In a message dated: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 17:45:09, Peter Shkabara writes:


>>>The more I learn the more I get confused. From Intel specs I find that
the
Pentium D is a dual core processor but does not support Hyper-threading. Is
this because Intel has not yet created a dual core version that does include
Hyper-threading, or is there something inherent to the design to preclude
this?

Another related question to pose. The Pentium itself can be thought of as a
dual core 486. Does this mean that the Pentium D is really something similar
to a quad core 486? (I do realize that the Pentium core has a lot of
improved technology over the 486)<<<




As Mark has mentioned, the future of dual-core is here and it is not likely
to be passing technology. To add to the fray, I'd like to point out that
Intel does have one dual-core Hyper-threaded processor. It's the 8xx series
Extreme Edition
(http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentiumXE/index.htm) supported on
the 955XE (Express) chipset. Although the other 8xx series processors are
not HT, they all come with 2x1MB L2 cache and support 64bit instruction
sets. They are however supported only by the 945 and 955 series chipsets. A
better breakdown of processor number details can be found here
(http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/info.htm#pXE). It's
interesting to note that there are four types of Extreme Edition chips;
three that are single core, HT enabled
(http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium4HTXE/index.htm) and the
840EE dual core HT chip. The rest range from the 6xx series(2MB cache, 64bit
instruction, HT enabled), to the 5xx series(1MB L2 cache with HT support).
Additionally, Intel has released the 5x1 series which have 64bit support
along with 1MB L2 cache. (AMD processor numbering is starting to make more
sense :-)

On another note, the 915 series chipset uses the LGA775 socket, which
supports the 5xx series of processors from 2.8 to 3.8 GHz. I have an Intel
530 (3GHz) with the 925X chipset (DDR2 only, no on-board graphics) and I can
encode and burn a two hour movie using Nero's default settings for DVD
quality in 23 minutes. (Memorex 16x D/L drive using DVD-R).

Chris Ryan
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