On 6 Aug 99, at 17:33, Rick Swartz wrote:

> Win NT and LINUX both support multiple processors. Win95/98 doesn't.

  This is correct.

> To put it even more plainly: If you use a dual processor board with
> Win95/98 you'll find your sysem SLOWER than a system using one processor at
> the same speed. Why? Overhead caused by memory, PCI and other I/O
> activities is higher on a dual CPU system and you have no benefit from the
> second CPU. It does nothing but produce heat(nice if you live in a cold
> climate though).

  This is possible but improbable.  Win 9x will not enable the second CPU, so
no such overhead penalty should be incurred.  [You can get a bit of a penalty
if you install NT configured for multiple CPUs, and then remove all but one.]
  You probably *will* see some extra power consumption and heat dissipation,
because the BIOS has to bring up the second CPU in case you run an OS that
supports it.

> NT does use the second CPU but only programs that use multi threading
> (Adobe Photoshop) will actually see a big speed increase.

  This is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question).  NT schedules applications to
CPUs in terms of "threads".  It's true that a single application instance
will only ever use both CPUs at the same time if the application uses
multiple threads.
  However, consider that an instance of NT with no applications loaded has a
minimum of about 30 threads underway.  (This WS shows 343 running threads at
this moment.)  Even a single-threaded application is likely to benefit from
shoving background processes and housekeeping onto another CPU;
alternatively, your foreground application will remain responsive even while
some brute-force background application is soaking up every cycle it can get
its hands on.


David G

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