System board contains a clock that sets the beat for all activity on the board.
Rated in megahertz 1 mgHz = 1,000,000 beats
In rthe old days a system could only do one thing per beat. Now we have systems that can do two things.
If the CPU is faster than the motherboard can handle then we incorporate wait states. a single wait state for each 2 beats would be a 50% slowdown in processor speed. Set in BIOS. Change at your own risk...
8088, 8086, 80286, 80386, 80486, Pentium
CPU Speed
Efficiency of programming code
Word Size (data Path Size) 16 to 64 bits (internal data size)
Data Path
largest number of bits that can be transported into the CPU (8 to 64 bits)
Maximum number of memory addersses
Address bus size - Minimum 1 megabyte max 4 gigabytes
CPU memory (cache
L1 or internal cache
Multiprocesing capability
Special functionality
mmx, RISC
We now measure CPU in terms of clock speed, bus speed, internal cache, and special functions.
CPU attributes have to agree with bus attributes
address bus and data bus must have the same number of bits on the bus
Provided mathematical calucaltion capability that operated faster than the CPU could handle it. Coprocesors were the same chip without the math unit disabled.
Pentiums have two math logic units. 64 bit external data path bit width and two 32 bit internal paths, one for each arithmetic unit.
memory or host bus operated at various speeds depending on the chip. 66, 75, 100, 133, 200.
Processor speed is the speed tht the procesor uses internally.
If the processor is operating at 100mHz and the bus speed is 75mHz than the CPU os operating twic as fast as the bus. This multiplier (X2) is usually set on teh motherboard. In reality bus speed is set, multiplier is set therefore the chip speed is a factor of the two numbers.
Memory Cache is a small amnount of SRAM that is much faster than normal DRAM. This memory is called L! cache or primary cache.There is also L2 cache also SRAM that is sometimes on the CPU sometime on the Motherboard.
Bus between the CPU and L2 is called the BACKSIDE BUS (frontside Bus is the system bus)
First, no longer manufactured. Had an error in the math unit.
Targeted to the home market. Included extra code that processed multimedia code more efficiently
32k - L1, no - L2, 66 Mhz bus speed, 133 to 266 mHz processor speed
Designed for heavy server use. First Pentium to offer onboard L2 cache. Did not perform well withg old software (dos. win3.1) because it was designed for 32 bit processing and 32 bit code.
16k - L1, 256, 512, 1 MB - L2, 60 or 66 mHz bus speed, 150 to 200 mHz processor speed
Designed for graphics workstations. Used a slot 1 instead of a socket.
Celeron was a low end version tha twas targeted to home and low end business use.
The Xeon was targeted to high end servers and included the capability to support multiple processors on the motherboard (up to 8). This processor was recommended for Win NT, 2000, and Unix.
32k - L1, 256, 512 - L2, 66, 100 Bus speed, 233 - 450 mHz processor speed
Xeon - 32 K L1, 512, 1 or 2 MB L2, 100 mH bus, 400-450 Processor speed
New technology called SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) which was an extension of MMX. Will create significant improvements in multimedia processing once operating system and applications are written to support it. 133 mHz bus speed up to 1Ghz.
Slot 2 procesor
32K L1, 256, 512 L2, 100, 133 Bus, 400 - 1gH processor
Xeon 32K L1, 256 - 2MB L2, 100, 133 Bus, 500 - 866 Processor
Back to socket type processor. Originally designed to work with RAMBUS technology to speed up access to RAM.
AMD
Cyrix
RISC chips contain fewer instructions on the chip itself. This makes for faster processing as long as the instructions are being processed. Used heavly in limited applications like video and other graphics appplications.
Must keep CPU below 185 degrees. SHould be between 90 and 110 degrees.
Might have variable speed and temperature monitors.
Large heatsinks are "cool"
Clean out the lint occassionaly.
There's a bunch of them.