It's (Almost) Hammer Time 344
thelizman writes "C|Net is catching up on the buzz with AMD's Hammer line of processors. Of note in the article is how AMD demonstrated their 64-bit contender using Linux and Windows, instead of just Windows. In reality, Linux will likely have 64 bit applications more quickly than Microsoft, and will see use on this processor more readily than your average WinTel machine, so you know...like...it only makes sense."
M.C. Hammer TIME! (Score:0, Informative)
U Can't Touch This
By M.C. Hammer
It's hammer time (Repeat 5x)
My, my, my music hits me so hard
Makes me say "Oh my Lord"
Thank you for blessing me
With a mind to rhyme and two hype feet
It feels good, when you know you're down
A super dope homeboy from the Oaktown
And I'm known as such
And this is a beat, uh, you can't touch
I told you homeboy (You can't touch this)
Yeah, that's how we living and you know (You can't touch this)
Look at my eyes, man (You can't touch this)
Yo, let me bust the funky lyrics (You can't touch this)
Fresh new kicks, advance
You gotta like that, now you know you wanna dance
So move, outta your seat
And get a fly girl and catch this beat
While it's rolling, hold on
Pump a little bit and let 'em know it's going on
Like that, like that
Cold on a mission so fall them back
Let 'em know, that you're too much
And this is a beat, uh, you can't touch
Yo, I told you (You can't touch this)
Why you standing there, man? (You can't touch this)
Yo, sound the bell, school is in, sucka (You can't touch this)
Give me a song, or rhythm
Make 'em sweat, that's what I'm giving 'em
Now, they know
You talking about the Hammer you talking about a show
That's hype, and tight
Singers are sweating so pass them a wipe
Or a tape, to learn
Designing the X86-64 architecture... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:hammer time (Score:2, Informative)
I plan to get a 2 processor Clawhammer box myself, it's the only reason I haven't upgraded for the past year. I'm bored of having a mainstream PC (P3 550MHz, don't ask...) after using a StrongARM/NetBSD box for a few years. Time for something novel and exciting - dual processor new fangled chip sounds like just the thing...
Re:cf: IA64 (Score:5, Informative)
The site also has a 64-bit simulator [x86-64.org] for you favorite 32-bit processor based Linux system.
Re:Can't touch this (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Can't touch this (Score:2, Informative)
mov ah, #1
mov ax, #1
mov eax, #1
mov rax, #1
Feel free to read the specs [amd.com].
Re:Windows at disadvantage? (Score:3, Informative)
AFAIK:
- NT code isn't 64 bit safe. 2000/XP I'm not sure of.
- the 64 bit port of NT was developed on the Alpha, initially anyway, and then ported to the Itanium.
- Alpha Linux has always been 64 bit. One of the earlier kernels had to be extensively revised to be 64 bit safe in order to run on the Alpha.
Soko
(O/T - The Alphas still killed the Intel machines at the time with MHz as well as memory and I/O bandwidth, which is why we used them. Oh well.)
The Hybrid isn't delayed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:AMD was right to grab every DEC Alpha engineer (Score:3, Informative)
Re:64-bit on the desktop? (Score:3, Informative)
- it's fast
- there are additional registers available which should help compilers quite a lot (avoiding false dependencies: more opportunities for executing more instructions at the same time)
- it's fast.
Ok maybe you could say that you don't need such speed, but the games you play don't look like Final Fantasy (the movie) and your opponents could really be smarter and I suspect that a good AI is very,very CPU-consuming.
Re:Will this hammer... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:AMD, i love you. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Windows at disadvantage? (Score:3, Informative)
It's been pointed out for ages in the NT Insider Newsletter.
My guess is: Microsoft doesn't work in a fishbowl like the Mozilla team does; but it must not cost them much to keep an IA-64->x86-64 port of XP64 ready, just in case (especially since I guesstimate the HAL should merely be a hybrid of x86 and IA-64, the compiler an extension of the x86 logic (much less difficult than VLIW and much well understood), and the code above HAL, once 64-bit clean, is (reportedly) written in compiled, not assembled, languages).
Re:64 bit proc = extreme heat? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:AMD was right to grab every DEC Alpha engineer (Score:2, Informative)
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-227510.html?legac
There was ONE or two 1GHz Alpha's mounted in a SlotB format at API in *1999*. These had to use 250MHz cache (at a 1:4 ratio). Limitations in the Tsunami chipset didn't favor anything more than an 833MHz. This meant that with the slow cache and Tsunami limitations, the 1GHz was like putting a Corvette engine in a Cavalier. Goes fast doing only one thing. Don't take a corner.
Those one or two 1GHz Slot B's were proto's. They are probably still on my former desk or in the lab or maybe have been shipped back to Korea by now. API closes its doors this week from what I've heard.
I worked at API.
Re:The Hybrid isn't delayed (Score:3, Informative)
*cough* nitpick: x86 began as a 16-bit architecture; when you say "8-bit" you're probably thinking of the 8088 which had an 8-bit external data bus and which IBM used in their PC because, basically, they were doing their motherboards on the cheap.
Anandtech article with pictures! (Score:4, Informative)
Anandtech has posted an article with lots of information and pictures Right here [anandtech.com].
Re:Desktop applications requiring lots of RAM (Score:1, Informative)
Physical RAM is not the issue here either. It's the virtual address space.
Video editing is probably the best example: A full length video film will not fit into 4 GB (DVD quality). 64bit will remove ugly workarounds that have been necessary here. You don't have to actually have 10 GB of memory in your PC...