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- Thread starter Legion Kreinak
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Legion Kreinak
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What does 64-bit processing mean? Honestly, I've had this comp for four years, and it's only now I'm deciding to upgrade. I doubt I'd need to upgrade for awhile.
My original question was regarding single to dual cores, just with Intels. With Athlon's, then - are dual-cores, which only seem to be $100 or so more, worth the jump? If they're THAT much better, then why not?
My original question was regarding single to dual cores, just with Intels. With Athlon's, then - are dual-cores, which only seem to be $100 or so more, worth the jump? If they're THAT much better, then why not?
-Paul-
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here is my copy and pasting... this is kinda complicated but just put it this way it is much better for those performance demanding applications.
Why 64 bits?
The question of why we need 64-bit computing is often asked but rarely answered in a satisfactory manner. That this is so is evidenced by the fact that the question keeps coming up again and again in online discussions of AMD's upcoming Hammer processor. There are good reasons for the confusion surrounding the question, the first of which is the rarely acknowledged fact that "the 64-bit question" is actually two questions: 1) how does the existing 64-bit server and workstation market use 64-bit computing, and 2) what use would the consumer market have for 64-bit computing. People who ask the 64-bit question are usually asking for the answer to question 1 in order to deduce the answer to question 2. This being the case, we'll first look at question 1 before tackling question 2.
What is 64-bit computing?
If you've read my introduction to the basic concepts in microprocessor technology, "Understanding the Microprocessor," then you're familiar with the code/data distinction and its implications. (If you haven't read that article, you might want to at least skim it and look at the diagrams before going any further.) Simply put, the labels "16-bit," "32-bit" or "64-bit," when applied to a microprocessor, characterize the processor's data stream. Although you may have heard the term "64-bit code," this designates code that operates on 64-bit data.
In more specific terms, the labels "64-bit," 32-bit," etc. designate the number of bits that each of the processor's general-purpose registers (GPRs) can hold. So when someone uses the term "64-bit processor," what they mean is "a processor with GPRs that store 64-bit numbers." And in the same vein, a "64-bit instruction" is an instruction that operates on 64-bit numbers.
In the diagram above, I've tried my best to modify an older diagram in order to make my point. A quick recap, in case you don't remember the original diagram: black boxes are code, white boxes are data, and gray boxes are results. Also, don't take the instruction and code "sizes" too literally, since they're intended to convey a general feel for what it means to "widen" a processor from 32 bits to 64 bits.
You should notice that not all of the data in either memory, the cache, or the registers is 64-bit data. Rather, the data sizes are mixed, with 64 bits being the widest. We'll discuss why this is and what it means, shortly. (I should've made the outgoing data stream on the 64-bit processor a mix of 64-bit and 32-bit data, but it would've been too much work to go in and change all of those boxes like that. As it is, I just used the resize function the whole batch and left it at that.)
Note that in the 64-bit CPU pictured above, the width of the code stream has not changed; the same-sized opcode could theoretically represent an instruction that operates on 32-bit numbers or an instruction that operates on 64-bit numbers, depending on what the opcode's default data size is. (Fore more on opcodes, see this page. We'll talk about the specifics of x86-64 opcodes in the next section.) On the other hand, the width of the data stream has doubled. In order to accommodate the wider data stream, the sizes of the processor's registers and the sizes of the internal data paths that feed those registers must be doubled.
Now let's take a look at two programming models, one for a 32-bit processor and another for a 64-bit processor.
The registers in the 64-bit CPU pictured above are twice as wide as those in the 32-bit CPU, but the size of the instruction register (IR) that holds the currently executing instruction is the same in both processors. Again, the data stream has doubled in size, but the instruction stream has not. Finally, you might also also note that the program counter (PC) is doubled in size. We'll talk about the reason for this, shortly.
Now, what I just told you above was the simple answer to the question, What is 64-bit computing? If we take into account the fact that the data stream is made up of multiple types of data--a fact hinted at in the first comparative diagram above--then the answer gets a bit more complicated.
For the simple processor pictured above, the two types of data that it can process are integer data and address data. Ultimately, addresses are really just integers that designate a memory address, so address data is just a special type of integer data. Hence, both data types are stored in the GPRs, and both integer and address calculations are done by the ALU.
Why 64 bits?
The question of why we need 64-bit computing is often asked but rarely answered in a satisfactory manner. That this is so is evidenced by the fact that the question keeps coming up again and again in online discussions of AMD's upcoming Hammer processor. There are good reasons for the confusion surrounding the question, the first of which is the rarely acknowledged fact that "the 64-bit question" is actually two questions: 1) how does the existing 64-bit server and workstation market use 64-bit computing, and 2) what use would the consumer market have for 64-bit computing. People who ask the 64-bit question are usually asking for the answer to question 1 in order to deduce the answer to question 2. This being the case, we'll first look at question 1 before tackling question 2.
What is 64-bit computing?
If you've read my introduction to the basic concepts in microprocessor technology, "Understanding the Microprocessor," then you're familiar with the code/data distinction and its implications. (If you haven't read that article, you might want to at least skim it and look at the diagrams before going any further.) Simply put, the labels "16-bit," "32-bit" or "64-bit," when applied to a microprocessor, characterize the processor's data stream. Although you may have heard the term "64-bit code," this designates code that operates on 64-bit data.
In more specific terms, the labels "64-bit," 32-bit," etc. designate the number of bits that each of the processor's general-purpose registers (GPRs) can hold. So when someone uses the term "64-bit processor," what they mean is "a processor with GPRs that store 64-bit numbers." And in the same vein, a "64-bit instruction" is an instruction that operates on 64-bit numbers.
In the diagram above, I've tried my best to modify an older diagram in order to make my point. A quick recap, in case you don't remember the original diagram: black boxes are code, white boxes are data, and gray boxes are results. Also, don't take the instruction and code "sizes" too literally, since they're intended to convey a general feel for what it means to "widen" a processor from 32 bits to 64 bits.
You should notice that not all of the data in either memory, the cache, or the registers is 64-bit data. Rather, the data sizes are mixed, with 64 bits being the widest. We'll discuss why this is and what it means, shortly. (I should've made the outgoing data stream on the 64-bit processor a mix of 64-bit and 32-bit data, but it would've been too much work to go in and change all of those boxes like that. As it is, I just used the resize function the whole batch and left it at that.)
Note that in the 64-bit CPU pictured above, the width of the code stream has not changed; the same-sized opcode could theoretically represent an instruction that operates on 32-bit numbers or an instruction that operates on 64-bit numbers, depending on what the opcode's default data size is. (Fore more on opcodes, see this page. We'll talk about the specifics of x86-64 opcodes in the next section.) On the other hand, the width of the data stream has doubled. In order to accommodate the wider data stream, the sizes of the processor's registers and the sizes of the internal data paths that feed those registers must be doubled.
Now let's take a look at two programming models, one for a 32-bit processor and another for a 64-bit processor.
The registers in the 64-bit CPU pictured above are twice as wide as those in the 32-bit CPU, but the size of the instruction register (IR) that holds the currently executing instruction is the same in both processors. Again, the data stream has doubled in size, but the instruction stream has not. Finally, you might also also note that the program counter (PC) is doubled in size. We'll talk about the reason for this, shortly.
Now, what I just told you above was the simple answer to the question, What is 64-bit computing? If we take into account the fact that the data stream is made up of multiple types of data--a fact hinted at in the first comparative diagram above--then the answer gets a bit more complicated.
For the simple processor pictured above, the two types of data that it can process are integer data and address data. Ultimately, addresses are really just integers that designate a memory address, so address data is just a special type of integer data. Hence, both data types are stored in the GPRs, and both integer and address calculations are done by the ALU.
