Trends in Cpu Design
Trends in Cpu Design
For the past few years, in the processor field, the trend has been slowly shifting from a single high Hz CPU to multicore processors. Intel has Xeon dual core and has managed to paste two such chips to bring out what it calls quad core, AMD still has only Opteron dual-core CPUs and is likely to release native quad-core chip next year. There are other smaller players like Azul claiming to have much more cores in a CPU but the real players are only four of them, the remaining two being IBM and Sun Microsystems. IBM along with partners worked on designing Cell chip but it is a special-purpose processor, not for general computing. Sun surprised everyone last year with its eight-core Niagara processor also known as UltraSparc T1. It not only had eight cores in a single chip, but has the capability to run 4 simultaneous hardware threads in each of them giving an impression to the OS of running on a 32 CPU machine.
Sun is going to follow it with Niagara 2 which will have twice the number of threads in each core, thus a virtual 64 threads in eight cores! While Niagara has one floating point unit (FPU) shared by all 8 cores thus slowing down the floating point performance, Niagara 2 will have an FPU for each core. It’ll also run with a higher clock rate. So it will be a complete server-on-a-chip when it comes out next year. Seems to be the most interesting processor at present.
More about Niagara 1 at :
Acehardware www.aceshardware.com/read_news.jsp?id=80000603
about Niagara 2 :
Official Sun doc: www.opensparc.net/publications/presentations/niagara-2-a-highly-threaded-server-on-a-chip.html
and
news.com.com/Suns+Niagara+2+doubles+down+with+twice+the+threads/210-41006_3-6108880.html
Cell processor info at
Offician IBM link : www.research.ibm.com/cell
Quick overview of Wind River hypervisor on Freescale’s P2020 multicore process. Great value prop for network equipment needing dataplane acceleration
More Multicore Processor Articles
Q&A: My pc has AMD Athlon dual core processor BE-2300,MMX, 3D now(2 cpu’s) How can i know how much is my video card
Question by rick flare: My pc has AMD Athlon dual core processor BE-2300,MMX, 3D now(2 cpu’s) How can i know how much is my video card
How can i know if how much is my video graphics card and what particular word does it state.Is it MMX or BE-2300
I dont know how much is my video card because when I’m playing games it says cannot run in win32 mode
The why is it cannot run win32 mode
Best answer:
Answer by Woop Its Marcus
click start then run and type in DXDIAG
What do you think? Answer below!
Facts About Benchmarking CPU Speeds
Facts About Benchmarking CPU Speeds
The term “benchmarking CPU speed” is something that even new computer users are familiar with and in fact use them as a guide in deciding which ones to purchase. However, there are actually a lot of other factors that come into play that determine the speed of a personal computer.
The most obvious ones of course, are the system memory and video card memory. For example, a computer with a slower CPU but equipped with more RAM (random access memory) will load programs just as fast or even more so, than on a computer with a faster CPU but fewer RAM. The same thing with video cards; if it has plenty of memory, loading up and redrawing the screen will be much faster and smoother.
Besides the system memory, the Front Side Bus (FSB) plays a role as well. This is the device that connects the memory with the CPU. So the velocity of the FSB will be crucial in benchmarking CPU speeds too.
Another factor that affects benchmarking CPU speeds is its efficiency in handling assigned tasks. For instance, a 1 MHz (megahertz) CPU can perform a million cycles per second. While a 3 MHz is technically three times faster than the 1 MHz, it will not necessarily accomplish things exactly three times faster because the 1 MHz might be better at handling a task during the cycle.
The cache is also used for benchmarking CPU speeds, but again this can only indicate so much. The larger the cache the quicker the retrieval of the information (i.e., an L2 cache of 1 MB can store more data than an L1 cache of 256 kb). However, you also have to consider at what speeds the cache is working. If it does not make full use of the speed the CPU, then it will work less effectively.
Finally, benchmarking CPU speeds will depend on the tests being conducted. For example, you might see a series of tests performed on CPUs in a magazine or website. But read the manner in which the tests were performed. You will see that they use a variety of applications, from word processors, spreadsheets, 3D applications, photo editing software and Internet browsers. You will see statistics showing which one loads the fastest and slowest, etc.
But are those facts really useful? It is unlikely that you use all the software that were used for the tests, and the way they were run will not be the same way you utilize and load them. Also, it will not escape your attention that the difference between most CPUs is only a few seconds, which you will hardly notice when you are actually working on a project.
Benchmarking CPU speeds can be a useful gauge and tool for new buyers, as it will give them some idea of the velocity of the computer they are going to buy. However it is important that the other factors mentioned above be accounted for too, so you will know exactly what you are getting.
Peter Garant is computer expert and Internet security consultant and has wruitten many articles like CPU Speed Info and CPU Benchmark Info for Rolo and Symatech web sites.
Ideal Platforms for 3D Rendering
Ideal Platforms for 3D Rendering
3D graphics has taken over our visual space and it is small wonder that there are so many 3D graphics creating studios out there that are vying
for attention. From advertising companies to website owners, every one wants 3D graphics and interactive solutions to wow their clients and
visitors.
This has created the great demand that enables so many studios to come up in so little time. But the catch in this business is the cost of equipment. Systems for 3D graphic creation are expensive and they require a high amount of initial investment. This includes buying the main computers on which the main creation process will take place. Then come the usual accessories for crating the drawings and the wireframes. There is also the cost of infrastructure and softwares that add to the total sum that needs to be spent.
Till this point, it is still possible for studios to get away with investing in basic equipment to keep it cost effective. However, when it comes to building a rendering system, costs start to skyrocket. As most professionals and even amateurs would immediately, rendering is a processor intensive process and it takes a lot of processing power to crunch the data in at least twice that of real time.
However, the reality is that you need to have a very high amount of processing power to achieve decent speeds and one single CPU is never enough for this purpose. So most professional create smaller clusters of CPUs. This is based on the same principle that multi-core chips are based on – many hands make light work. This called parallel processing and it is how all high-demand computational jobs are carried out.
But these CPU clusters cannot be just chips put together because such a system would need to be custom made and that is super computers are built. Instead, the clusters are actually interconnected machines that are full-fledged systems. They have the full chip, motherboard, RAM, storage and OS setup. Their combined processing power is called upon to make the rendering process faster. After all, no one really wants to wait for days to finish rendering a movie!
But creating such cluster is expensive. Each system needs to be a capable system to be able to contribute properly to the process. This where the costs really start to escalate. Thankfully, solutions do exists and you do not have to physically go somewhere else either.
There are good renderfarm that operate through the Internet and offer you prices based on how much processing power you will need. The calculation is done on the basis of per Ghz of processing power required by each renderfarm. And you do not have to worry about the types of rendering they support because integration is provided for all major softwares and their rendering types. This includes Maxwell render, mental ray, v ray, final render, and vue, just to name a few. All major softwares like 3D Max, Maya, Blender, etc are fully supported.
Related 3d Cpu Articles
The Right CPU For You
The Right CPU For You
There are a number of way you can go about choosing a CPU. Some require a little skill and research; others are quite simple. No matter what method you choose though, shop around before you buy a CPU. Both online and offline there can be a massive difference in price ranges for particular CPU, within a range. Don’t just buy the first one come across!
BUDGET
The single most common method of choosing a CPU is based on price. People building a PC usually have a final budget that they are aiming for, and they use this as a basic for choosing the CPU.
CPUs can be pricy and will probably the single most expensive component of a PC. There’s a huge difference in price between cheapest budget CPU from Intel and AMD and their high-performance CPU offerings, which are going to be expensive, so it’s no wonder that people use budget as a way to choose. It makes life so much easier.
There is a certain logic to using price to determine what CPU to buy. It has always been the case that the top-of-the-rang, fastest CPUs are always artificially overpriced. Wait a few months and the same CPU will have been replaced by a faster one and the price will drop dramatically.
Buying a CPU based on budget alone might seem like the easy option, but there are some very important considerations to keep in mind:
SHOP AROUND. If you are buying your CPU based on price, then do make sure that you shop around for the absolute best deal you can get. Nothing is more depressing for people than to go out and buy a CPU only to find that could have had the same CPU for far less(or could have had a far more powerful a CPU for their money). CONSIDER THE MOTHERBOARD. Be sure to factor in the price of the motherboard. Expensive CPUs generally require more expensive motherboards, so it’s vital to consider the total cost. FACTOR IN DELIVERY COSTS. Sometimes, what you gain on price you lose on delivery charges. Elevated delivery charges can be a trick used by stores to allow them to have competitive price yet claw that money back on delivery charges. If you are buying on a budget, then find out how much delivery is going to be before placing the order.
PERFORMANCE
For some people there’s nothing more important than having the biggest, fastest, latest technology. There are number of reasons why people go for the latest technology.
Some commonly quoted reasons are:
longer technology lifespan (longer before they have to upgrade). They want to play games or run software that demands high performance. They want the latest and best technology.
Going for the best in terms of performance is going to be expensive. Here are a few tips to help you get the best deals.
Determine How Much Speed You Need How Much CPU power you need depends a lot on what you are going to be doing with your new PC. only you can truly decide how much power you need, but application (general office, gaming, Internet, 3D wire frame and rendering software) you need run will help you decide what range of CPU power you should looking for. Processor speeds are important indicators of speed, but only when compared with CPUs in the same series. Two other specs-Level 2 (L2) cache and front-side bus (FSB)-also play an important role in overall performance. Make Sure That “Top of the Range” Is Really “Top of the Range” Seems obvious, but in fast moving world it’s easy for technology to take a step forward without your noticing. Also, never trust salespeople to either be honest or have the full facts (sounds harsh but it’s true-they are there to sell products to you).
Do your own research, on the web and in magazines. Get information from more than one source, and try to find out if there are any imminent CPU releases from either AMD or Intel that would mean you might be better off waiting a few weeks to get the very latest technology.
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