🚀 go-pugleaf

Michael Dwyer <mdwyer@holly.ColoState.EDU> writes:

> Adam Carheden <carheden@holly.ColoState.EDU> wrote:
> : "Michael A. Lockhart" wrote:
> : > I think the PII is basically a PPro core with MMX added.
> 
> : 	I was told by someone (I forgot who) that the PPro was a special chip
> : optimized for Windows NT.  Anyone else ever here that?  How does it
> : differ from the Pentium?  How could I use "Intel" and "optimized" in the
> : same sentence?

The PPRO is optimized for 32 bit stuff while the Pentium is optimized
toward 16 bit operations.  This is a marketing decision since these
things usually are benchmarked in the press on Windows which is
basically 16 bit.  So, the PPRO is really a Linux processor which just 
happens to run NT a little better than W9x.

The PII is a semi-lobotomized PPRO with MMX added.  They made
modifications to get better 16 bit performance at the cost of the 32
bit stuff and reduced the speed of the cache which runs processor
speed on the PPRO.  They also changed the packaging the PPRO had the
processor and the cache in the same little bit o' plastic, this was
costly since they could not test the silicon until it was sealed in
with another chip.  Therefore, if either the processor or the cache
was defective the whole thing had to be chucked which was expensive.
Also PIIs originally had very limited SMP capabilities. 

The funny thing is that the PPRO is still the fastest chip per MHz
Intel has made in the x86 line (I haven't seen numbers on there newest
$1200+ PII version).  That is also why they never released PPros which
were faster than 200's, god forbid people realized that the new chip
was slower than the old one.

-Eric

> 
> WinModems are optimized for Windows...  :P  
> My understanding is that they have more cache or something like that.
> The Intel page claims that they have Dynamic Execution features over the
> standard P5. (Incidently, they do call the PPro "P6", which would make the
> Pentium II a P7 or 786, if you follow their numbering...<shrug>)  
> 
> The PII has the Dynamic Execution, and add 100Mhz bus and Dual Independant
> Bus archetecture.
> 
> Or at least that's what the pages say.  Personally, I still believe is
> is all done by magic smoke.
> 
> -- 
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> Michael J. Dwyer                      I doubt, therefore I might be.
> mdwyer@holly.ColoState.edu       http://WWW.CS.ColoState.EDU/~dwyer/
> Computer Science Major                      Amateur Radio Tech N0ZAP