processors

Mike said:
Just curious, could someone tell me what a 64bit and hyperthreading processor is?
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Well, hyperthreading is something new in the world of computers. It means that your system has only ONE processor, but all software "see" actually TWO. And of course, not only you can see two processors, but programs that designed to work for multi-processor systems, can take advantage of this. E.g. each thread can be run in separate processor and at same time. Such applications include MS Office XP for example, or Windows XP itself, and of course Server products - SQL Server, Oracle, etc.
 
StPatrick said:
Well, hyperthreading is something new in the world of computers. It means that your system has only ONE processor, but all software "sees" actually TWO. And of course, not only you can see two processors, but programs that designed to work for multi-processor systems, can take advantage of this. E.g. each thread can be run in separate processor and at same time.
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So if I put a HT processor in my computer it wouldn't improve performance unless I run software that is built to run with this technology?
 
Mike said:
So if I put a HT processor in my computer it wouldn't improve performance unless I run software that is built to run with this technology?
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Right, just as with multi-processor systems. I've edited my previous message and included some applications that support multiple-processors :)

Not sure about games. AFAIK there is no computer game that support multi-processor or hyperthreading, but I may be wrong.
 
Also, I'll tell why I know it, lol. The company I'm working in, just bought one computer with HT technology.. Well, I were testing its speed for about 2 weeks for now. SQL Server does work better on it, but our programs (since they are not designed for multi-processor) don't take any advantage and works just as on other computers.
 
Ah yes, and about 64 bit processors... Well, here everything is goes about size. You have big database, memory usage, large files, etc.? Then 64 bit is for you. See, basicly the upper border of, for example, memory in computer may be 4Gb. Why? Because 32bit number can be maximum 4Gb, or if you want the exact number it is 4,294,967,295 bytes :) Here comes 64bit technology - it extends the limitation to 18 million terabytes! Something that I can't even imagine clearly :). Anyway, if you want to read more about 64bit processors, here is the link:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/64bit_3.html
 
Mike said:
that's interesting :)
So the whole idea of going 64bit is to get more RAM?
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Basicly yes. So how it applies to speed you'll ask? Well, I'll give an example with SQL Server, since this is what I know. There is an option in SQL Server - how much of data to keep in RAM (which causes of course faster access and respond). So because of limitation of 32bit systems, maximim you can have is 4Gb in memory. In 64bit, you can put more. That's the point :)

Now as with HT/MP architecture mentioned before, you have your programs to support 64bit processor :) I most cases, it means just re-compiling the code with some flag, nothing more.
 
It would also allow you to store larger data values in memory, such as variable number sizes and data register sizes. Remember when declaring an Integer would overflow after 32,765? Look up the upper-bound for an Integer in your favorite language now and see the difference.
-Dave
 
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