has reported on PC Worlds article on the Willamette Processor, dubbed the P4. This proc. will apparently be only a 200Mhz frontside bus, and launch sometime in 2000. "
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I couldn't disagree more with what they write:
"Itanium won't be relevant for PCs until 2003 at the earliest, more likely 2005,"
Especially because their main argument is:
"Software has yet to be written or recompiled to accommodate a 64-bit processor. "
So, they really think that Microsoft will be able to hold back computer progress once again? Last time, there were no alternatives. You would run 16-bit dos, like it or not, but now we have choice and freedom.
If Microsoft doesn't move fast on this one, they'll be losing market shares on the server end of things in no time, and increasingly rapidly on the desktop too.
If they move fast, however, they will have to abandon their huge installed base and start at the same level as anyone else. It would be dangerous position for a company that has never excelled at quality and innovation.
I think 64-bit architectures may very well turn into Bill Gates' Waterloo; and it will all be over before we know it.
I'm always in a bit of shock after I talk with people that are relative newbies (ie, less knowledgable than us folk :) about computers. They'll tell me something like "I got the 12.2 gig RAMs with a 15" drive and 256 of cache. Of course, it's a Pentium III. They're the fastest, you know."
Explaining that the speed increase between a P2 and a P3 is negligible doesn't seem to help any. They just know that they've got to have that "III," they have to have that "MMX" on there.
I wonder how much longer it will continue like this? Remember the rabid VCR market in the late 80s and early 90s? Maybe it was just my young geek mind, but it seemed to me that there was always some new feature, some great reason to upgrade to the next great generation of VCRs.
Where has that gone? In part, DVDs have increased the upgrade crazy, to be certain. But, if we go back a couple of years, you'll notice a laid-back attitude about these simple devices. "Does it record? Good enough." Again, this might just be my perception.
This same pattern has been repeated with radios, telephones, TVs (to some extent), coffeemakers, refrigerators, and just about any other overpriced gadget that you can think of. They become a commodity.
Is the processor industry going to drive itself into commodity status? I assume so. No doub t that you and I will keep right on upgrading and getting the biggest backside cache and fastest motherboard speed that we can. But as computers are reduced to appliance status, consumers won't care about whether it's a P3 or a P4. They'll just want to know if it's "on the e-mail."
Oddly, no mention of the Alpha, which I expect will end up owning the 64 bit arena for the foreseeable future. Why wait 'til 2003 for 64 bit performance when you can get it today? And the alpha today will probably be faster than Intel's deliveries years from now.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Well, gosh guys, no wonder intel chips are slower than AMD chips. They run Roman Numerals for crying out loud. It probably takes a few more clock cycles to add XX, IV, M and then divide by V than to use that pesky binary stuff.
Personally, I am waiting for the Pentium XXVII, which should be a real screamer.
"...this addition to the PIII design is responsible for supercharging Microsoft Office apps."
For some reason, I had trouble taking the rest of the article seriously after I read this line.
Weblogging Considered Harmful:
Try the engine metaphore.
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I always tell people that the MHz is more like RPM's and not horsepower...
P-III = V6
Athlon = V8
G4 = V12
Alpha = nitrous burning funny car engine!
My saturns rpm-ometer goes up to 9,000 RPMs... My friends mustang goes to i think 7. Mine needs 3700 RPM's to get to 85, while the mustang needs 1900.
It's a fitting match!
Sorry if i went a little off topic though
Besides, the primary (ie most significant to the majority of users) difference between the PPro and the P54 class CPUs was the location of the L2 cache (on the chip vs. on the board).
.18micron allowing higher clock speeds. Integrates 256kb of cache into the core at processor speed (similar to the celeronA but with SSE and more cache). Also introduced FCPGA (flipchip packaging) and Socket that allows enhanced cooling of the core.
Not true. The PPro was a large design change with a heavy focus on 32-bit operations, hence the poor 16-bit performance. Yes it biggest change was integrating the cache into the same die as the core package (leading to a huge & expensive chip).
Pentium (P54) - Original 586 Core with Good 16/32bit CPU with pipelined FPU, later added MMX
PPro - New Core (P6) with Great 32bit, poor 16bit, even better FPU, full speed cache, but only 64kb, large memory support. No MMX.
Pentium II - Evolution of PPro(P6), higher clockspeed, added MMX, moved cache into chips on a board in slot 1, running at 1/2 speed. Upped cache to 512Kb. Same bus as PPro only Slot design to reduce cost. Overclocked Pentiums were sometimes faster than the early 233Mhz PII on 16bit games and apps.
Celeron - Same as PII Core only originally no cache, leading to poor performance and a bad reputation. Regular Pentiums often outperfomed it, clock for clock.
Celeron A - New core added 128kb of cache integrated into the core at processor speed, different from PPro(cache was in the die not the core on PPro), different from PII(cache was in Chips at 1/2 processor speed on the slot1 board). Great chip with a low price. Later offered in Sockets for even lower price.
Pentium III - Updated PII core with SSE instructions added. Later upped Bus speed to 133Mhz.
PIII Coppermine - New PII core at
-Jay