Transcript Introduction to Computer Organization

Current Computer
Architecture Trends
CE 140 A1/A2
29 August 2003
The GigaHertz Race
6 March 2000: AMD Athlon 1-GHz
8 March 2000: Intel Pentium 3 1-GHz
27 August 2001: Intel Pentium 4 2-Ghz
21 August 2002: AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (2GHz)
 14 November 2002: Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz
 13 May 2003: AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (2.2Ghz)
 23 June 2003: Intel Pentium 4 3.2-Ghz
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The GigaHertz Race
 So, what’s next? 4.77 GHz race? 10
GHz Race?
 Intel expects to have a 5-Ghz chip by
end of 2003
 Clearly, Intel has won the GHz race.
 BUT… GHz alone is not a complete
measure of performance
Fabrication Process
 Copper versus Aluminum
 Microns, Nanometers, etc.
Copper versus Aluminum
 Copper is a better conductor of
electricity than aluminum
 Interconnects (wiring) – connect
transistors on the chip to each other
 Copper allows for thinner wiring 
allows chip to hold more components
 Using copper entails a more complex
manufacturing process
Copper versus Aluminum
 Copper-based processors
 September 1998: IBM PowerPC 750
introduced (0.18 micron)
 All high-end processors today use copper
interconnects
Processor Fabrication
 1 micron = 1 x 10-6 meter
 Microns measure distance between
components on the processor
 Aluminum-based chips: 0.25 microns
 Copper-based chips: 0.13 microns
Fabrication Technology
 Volume processor available today are
manufactured using 0.13 micron
process
 Upcoming
 0.09 microns or 90 nanometers
 Intel’s Prescott
 AMD’s Athlon64
 AMD/IBM collaborating on 65nm and
45nm process technology
Front Side Bus
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Connects CPU to memory
Athlon XP – up to 400 MHz FSB
Pentium 4 – up to 800 MHz FSB
PowerPC G5 – up to 1 GHz FSB
Chipsets
 Set of chips that are responsible for
controlling I/O, buses, peripherals,
etc.
 Chipset manufacturers: Intel, AMD,
SiS, Ali, Nvidia
 Determines supported bus speeds,
RAM types, etc.
Overclocking
 System Clock – Main source of clock signal (typical
100MHz, 133MHz, etc.)
 Actual system bus speed without any enhancements
 CPU clock – multiple of system clock
 CPU multiplier normally fixed
 Example 1 GHz CPU clock is 8X of 133 MHz system
Clock
 Front Side Bus effective speed
 Depending on enhancement, also a multiple of
system clock
 Double pumped = 2 X system clock
 Quad pumped = 4 X system clock
Overclocking
 Methods
 Increase system bus frequency
 Change CPU multiplier *IF POSSIBLE*
 Change bus frequency and CPU
multiplier *IF POSSIBLE*
 Overclocking issues
 RAM/Peripherals may not be able to run
at faster speeds
 Heat and Cooling
VIA Antaur
 Designed for mobile systems
(laptops, notebooks, tablets)
 Full x86 Compatibility
 Low power consumption (11 W at 1
GHz)
 Low heat
Transmeta Crusoe
 Low-power, low-heat processor
optimized for mobile computing (but
is now also used in servers)
 Has a VLIW core and employs Code
Morphing to translate x86 instructions
into VLIW code
 Upcoming: Transmeta Efficeon
 Integrated DDR400, AGP4X, Northbridge
Intel Centrino
 Set of technologies for mobile
computing
 Features lower power consumption
 Processor: Pentium M
 Chipset: Intel 855
 Wireless LAN
IBM PowerPC G5
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Used in the latest Apple PowerMac G5
Up to 2GHz
64-bit
Up to 1 GHz FSB
Up to 8 GBps total bandwidth
Can run 32-bit and 64-bit software
L1: 32K Data / 64K Instruction
L2: 512K
HP/Compaq Alpha Processor
 The Alpha Processor was once the fast
processor – first to demonstrate 1 GHz
processor in June 1999
 Now under HP (which bought Compaq that
bought Digital Equipment Corporation –
original maker of Alpha)
 Development may be pursued by Samsung
which has access to all Alpha IP
 HP has announced support for AlphaServers
for a few more years with the EV79
processor
HP/Compaq Alpha Processor
 Top 2 Supercomputer (in Los Alamos
National Laboratory) is still made up
of AlphaServers
Sun UltraSPARC III
 Based on the SPARC RISC processor
architecture
 64-bit processor
 Designed for workstations and
servers
 900 MHz to 1.2 GHz
 Up to 8MB L2 Cache (external)
 Runs Unix-based systems
PC-on-a-Chip
 Integrates processor, BIOS, chipset,
I/O functions in one chip
 Only one chip will be required to build
a computer
 Examples
 ZFx86 from ZF Micro Devices
 National Semiconductor’s Geode (soon to
be under AMD)
 STPC Industrial from STMicroelectronics
ZFx86
Geode
STPC Industrial
PC-on-a-Chip Advantages
 Low cost
 Low power consumption
PC-on-a-Chip Applications
 Embedded systems
 routers, broadband gateways
 Set-top boxes
 Thin clients
 Information Appliances
Instruction Set
 Intel and AMD has kept the x86
instruction set alive
 But extensions were added to support
multimedia applications
 Intel: MMX, SSE, SSE2
 AMD: 3DNow, Enhanced 3DNow
What’s Next
 64-bit processors
 Itanium 2 from Intel
 Opteron from AMD
 Initially for the server market although
the Opteron has found its way to the
high-end desktop platform
 64-bit for the desktop
 AMD’s Athlon64
 Intel’s Prescott