Any Use for 64 bit?

M

MikeF98765

Gawd
Joined
Sep 26, 2003
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Well I'm getting my m6811 today, and i was wondering... Winxp64 sounds like its not worth it at all and linux64 doesn't sound like it works all to well on this laptop, is there anything cool i can do now that i have 64 bits?
 
for right now i am not too sure, but from waht i have heard whe nthe new standard for mother boards comes out soon, the 64 bit will ahve alot more paly... haven't looked into it much
 
Enjoy the benefits of the 64 bit processor that still work with a 32 bit OS like naturally better performance, on die memory controller, ability to handle more memory, etc :)
 
tdg said:
Enjoy the benefits of the 64 bit processor that still work with a 32 bit OS like naturally better performance, on die memory controller, ability to handle more memory, etc :)
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64-bit CPUs do not offer naturally better performance in 32-bit apps. If this was the case the Itaniums wouldn't perform so horribly in a 32-bit environment. The reason that the A64s perform better than 32-bit P4s in numerous things, especially gaming, is because of the CPU design as a whole. The ability to handle more memory doesn't count for anything unless you plan on using over 4GB, which is most unlikely in 99.9999999999% of desktop systems. The on-die memory controller is nice but definitely not the source of high performance.
 
kick@ss said:
The on-die memory controller is nice but definitely not the source of high performance.
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Actually, it's a significant contributor, because it offers far lower memory latency than an off-die or off-chip solution.
 
xonik said:
Actually, it's a significant contributor, because it offers far lower memory latency than an off-die or off-chip solution.
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You are right....
 
Yep... An Athlon 64 is basically an Athlon XP with an onboard memory controller, higher clockspeeds, slightly longer pipeline, and instructions like SSE2 and X86-64. The onboard memory controller enhances performance ALOT.
 
Liam said:
Yep... An Athlon 64 is basically an Athlon XP with an onboard memory controller, higher clockspeeds, slightly longer pipeline, and instructions like SSE2 and X86-64. The onboard memory controller enhances performance ALOT.
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Yet A64 based systems don't take that commanding of a lead in synthetic memory benchmarks. While I'm sure that an on-die memory controller helps its performance, it's probably not going to be the sole, or probably even major, reason for high performance.
 
It is the reason why athlon 64's perform so well in games. I guess on die memory controllers dont help much in synthetic memory benchmarks :p
 
kick@ss said:
Yet A64 based systems don't take that commanding of a lead in synthetic memory benchmarks. While I'm sure that an on-die memory controller helps its performance, it's probably not going to be the sole, or probably even major, reason for high performance.
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:confused:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q3/athlon64-3500/index.x?pg=3

The entire AMD64 architecture owns the NetBurst family in the Cachemem memory latency benchmarks. And while both the high-end AMD64 and NetBurst processors have access to a dual channel DDR400 memory controller, the AMD64 family has bandwidth numbers that are a good 15% better.
 
xonik said:
:confused:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q3/athlon64-3500/index.x?pg=3

The entire AMD64 architecture owns the NetBurst family in the Cachemem memory latency benchmarks. And while both the high-end AMD64 and NetBurst processors have access to a dual channel DDR400 memory controller, the AMD64 family has bandwidth numbers that are a good 15% better.
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AMD wins one and loses one. Not very indicative of something that's a clear cut winner. In the second bandwidth test it shows that that low latency doesn't exactly equal more bandwidth.
 
kick@ss said:
AMD wins one and loses one. Not very indicative of something that's a clear cut winner. In the second bandwidth test it shows that that low latency doesn't exactly equal more bandwidth.
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:rolleyes:

points, in no particular order:

- Um, latency and bandwith are two totally different things, so yeah latency doesnt equal bandwith in any way shape or form.
Latency=time for the response to request for data (measured in time)
Bandwith=max rate at which data can be streamed (measured in amount/time)

- The P4's design loves high bandwith to keep its deep pipelines filled and it running efficiently. Hence, the original choice of Rambus ram... higher latency but higher bandwith... followed by ever-ramping fsb speeds and DDR ram speeds.

- A64's, not needing the bandwith as much with its big design differences from the P4 design, enjoys a good chunk of its performance improvement over AXP from the lower latency on-board controller. Just look at the performance difference between single and dual-channel A64's. Double the bandwith is only good for a few % in most real-world apps. A64 is not bandwith starved in most kinds of apps. On a side note, Note that the AXP even beats the A64 in a few specific tests... Most design choices are a trade-off in the real world.

-The low latency of the memory controller is one big reason that the A64 can compete with all versions of the P4, even the big L3 cache Xeons.

-In 32-bit mode, A64 really only differs from AXP in a few ways... memory controller onboard, small tweaks in design such as a few less commands are microcoded, TLB design, moderately-well performing SSE2 support, etc.



You could start here, if you'd like to see:
(Page 8 of Toms A64 intro article from last year) "Athlon XP-64 Core: 95 Percent Athlon"
http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030923/athlon_64-08.html
 
Liam said:
Yep... An Athlon 64 is basically an Athlon XP with an onboard memory controller, higher clockspeeds, slightly longer pipeline, and instructions like SSE2 and X86-64. The onboard memory controller enhances performance ALOT.
Click to expand...


"basically an Athlon XP"? Don't you mean "Basically an Opteron which kinda resembles the Athlon design in some ways?"
 
Liam said:
Yep... An Athlon 64 is basically an Athlon XP with an onboard memory controller, higher clockspeeds, slightly longer pipeline, and instructions like SSE2 and X86-64. The onboard memory controller enhances performance ALOT.
Click to expand...

And a Pentium 4 is a 486 with a bit more cache and higher clockspeed. :p
 
Actually, I find it interesting how far ahead the Athlons are in general, when the code is targetted towards it. Look at the benches comparing the AXP even, and the P4. Clock for clock, Athlons are way, way ahead. (Sometimes the P4 does win, but P4s seem to need a major, major clock advantage.)

Kind of makes you realize the Athlons truly are an engineering masterpiece... they beat a PIII 90% of the time, and in the past, easily held the P4's at bay, even when the games and apps were targetted towards Intel. :)
 
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