Processors

Introduction to Processor

• There are a variety of processors manufacturers in the market including Intel , AMD  and Cyrix .

• Intel  processors are the processors that we are mainly concerned with.

• Intel  processors include 8088, 286, 386 , 486 , Pentium , Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium 4 processors.

• AMD  processor includes the Duron  and the Athlon  processors.

Key Topics

Intel  Processor 8088 Processor   80286 Processor 80386 Processor 80486 Processor Pentium  Processor Pentium  II Processor Pentium  III Processor

Celeron  Processor Pentium  4 Processor Itanium  Processor Processor  Comparison AMD  Processors Processor  Generation Over Clocking Heat  Sinks

 

Introduction to Processors

• Processors can understand, organize commands- instructions  and perform them which is referred to as processing

• Processors are often referred to as CPU  (Central Processing Unit), which is not strictly correct.

• CPU  is the major component of a processor.

• The ability of your processor defines your system capabilities, e.g. data bus, clock speed.

Processors and Transistors

• Processors are integrated circuits (IC ’s) full of transistors  ranging from 30 thousand transistors in the 8088 to 45 million transistors in the Pentium  4.

 

Processor  Manufactures And Specifications

• There are many different manufacturers of processors including Intel , AMD , Cyrix , and Motorola , but the PC gold standards is Intel that has the products that we will be emphasizing. The Intel processors have deferent physical shapes, internal designs in regards to their busses, the processing power, the speed, their cache, etc.

The 8088 Processor

• Original XT processor

• 8 bit  data bus

• 20 bit address bus and can access 1MB RAM

• 4.77 MHz to 9.54MHz Speed

• 40 pin Dual Inline Package (DIP ) socket  

• Can only operate in real mode  (DOS )

80286 Processor

• Original AT  processor

• 16 bit  data bus

• 24 bit address bus and can access 16MB RAM

• 6 MHz to 20MHz Speed

• 68 Pin Grid Array (PGA ) socket

• Can operate in real mode  (DOS ) or in protected mode  (Windows)

80386 Processor

• Comes in 2 Designs, DX  (expensive) and SX  (cheaper)

• DX  has 32 bit data bus and SX  has 16 data bus

• 32 bit address bus and can access 4GB RAM

• 25Mhz and 33MHz Speeds

• 132 pin Pin Grid Array (PGA ) socket

• Can operate in real mode  (DOS ) and in protected mode  (Windows) concurrently

80486 Processor

• 486  =(386  + 387  + 385 )

• Comes in 2 Designs, DX  (expensive) and SX  (cheaper)

• DX  has Math co-processor and SX  has no math co-processor

• Built in 8KB internal L1 cache

• 32 bit address bus and can access 4GB RAM

• 25Mhz and 33MHz Speeds

• 168 pin Pin Grid Array (PGA ) socket

• DX  design can use Floating point unit (FPU ) to perform heavy calculations in CAD programs  

486DX2/DX4 Processor

• Referred to as overdrive processor

• Increased internal processor speed

• DX2=50Mhz, DX4=100MHz

• External speeds unchanged

• Step down voltage regulation to 3.3V

• Heat  sink  used to prevent overheating

 

486  Processor  Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Comparison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pentium  I

• Equivalent to two 486  processors

• 64 bit  data bus

• 32 bit address bus and can access 4GB RAM

• 60Mhz to 200MHz Speed

• Grid Array (PGA ) socket

• Built in superscaler  processing

• Built in 16KB internal L1 cache

• 5V and Step down voltage regulation to 3.3V

• Heat  sink  used to prevent overheating

Pentium  Design

 

Pentium  MMX

• Designed for multimedia  and graphics 60% faster

• 57 multimedia  macrocode  added

• General  processing up to 20% faster

• 64 bit  data bus

• Grid Array (PGA ) socket

• 133Mhz to 266MHz Speeds

• 32 bit address bus and can access 4GB RAM

• Built in 32KB internal L1 cache

Pentium  Pro

• Optimized Pentium  with RISC  architecture

• 64 bit  data bus

• 150Mhz to 200MHz Speed

• Grid Array (PGA ) socket

• Built in 16KB internal L1 cache

• Built in 256KB to 1M external L2 cache

• 64 bit  address bus and can access 64GB RAM

• Step down voltage regulation to 3.3V

• Heat  sink  used to prevent overheating

• Built in superscaler  processing and true 32 bit design for 32 bit code (e.g. WINNT, professional)

Pentium  II

• Equivalent to two Pentium  processors

• Codenamed Klamath and Deschutes .

• 64 bit  data bus

• 233Mhz to 450MHz Speed

• Built in superscaler  processing

• Step down voltage regulation to 2.4V Designed for high 3D  graphics and multimedia  Built in 32KB internal L1 cache  

• Single Edge Cartridge(SEC ) using 242 pin slot 1

• 64 bit  address bus and can access 64GB RAM  Built in 256KB, 512KB external L2 cache

• Heat  sink  and fan used to prevent overheating

Pentium  III

• Codenamed Katmai and Cumine.

• Designed with 70 new instructions  called Internet  Streaming  (SIMD ) extensions for enhancing Video  and Audio  streaming , 3D  processing

• 64 bit  data bus

• Built in serial number

• 450Mhz to 1GHz Speed

• Built in superscaler  processing

• Built in 32KB internal L1 cache  

• Built in 256KB, 512KB external L2 cache

• 64 bit  address bus and can access 64GB RAM  

• Single Edge Cartridge(SEC ) using 242 pin slot 1

• Step down voltage regulation to 2.4V

• Heat  sink  and fan used to prevent overheating

 

Pentium  III Design

Xeon

• Exists for both Pentium  II and III processors

• Designed for high end Workstations  and Servers

• 64 bit  data bus

• Built in serial number

• 450Mhz to 1GHz Speed

• Single Edge Cartridge(SEC )

• Error  checking  and correction of bytes of data

• 64 bit  address bus and can access 64GB RAM  

• Built in 32KB internal L1 cache  

• Built in 512KB, 1MB, 2MB external L2 cache

• Step down voltage regulation to 2.4V

• Built in thermal sensor and uses heat sink and fan to prevent overheating

Celeron

• Downgraded Pentium  II to make it more affordable

• 64 bit  data bus

• 233Mhz to 1GHz Speed

• Built in superscaler  processing

• Built in 32KB internal L1 cache  

• Built in 128KB external L2 cache

• Step down voltage regulation to 2.4V

• 64 bit  address bus and can access 64GB RAM  

• Both single Edge Cartridge(SEC ) using 242 pin slot 1 and Pin Grid Array (PGA ) socket  

• Heat  sink  and fan used to prevent overheating

Pentium  4

• Codenamed Willamette and Northwood processor.

• NetBurst  architecture offers 20 stage pipelines  offering advanced dynamic execution and a rapid execution engine.

• Available in speeds of up to 2.0GHz

• Capable of SSE2 (streaming  SIMD  extensions 2)

• Built in dual RDRAM  bus with i850 chipset .

• System bus speeds reach 400MHz-delivering 3.2GB/s to the processor using a technique called Quad pumping .

• SSE2 has a collection of 144 new 128-bit integer  and floating  point instructions  to improve some applications  that utilize these features up to 10 folds.

Pentium  4 Processor  Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Itanium  Processor

 

• Developed by Intel  and HP for the server market

• Designed with IA-64 EPIC  (Explicitly Parallel Instructions Computing) for added speed

• Requires special OS for its new architecture and performs hardware emulation on old OS

• 64 bit  data bus

• 64 bit  address bus and can access 16GB SDRAM

• 1GHz Speeds and above

• Built in 32KB internal L1 cache  

• Built in 256KB, 512KB external L2 cache

• Built in 4MB of L3 cache  in processor, which runs on 12.3GB/sec bus.

Itanium  Specifications

 

• Uses 0.18 micron  technology which step down the voltage regulation to 1.8V

• VLIW design fetches more then one instruction at a time.

• Heat  sink  and fan used

• Uses M slot cartridge.

• 128 integer  and 128 floating  point registers

• multiple integer  and floating  point units all working in parallel

• Possible to use clustering  with 512 processors to create a supercomputer

 

Processor  Comparison I

 

 

 

 

AMD  Processors

• AMD  is Intel ’s main rival in IBM  compatible  processor. The two major processors it currently has in the market are the Athlon  and the Duron  processors.

• The Athlon  processor is designed the compete with the Pentium  II,III etc.

• The Duron  is primarily designed for the home user market competing with the Celeron  processors.

• It is worth remembering that Microsoft only guaranties its products on Intel  processors.

AMD  Athlon  Processor

• Design based on the RISC  DEC Alpha  systems

• Look like Pentium  II slot design chip but uses a different slot called slot A

• It has three instruction decoders, which translate the X86 program's CISC  instructions  to RISC  instructions

• Speeds ranging from 600MHz to 1.4GHz

• Several different version including the Thunderbird  which competes with the Xeon  chips in the server market.

• New system bus speeds ranging from 200MHz to 400MHz transferring data up 3200MB/sec

• Bus can handle new RAM  types including the SDRAM  and RDRAM

• Handles 72 instructions  simultaneously

• Enhanced 3D  now technology producing 3D performance

• Up to 8 MB  L2-cache  (minimum 512 Kb, without extra TAG-RAM ).

• 22 million transistors  which is more then all processors of its generation

• 128KB of L1-cache

AMD  Duron  Processor

• The Duron  processor is designed for the lower end of the market, competing against the Celeron  Processor  

• It has 64 KB L2 cache  built on board

• It has 128 KB L1 cache  built on board

• It has its own exclusive L2 cache  design

• CPU  speeds ranging from 600 to 950 MHz

• Socket A  design for more cost effective motherboard  design

• Can work with both PC100 and PC133 RAM

Cyrix  6x86MX

• Processors were designed for the lower end market and did not function well with the 32 bit operating systems such as Windows NT .

• A collaboration between IBM  and Cyrix  

• Speeds range from 200MHz to 266MHz.

• Overcame initial problems due to overheating .

Processor  Generation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over clocking

• Over clocking  gives you the ability of improving the performance  of your processor by increasing its clock speed beyond its design specifications.

• Since the processor is doing more work it will generate more heat and need to have good cooling.

Clock Speed Configuration

• You can usually over clock the processor by changing a setting on your system board

• It can cause the destruction of the CPU  if the right precautions are not taken.

• Celeron  processors are especially over clocked up to twice their normal speeds.

 

Heat  Sinks

• All modern processors have millions of transistors , which produce a lot of heat.

• Heat  sinks and fans are used very often in modern systems to cool them down.

• Overheating of processors can cause a processor to halt but not to blow.

Questions

1. What does the acronym CPU  stand for?

1. Communicating  Processing Union

2. Central Processing Unit

3. Command Packing Unit

4. Command Picking Unit

2. Which mode can a 8086 processor work in?

1. Protected Mode

2. Real Mode

3. Real Mode and Protected Mode

4. Parallel Mode

5. Enhanced Mode

3. Which mode can a 80386 processor work in

1. Protected Mode

2. Real Mode

3. Real Mode and Protected Mode

4. Parallel Mode

5. Real Mode or Protected Mode

 

 

4. Which mode can a 80286 processor work in?

1. Protected Mode

2. Real Mode

3. Real Mode and Protected Mode

4. Parallel Mode

5. Real Mode or Protected Mode

 

5. How many bits is the data bus in a 386  processor?

1. 16 bits

2. 32 bits

3. 12 bits

4. 8 bits

5. 64 bits

 

6. How many bits is the data bus in a 286 processor?

1. 16 bits

2. 32 bits

3. 12 bits

4. 8 bits

5. 64 bits

 

7. How much RAM  can a 386  processor support?

1. 16 MB

2. 32 MB

3. 64 MB

4. 1 GB

5. 4 GB

 

8. What is the difference between the 486  SX  and 486 DX  chip (choose all that apply)

1. The 486  DX  has a built in math co-processor, the 486 SX  does not

2. The 486  DX  and SX  have different pin configuration

3. The 486  DX  is faster then the 486SX

4. The 486  DX  was built for the higher end market

5. The 486  SX  was built for the cheaper market

 

9. How much L1 cache  does a Pentium  MMX chip contain?

1. 8KB

2. 16KB

3. 32KB

4. 64KB

5. 4KB

 

10. What is the difference between the Pentium  I and a Pentium II processor (Choose all that apply)

1. The Pentium  I processor is a 32 bit processor and the Pentium II processor is a 64 bit  processor

2. The Pentium  I processor is a PGA  socket  design and the Pentium II is a SEC  slot1 design

3. The Pentium  I processor contains L1 cache  but the Pentium II processor contains L1 and L2 cache

4. The Pentium  I processor can access 4GB of RAM  and the Pentium II processor can address 64GB of RAM

5. The Pentium  I processor can reach speeds of 200MHz and the Pentium II can reach speeds of 500 MHz

 

11. What is the difference between the Pentium  II and a Pentium III processor (Choose all that apply)

1. The Pentium  II processor is a 64 bit  processor and the Pentium III processor is a 128 bit processor

2. The Pentium  III processor is a PGA  socket  design and the Pentium II is a SEC  slot1 design

3. The Pentium  III processor contains a serial number  and the Pentium II does not

4. The Pentium  III processor can access 128GB of RAM  and the Pentium II processor can address 64GB of RAM

5. The Pentium  III processor contains 70 new SIMD  instructions  and Pentium II does not

 

12. What socket  or slot is used for a Pentium  II processor?

1. Slot 1

2. Socket 370

3. Slot 2

4. Socket 8

5. Slot A

6. Socket 423

7. Socket A

13. What socket  or slot is used for a Celeron  processor? (choose all that apply)

1. Slot 1

2. Socket 370

3. Slot 2

4. Socket 8

5. Slot A

6. Socket 423

7. Socket A

14. What socket  or slot is used for a Pentium  Pro processor?

1. Slot 1

2. Socket 370

3. Slot 2

4. Socket 8

5. Slot A

6. Socket 423

7. Socket A

15. What socket  or slot is used for a Athlon  processor?

1. Slot 1

2. Socket 370

3. Slot 2

4. Socket 8

5. Slot A

6. Socket 423

7. Socket A

 

16. What socket  or slot is used for a Duron  processor?

1. Slot 1

2. Socket 370

3. Slot 2

4. Socket 8

5. Slot A

6. Socket 423

7. Socket A

17. What socket  or slot is used for a Pentium  4 processor?

1. Slot 1

2. Socket 370

3. Slot 2

4. Socket 8

5. Slot A

6. Socket 423

7. Socket A

Answers

1.      B

2.      B

3.      C

4.      E

5.      B

6.      A

7.      E

8.      A,B,C,D,E

9.      C

10.  B,C,D

11.  B,C,E

12.  A

13.  A,B

14.  D

15.  E

16.  G

17.  F