How many cores does your CPU have??

[DanceswithUnix]

The answers not that straightforward - it's 4 core w.r.t. 256 FP operations, and nearer 16+ core for Int operations!

16 cores?? Looks to me like 8 integer cores, sharing resources (more than just FP & cache) in pairs. It is a bold step, as AMD say that even in integer workloads the use of the second core of a module hits the first but just not as badly as hyper-threading does.

As for the FP part, ISTR when AMD kicked all this off FP units were 64 bits wide and so used multiple clocks to do big SSE instructions. AMD designed with 128 bit FP per core plus the ability for a core not doing FP to let the paired core use those units, giving what at the time was a monster 256 bit FP. Then they spent too long getting to market and now shared 256 bit looks a bit weak

[kalniel]

16 cores?? Looks to me like 8 integer cores, sharing resources (more than just FP & cache) in pairs.

And two int pipelines per integer core, no?

[Grey M@a]

Q6600 still going strong in my rig, will be for a long time yet. Coupled with the 5870 1GB and the games I can see coming down the line and I doubt I will need to upgrade any time soon unless its down to hardware failure.

[scaryjim]

And two int pipelines per integer core, no?

No, 4 int pipelines per integer core; 2 cores per module; 4 modules in an 8 core CPU.

Intel's core processors also (already!) have 4 int pipelines per core. AMDs processors dating back to at least the Athlon (and possibly further) have 3 int piplelines. By your reckoning Phenom II X6s would by 18 core CPUs already!

[Attila the Bun]

Quad - Phenom 965BE

Single (I think*) 939 Athlon 64 3400+

* Until I decided to build my own rig I never thought about the number of cores or anything else to do with the CPU etc...Now I have discovered gaming and I want to know everything

[oolon]

I was going to start detailing all my machines "cores" as I several some dual core dual processor machines and other combinations. Then I started thinking about the cost and started crying to myself inside..... So just top and bottom of the scale.

Up 6 Cores with HT Xeon w3680 (My play machine)
Bottom 1 Core with HT N470 Atom (Firewall)

The Atom infact is my latest addition, no moving parts (CF based drive and no fans)12 Watts total power usage.

[kori sletekke]

All in working machines with the exception of the X2 5000 :-)

i7 920 - Quad with HT
i7 740QM - Quad with HT
X2 6000 - Dual Core
X2 5000 - Dual Core (Unlockable to a Quad but no mobo)
T8300 - Dual Core
Opteron 146 - Single Core
XP-M 2500 - Single Core
Pentium 4 3.06 - Single Core
T2060 - Dual Core
Intel Atom 450

[Max]

Ten. Well, a four and a six.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Nobody got my bad joke!

[Sputnik]

Core blimey!! A lot of Hexus members have a quad core!

Nobody got my bad joke!

I got it ! (I think)

[DanceswithUnix]

And two int pipelines per integer core, no?

That has been the case for a very long time, even the original Pentium (is in 586) was superscaler albeit it did a pretty poor job of it.

Modern cores have execution units for data movement, jumping and arithmetic and issue 3 or 4 instructions at a time.

Fact of the day: On average every 6th instruction in a compiled program is a jump, which limits the return on just stuffing more integer units into a core and gives a sweet spot of issuing 3 instructions in a clock maximum

[Tattysnuc]

I got it ! (I think)

Me too. It's hard to type a response with you head in your hands groaning....

[scaryjim]

... gives a sweet spot of issuing 3 instructions in a clock maximum

If that was the case why have both major chip manufacturers moved to 4 issue cores?

[oolon]

If that was the case why have both major chip manufacturers moved to 4 issue cores?

That is 3 instructions per thread of execution, not multiple threads/processes. Though it can all get a bit misty, where you have multiple decoding units (hyperthreading), supplying multiple cores, then which can then be assigned to multiple processing units.

[DanceswithUnix]

If that was the case why have both major chip manufacturers moved to 4 issue cores?

Because they care more about absolute performance than anything else, so although they are past the sweet spot they don't care.

OTOH, I wouldn't expect to see an Atom or Bobcat core with 4 issue soon, both are dual issue.

[Terbinator]

I'm loving this throw down of superior architecture knowledge, even if i don't know what half of it means. :'(