cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:09:14 +1000, "Andrew McLaren"
>"cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)" <cquirkenews@nospam.mvps.org> wrote ...
>> On Sun, 5 Aug 2007 22:01:28 +0100, "Synapse Syndrome"

>>>Yes, as he said. Only the later versions of the Prescott core, which was
>>>the last Pentium 4 core, had the NX bit.

>> There was at least one further fabrication shrink after Prescott.

>That's a total fabrication (sorry, I couldn't resist :-).

HAHA!!

>Actually, you're both right ... the "Cedar Mill" revision came after
>Prescott. But all Cedar Mill Pentium 4s used the EM64T architecture, so they
>are excluded from the class of "purely 32-bit Pentium 4s".

AFAIK, some Prescott also include EM64T (and NX), which I see as an
evolotional rather than generational change.

>All 64-bit Pentium 4 CPUs supported Hardware DEP via the XD bit (aka,
>NX bit). Prescott is indeed the last, of the 32-bit only Pentium 4s.

I'm not sure if it is (as above). I think that fabrication spans what
you refer to as "pure 32-bit" and "64-bit" P4s.

Let's not get too carried away with this 64-bit thing. It's not a
deep processor redesign, like going from 286 to 386 or from P4 to the
Core 2 core(s). It's just an add-on, something to do with the extra
transistors that Moore's Law delivers with every fab shrink. File it
in the same bin as MMX, SIMD, VT and the rest of the alphabet soup.

I'm stressing this because right now (and not for the first time),
Intel is playing silly-buggers with their processor names. We have...
- Celeron D
- Celeron L
- Pentium dual core
- Pentium 4
- Pentium D
- Core 2 Duo
....can you tell at a glance,. which are old "P4" architecture and
which are new "Core 2"? The difference is important, given that the
new core runs at 180% of the speed of the old core at same GHz.

The answer: Celeron-L, Pentium dual core and Core 2 are the new core,
whereas the others are old core. Here's what they really are...
- P4 generation, single-core: Celeron D, Pentium 4
- P4 generation, dual-core: Pentium D
- Core 2 generation, single-core: Celeron L
- Core 2 generation, dual-core: Pentium dual core, Core 2 Duo

As usual, with Intel, you have to watch your back. Brand marketer
speak with forked tongue ;-)

>I haven't seen any figures, but I suspect the numerical impact of Cedar Mill
>CPUs shipped would be close to negligible.

I dunno about that, either. I've built a lot of PCs with Celerons
(yep, you read right) that were P4-core but included both NX and
EM64T, so either these were Prescotts that weren't "pure 32-bit" as
you claim, or there have been a lot of Cedar Mill CPUs around for a
while now. I wasn't aware of a fabrication shrink at the time, and
they still came with full-height copper-core heat sinks.



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