One of the advances introduced to the Intel processor line around the time
of the 486 was the ability to execute two simple instructions at once, as
long as certain conditions were met.  This boosted application performance,
especially as new programming tools began to optimize code so that these
conditions were met as often as possible *within any given program*.  The
only support needed on the motherboard was to be able to retrieve
instructions from memory fast enough to keep the CPU busy.
  As I understand it, Hyper-Threading continues this trend, allowing the two
instructions executed simultaneously to be parts of two different running
processes.  This should boost overall system performance, as long as you
have enough RAM for your application mix, without raising some of the
caching issues faced by dual-CPU systems.
  Again, the connection between CPU and RAM could emerge as a bottleneck.
Other than that, though, I can't see any need for special motherboard
support.

David Gillett


On 17 Aug 2004 at 23:37, Devo130 wrote:

> Ok, I have a question, what is the difference between the P4 2.4 Northwood
> core and the others? I just want a good chip. Also if the chip is
> Hyper-threading enabled, does the motherboard have to be also? The
> motherboard I have is the Biostar P4SXQ currently running a Celeron on it
> but can support up to a P4 2.4 Doesn't mention anything about H/T, so I have
> no clue if it would work on my board at all. Please advise soonest!
>
> Ron Delvecchio
>
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