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Written by Tuan "Solace" Nguyen
Saturday, December 09, 2000
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Page 4 of 8 Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 (SSE2)
SIMD stands for Single Instruction Multiple Data and is a technology that allows the processor to apply a single arithmetic instruction to a bunch of datasets at the same time. Like MMX technology, SSE allows acceleration of repetitive instruction execution. Almost like a cache but not quite, SSE speeds up functions that are highly repetitive. Why reload geometry functions for a 3D game constantly per instruction when you can apply the function to a host of geometry data packs right? Right.
With the introduction of SSE2, the NetBurst architecture extends the SIMD capabilities that MMX and SSE technology delivered by adding 144 more new instructions that deliver 128-bit SIMD integer operations and 128-bit SIMD Double-Precision Floating-point operations. These new instructions deliver the capability to reduce the overall number of instructions required to execute a particular program task and as a result can contribute to significant performance increases.
 I want those speakers.
Most applications and games these days come with MMX compliancy built right in. It’s so common that no software touts the phrase “uses MMX Technology” anymore. You may think that MMX didn’t’ do much, but in fact, if you look at most of today’s games and applications, they all include MMX code -- remove them and you will see performance drops.
Virtually every developer has adopted MMX and SSE technology. SSE was even more widely accepted than MMX and was adopted rather quickly. Intel should have no problems pitching SSE2 to developers. Eventually these SIMD compliances will be seemingly integrated so well that you won’t notice.
Taking the In Roads or the Highway
With all this raw power that the Pentium 4 packs, it’s only natural to see that the standard 100MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Conventionally, Intel’s processors used a bus called the GTL+ bus, or Gunning Transceiver Logic bus. This has been used since the Pentium II and recently Intel accelerated it (AGTL+) with the 133MHz FSB based Pentium III’s.
 Doesn’t that look like a processor?
Through a physical signaling scheme of quad pumping the data transfers over a 100MHz clocked system bus and a buffering scheme allowing for sustained 400MHz (effectively) data transfers, the Pentium 4 supports a FSB bandwidth of 3.2GB/sec in and out of the processor. The Pentium III pales in comparison with only 1.06GB/sec care of the 133MHz FSB -- also based on the AGTL+ bus.
 South Bridge
Currently the only chipset platform available for the Pentium 4 is the Intel i82850 chipset. It supports dual-channel RDRAM (Rambus DRAM) running at a speed of 400MHz. Add this with the 400MHz FSB and you get an equation that equals never before-seen memory bandwidth. What does this mean for you? It means you’ll be able to run multiple applications faster and smoother. You’ll be able to play Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament while burning a few of your favorite MP3’s to CD. Maybe you’re downloading a few files using your high-speed Internet connection but still want to play a few intense games of EverQuest while burning CD’s -- you can finally do it. I’ve seen Dan download 50 files at one time in IE. They were probably license agreements!
Intel is currently evaluating DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM and could possible have a DDR chipset out later next year. We’ll have to wait and see. RDRAM prices are still fairly expensive and may not be able to really outperform a Pentium 4 DDR system.
With all this new technology, what are the power requirements for a Pentium 4 system? ATX 2.03
With the Pentium 4 running as hot as it does, you have to make sure you have good cooling measures. After all, you don’t want a Chernobyl incident inside your PC. Intel has specific heatsink sizes that they recommend but to make sure that everyone follows the same design, Intel has introduced ATX 2.03.
Motherboards based on this new spec contain 4 large holes around the processor socket that let support beams attach to support the large and heavy Pentium 4 heatsinks. The HSF (heatsink/fan combo) that came with our reference system was heaver than a can of pop (or soda, if you prefer ;)). The bottom was copper and the fins were aluminum. Apparently this heatsink works really well and I have yet to touch it and feel any warmth. Of course using our tricks of the trade I added a Delta “Black label” 60mm fan onto it and took out the standard one.
Benchmark System
After all that info, I think it’s about time I show you how the processor performs.
With all that in mind, let’s continue.
Intel
Intel Pentium 4 1.5GHz
Intel D850GB Desktop reference motherboard
256MB PC800 Samsung RDRAM
NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra 64MB DDR
IBM Deskstar 75GXP 30GB UltraATA/100 7200RPM
Hitachi GD-7000 12X DVD ROM
Intel EtherExpress PRO 100+ Ethernet Adapter
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live!
AMD
AMD “Thunderbird” Athlon 1.1GHz
Asus A7V v. 1.2 with BIOS 1002 motherboard with VIA 4-in-1 4.2
256MB PC133 Micron Cas2 SDRAM
IBM Deskstar 75GXP 30GB UltraATA/100 7200RPM
Hitachi GD-7000 12X DVD ROM
Intel EtherExpress PRO 100+ Ethernet Adapter
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live!
Windows 98 Millennium
Windows 2000 Professional SP1
NVIDIA cards use Detonator 3 version 6.35 operating at 1024x768 @ 120Hz Refresh
BAPCo SYSMark 2000
ZD Content Creation Winstone 2000
ZD High-End Winstone 99
ZD WinBench 99 CPUM/FPUM
SiSoft Sandra 2001
3DMark2000 CPU Marks
800x600 @ 16bpps
3DMark2000
800x600 @ 16/32bpps
1024x768 @ 16/32bpps
1280x1024 @ 16/32bpps
VideoMark2000
1024x768 @ 32bpps
Quake 3 Arena with 1.25y Point Release
Demo 1 & 2: Normal and High Quality
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
Unreal Tournament 4.32
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
That’s a boatload of benches. Let’s see how the Pentium 4 performs.
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