Originally posted by Andy
Hyperthreading isn't quite like having 2 processors, but allowing 1 processor to do two completely different things at one time. For example, if your calculating a floating point number and moving something through a bus, a HT enabled processor can do them at the same time. If you have two operations wanted access to the floating point calculation aspect of the processor, there is no performance benefit, one still has to wait. To really maximize the use of HT processors, the programs that use them must be optimized for them, so some older programs may not run any faster with HT.
I'm still waiting for more info about the P4 extreme edition. I've heard it's a 3.6Ghz P4 with a 2megs of L2 cache. Going to be pricey but should be impressive. Intel isn't being caught with their pants down either, they've got new technologies probably already ready for market. I've read that the nessicary hardware configurations for hyperthreading have been in place in Intel chipset specifications but never actually activated since the Pentium 3's. Intel just never needed a new hot technology for a sales boost so they just waited and attached to the 800 Mhz P4's.
Which is exactly the reason why I runa dual Xeon setup
And I agree about pants being not down. AMD and Intel are sizing each other out. Throwing jabs here and there and trying to see how the opponents are reacting.
And the bit about the HT is true. I knew about it 6months before it was officially introduced so it was probably capable years before that.
One of my friend that used to work for Intel told me when the P4 was introduced, that was stuff people were working on several years ago :happysad: