Re: Confused - help please
"Is this article saying that on an AMD processor, if it states 8 cores, the gadget I use would report 8 processors? Do Intel hyper-threads=AMD cores or have I missed the point of this entirely?"
HyperThreading is quite different from what AMD has.
Roughly (very) speaking:
HyperThreading uses parts of the CPU pipeline that are unused, to process another instruction. It doesn't double the performance, but it helps.
AMD went a different road: It made two CPUs, and stripped some parts of one of them. Then both where glued together. Is more complex than this, but...
So. One AMD unit (sold as two cores) has:
One decode unit
Two integer pipelines
One FPU unit
One assemble unit
The catch: It is faster to decode than to process. In most (no all, but most) cases there is no difference from having one or two decode units to two pipelines.
The FPU is 256 bit wide. It can process one 256bits instruction per clock. But it can process two 128bits instructions per clock, or even four 64bits instructions per clock. And not all FPU work is 256bit.
If memory serves me right, the assemble unit goes the same way of the decode unit.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
