core duo
welcome to part 1 of “my laptop rocks” series. this will be a series of documents explaining (or glorfiying) my compaq v2000t. if ever you find something that doesn’t seem right or something you’d like to talk about, i’d appreciate a comment.
1.73ghz core duo processor
given the hard time that processor manufacturers are having to break the 4ghz processor speed barrier for commercial sale, the big boys are left to tinker around with other configurations to improve computer performance.
gone are the days when computer performance was based solely on the processor speed. these days, processors are getting a lot of help from its instruction sets, improvements in the front-side buses, L1 / L2 cache reconfiguration, etc.
instruction sets
for instance, core duo processors have an additional 13 functions for its instruction set - dubbed SSE3.
why is the addition of 13 functions relevant? sometimes, the computer may need to perform a certain operation. without a native function for the required operation, the processor is forced to arrive at the solution after two or three native functions. think of a processor that’s required to multipy 2×10. but since it only know how to add, it goes 2+2=4. then 4+2 =6. then 6+2=8 and so on and so forth.
what’s the other side? sometimes, the instruction sets get too crowded with too many functions - most of which are ignored or waste cpu cycles by being too complex. a good example is the Reduced Instruction Set Computer which came out a few years ago advocating the less is more rule.
that’s why it’s not unusual to find added and removed instructions in the IS once in a while.
front side buses
core duo’s front side bus is pegged at 667mhz. well, at least mine is. front-side buses are important when choosing your system because they determine how fast your computer can run. your processor speed is based on the fsb and the multiplier.
processor speed = fsb x multiplier
this simple formula is what most overclockers have been tinkering around with to increase cpu speed or stability.
take for example a 500mhz processor with a 100mhz frontside bus. in this case, the multiplier is 5. playing around with the fsb or multiplier settings can usually be done in the BIOS (it’s the press “Something” to enter setup when you boot up your computer) or from the motherboard jumpers.
so, class, if my processor speed is at 1.73ghz, with my front-side bus at 667 mhz, what’s my multiplier? … Good job!
L1 and L2 cache
you’ve probably heard of cache sizes since forever. Introducing the new Product Z! Comes with a 32kb L1 cache and 256kb L2 cache! now these caches are vital to your computer experience because these are the places (or technically speaking, memory registers) where data and instructions are stored when the computer is doing something. what’s the difference between the cache and ram? cache is faster but more expensive! so while fast fast fast might be the way to go, broke broke broke is not an option for most people. typically speaking bigger cache sizes means better cpu performance. relevant data can be stored on a faster memory holder longer - reducing the processor wait times when data is fetched from slower types of memory.
but enough of academic stuff that you already know about anyway, i want to talk about my core duo. woooot!
what makes core duo so special? beside being something that i own, it’s a processor chip with two processor cores in it. think of two pentium M processors sandwiched into one wonderful package. think of two scoops of sundae… in one cone! or think siamese. you get the drift.
each core has its own 64kb cache for data and 64kb cache for instructions (i’m not sure, correct me if i’m wrong) and both has access to the 2mb L2 cache. if you thought these numbers are good enough, wait, there’s more! each core can sleep. yeah. sleep. as in zzzzzzzz. whenever there’s nothing much running on the background, like your cool screensaver or your favorite word processor only, one core can enter sleep mode where it leaves all the processing to the other core and consumes less energy.
made with the 65 nanometer process, a fairly new commercial technology, the processor chip packs in more transistors for increased processing power. this is a 25nanometer leap from the widespread 90nm tech used by others. in addition, electrons no longer have to travel 90nm to get from one place to the next - this means faster processing cycles too! though even as we speak, intel is already talking about its 45nm chips! wow.
and i think that does it for my laptop rocks session today. more on this gadget next time.
