• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Bulldozer Core-Count Debate Comes Back to Haunt AMD

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.44/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
Thread A can end up on FMAC 1 and/or 2
Thread B can end up on FMAC 1 and/or 2

They are not explicitly assigned; they are thread agnostic. FP scheduler/frontend determines what thread ends up where.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
9,504 (3.27/day)
System Name Good enough
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7900 - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora Edge
Motherboard ASRock B650 Pro RS
Cooling 2x 360mm NexXxoS ST30 X-Flow, 1x 360mm NexXxoS ST30, 1x 240mm NexXxoS ST30
Memory 32GB - FURY Beast RGB 5600 Mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 7900 XT - Alphacool Eisblock Aurora
Storage 1x Kingston KC3000 1TB 1x Kingston A2000 1TB, 1x Samsung 850 EVO 250GB , 1x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB
Display(s) LG UltraGear 32GN650-B + 4K Samsung TV
Case Phanteks NV7
Power Supply GPS-750C
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
28,257 (6.75/day)
I hope the lawsuit wins and no one ever tries this again.
So what you're saying is, effectively, that no one should ever try something new or try to do things a different way for fear of being punished? :shadedshu: Very short sighted perspective and is not how we got where we are today.
My conclusion isn't flawed, yours is.
And you've done it again. :kookoo: I stand by what I said.
 
Last edited:

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.44/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
28,257 (6.75/day)
a core is still a core without the FPU
Correct. That is exactly how early CPU's were made. It wasn't until the 486DX that the FPU was integrated into the CPU die itself. Before then there were separate chips for floating point calculations, if CPU makers made them at all. Single core CPU's without floating point were still called CPU's back then and were considered fully functional. The terminology still applies and is still valid. All AMD has to do is point out these very simple facts, show that each of the 8 Integer Units can execute instructions as designed and that will be that. This lawsuit will fail as long as AMD's legal team are competent, which there is a very good likelihood of.
 
Last edited:

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
17,865 (2.87/day)
Location
Quantum Well UK
System Name Quantumville™
Processor Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply Corsair AX1600i
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard Yes
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
So what you're saying is, effectively, that no one should ever try something new or try to do things a different way for fear of being punished? :shadedshu: Very short sighted perspective and is not how we got where we are today.

And you done it again. :kookoo: I stand by what I said.
No I'm not saying that. More straw man arguments. You're going to keep arguing, aren't you?
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
9,504 (3.27/day)
System Name Good enough
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7900 - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora Edge
Motherboard ASRock B650 Pro RS
Cooling 2x 360mm NexXxoS ST30 X-Flow, 1x 360mm NexXxoS ST30, 1x 240mm NexXxoS ST30
Memory 32GB - FURY Beast RGB 5600 Mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 7900 XT - Alphacool Eisblock Aurora
Storage 1x Kingston KC3000 1TB 1x Kingston A2000 1TB, 1x Samsung 850 EVO 250GB , 1x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB
Display(s) LG UltraGear 32GN650-B + 4K Samsung TV
Case Phanteks NV7
Power Supply GPS-750C
There are multiple FPUs shared by the two threads. Same thing as to how on a GPU CU/SM multiple threads use multiple FPUs but they don't count as just one FPU.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
28,257 (6.75/day)
No I'm not saying that.
That is exactly what your statement implied. The perspective expressed is as technically flawed as it is idealistically flawed and is an example of the entitled, greedy and narrow-minded scope that inspired this lawsuit in the first place. This lawsuit should and very likely will fail on the merits alone.
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2017
Messages
3,821 (1.33/day)
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5-6000 CL36 (F5-6000J3636F16GX2-FX5)
Video Card(s) INNO3D GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti SUPER TWIN X2
Storage 2TB Samsung 980 PRO, 4TB WD Black SN850X
Display(s) 42" LG C2 OLED, 27" ASUS PG279Q
Case Thermaltake Core P5
Power Supply Fractal Design Ion+ Platinum 760W
Mouse Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro SE
Keyboard Corsair K100 RGB
VR HMD HTC Vive Cosmos
Could you please stop about the FPU, please? Pretty please?
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.44/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
There are multiple FPUs shared by the two threads. Same thing as to how on a GPU CU/SM multiple threads use multiple FPUs but they don't count as just one FPU.
In Zen, Core, Core 2, Core I#, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon X2, etc. Core0 cannot share FPU resources with Core1 because they're completely separate thread contexts. The thread has to be purged from one core and transferred to the other. In Bulldozer, Thread A and Thread B in the same module both use the same floating point cluster.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
9,504 (3.27/day)
System Name Good enough
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7900 - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora Edge
Motherboard ASRock B650 Pro RS
Cooling 2x 360mm NexXxoS ST30 X-Flow, 1x 360mm NexXxoS ST30, 1x 240mm NexXxoS ST30
Memory 32GB - FURY Beast RGB 5600 Mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 7900 XT - Alphacool Eisblock Aurora
Storage 1x Kingston KC3000 1TB 1x Kingston A2000 1TB, 1x Samsung 850 EVO 250GB , 1x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB
Display(s) LG UltraGear 32GN650-B + 4K Samsung TV
Case Phanteks NV7
Power Supply GPS-750C
Cluster, exactly , meaning more than one. Saying that there is just one FPU that is shared is simply improper.
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.44/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
Doesn't matter how many FMACs there are, they're shared resources in Bulldozer, Steamroller, and Excavator not dedicated resources like they are in Zen, Thuban, Nehalem, and Conroe. Independent processors don't share resources above the crossbar (or whatever interconnect is used) other than cache.
 
Last edited:

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
13,171 (2.80/day)
Location
Concord, NH, USA
System Name Apollo
Processor Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory 64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage 1TB Apple NVMe, 4TB External
Display(s) Laptop @ 3072x1920 + 2x LG 5k Ultrafine TB3 displays
Case MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s) AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply 96w Power Adapter
Mouse Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software MacOS 12.1
I think I'm going to un-sub now, considering we have a lot of "experts" chiming in with some rather interesting opinions on the matter.

 
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
1,190 (0.21/day)
Location
Republic of Texas
System Name [H]arbringer
Processor 4x 61XX ES @3.5Ghz (48cores)
Motherboard SM GL
Cooling 3x xspc rx360, rx240, 4x DT G34 snipers, D5 pump.
Memory 16x gskill DDR3 1600 cas6 2gb
Video Card(s) blah bigadv folder no gfx needed
Storage 32GB Sammy SSD
Display(s) headless
Case Xigmatek Elysium (whats left of it)
Audio Device(s) yawn
Power Supply Antec 1200w HCP
Software Ubuntu 10.10
Benchmark Scores http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1780855 http://www.hwbot.org/submission/2158678 http://ww
More of

Side 1 here are facts signed off by people that are considered leaders and experts in the industry.

Side 2 nope.

Side 1 additional information further proving what was backed up by subject matter experts

Side 2 see previous lack of argument.

Yeah... Seeing lots of this...

 
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
965 (0.25/day)
System Name Sham Pc
Processor i5-2500k @ 4.33
Motherboard INTEL DZ77SL 50K
Cooling 2 bay res. "2L of fluid in loop" 1x480 2x360
Memory 16gb 4x4 kingstone 1600 hyper x fury black
Video Card(s) hfa2 gtx 780 @ 1306/1768 (xspc bloc)
Storage 1tb wd red 120gb kingston on the way os, 1.5Tb wd black, 3tb random WD rebrand
Display(s) cibox something or other 23" 1080p " 23 inch downstairs. 52 inch plasma downstairs 15" tft kitchen
Case 900D
Audio Device(s) on board
Power Supply xion gaming seriese 1000W (non modular) 80+ bronze
Software windows 10 pro x64
that diagram started off with "no nothing" Kind of funny to be honest.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
40 (0.02/day)
Location
Scotland
System Name Main Rig
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard ASrock X570 Taichi
Cooling Varies... all the time
Memory 32 GB Corsair Vengance DDR4 3600
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RX 6900XT
Storage 3 x M.2, 2x SSD, 2 x HDD
Display(s) Gigabyte M34WQ, M27Q
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic
Audio Device(s) Blue Snowball, Corsair H70i
Power Supply EVGA 850W
Mouse Razer Viper Ultimate
Keyboard Drevo Blademaster Pro
VR HMD Reverb G2
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
12,572 (5.80/day)
Location
Midlands, UK
System Name Nebulon B
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard MSi PRO B650M-A WiFi
Cooling be quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory 2x 24 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-4800
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT 12 GB
Storage 2 TB Corsair MP600 GS, 2 TB Corsair MP600 R2
Display(s) Dell S3422DWG, 7" Waveshare touchscreen
Case Kolink Citadel Mesh black
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 2.1 speakers, AKG Y50 headphones
Power Supply Seasonic Prime GX-750
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard Logitech G413 SE
Software Bazzite (Fedora Linux) KDE
i dont see how that is true..
the case is
"normal members of the public were sold "cores" which weren't the same as a traditional core. But amd says that normal members of the public would have known the difference"

Who better to have than normal members of the public if the argument is the public should know the difference.
IMO normal members of the public wouldn't tell the difference between a Celeron and a Core i7. Both of them run Facebook and Youtube just fine.
 
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
965 (0.25/day)
System Name Sham Pc
Processor i5-2500k @ 4.33
Motherboard INTEL DZ77SL 50K
Cooling 2 bay res. "2L of fluid in loop" 1x480 2x360
Memory 16gb 4x4 kingstone 1600 hyper x fury black
Video Card(s) hfa2 gtx 780 @ 1306/1768 (xspc bloc)
Storage 1tb wd red 120gb kingston on the way os, 1.5Tb wd black, 3tb random WD rebrand
Display(s) cibox something or other 23" 1080p " 23 inch downstairs. 52 inch plasma downstairs 15" tft kitchen
Case 900D
Audio Device(s) on board
Power Supply xion gaming seriese 1000W (non modular) 80+ bronze
Software windows 10 pro x64
in the context of this law suit that's not the best argument..
they are arguing that bulldozer "cores" aren't traditional cores and so you cannot count them as 8 cores, and should have called them something else which would have defined them as different so normal people didn't think they were getting 8 full traditional cores.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
12,572 (5.80/day)
Location
Midlands, UK
System Name Nebulon B
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard MSi PRO B650M-A WiFi
Cooling be quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory 2x 24 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-4800
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT 12 GB
Storage 2 TB Corsair MP600 GS, 2 TB Corsair MP600 R2
Display(s) Dell S3422DWG, 7" Waveshare touchscreen
Case Kolink Citadel Mesh black
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 2.1 speakers, AKG Y50 headphones
Power Supply Seasonic Prime GX-750
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard Logitech G413 SE
Software Bazzite (Fedora Linux) KDE
in the context of this law suit that's not the best argument..
they are arguing that bulldozer "cores" aren't traditional cores and so you cannot count them as 8 cores, and should have called them something else which would have defined them as different so normal people didn't think they were getting 8 full traditional cores.
We cannot argue about cores with people who have absolutely no idea what a processor core is. What they think is irrelevant if they lack the knowledge necessary to even join the argument.

My point is: you need some knowledge before you can form an opinion about something.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
9,504 (3.27/day)
System Name Good enough
Processor AMD Ryzen R9 7900 - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora Edge
Motherboard ASRock B650 Pro RS
Cooling 2x 360mm NexXxoS ST30 X-Flow, 1x 360mm NexXxoS ST30, 1x 240mm NexXxoS ST30
Memory 32GB - FURY Beast RGB 5600 Mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 7900 XT - Alphacool Eisblock Aurora
Storage 1x Kingston KC3000 1TB 1x Kingston A2000 1TB, 1x Samsung 850 EVO 250GB , 1x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB
Display(s) LG UltraGear 32GN650-B + 4K Samsung TV
Case Phanteks NV7
Power Supply GPS-750C
I find this logic hilarious.

This relies on the presumption that "normal" people were idiots and they didn't know that this CPU didn't have 8 cores but somehow if AMD would have called it something else suddenly now they know how to make the distinction between that and "traditional cores", all this while they still don't have a clue what a core actually is.

All this is happens in the context where a "normal" consumer can't even properly define what a CPU is and most refer to it as "the brain of the computer".
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
12,572 (5.80/day)
Location
Midlands, UK
System Name Nebulon B
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard MSi PRO B650M-A WiFi
Cooling be quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory 2x 24 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-4800
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT 12 GB
Storage 2 TB Corsair MP600 GS, 2 TB Corsair MP600 R2
Display(s) Dell S3422DWG, 7" Waveshare touchscreen
Case Kolink Citadel Mesh black
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 2.1 speakers, AKG Y50 headphones
Power Supply Seasonic Prime GX-750
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard Logitech G413 SE
Software Bazzite (Fedora Linux) KDE
I find this logic hilarious.

This relies on the presumption that "normal" people were idiots and they didn't know that this CPU didn't have 8 cores but somehow if AMD would have called it something else suddenly now they know how to make the distinction between that and "traditional cores", all this while they still don't have a clue what a core is. All this is happens in the context where a "normal" consumer can't even properly define what a CPU is.
I know quite many people who really have never seen a CPU, and have no idea what is inside one. This doesn't make them idiots. They only have different interests. But I still think that they have no right to join the argument, because they don't even know what the argument is about. Just like I would never argue about the latest fashion trends, for example, because I'm a total alien to the topic.
 
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
965 (0.25/day)
System Name Sham Pc
Processor i5-2500k @ 4.33
Motherboard INTEL DZ77SL 50K
Cooling 2 bay res. "2L of fluid in loop" 1x480 2x360
Memory 16gb 4x4 kingstone 1600 hyper x fury black
Video Card(s) hfa2 gtx 780 @ 1306/1768 (xspc bloc)
Storage 1tb wd red 120gb kingston on the way os, 1.5Tb wd black, 3tb random WD rebrand
Display(s) cibox something or other 23" 1080p " 23 inch downstairs. 52 inch plasma downstairs 15" tft kitchen
Case 900D
Audio Device(s) on board
Power Supply xion gaming seriese 1000W (non modular) 80+ bronze
Software windows 10 pro x64
I find this logic hilarious.

This relies on the presumption that "normal" people were idiots and they didn't know that this CPU didn't have 8 cores but somehow if AMD would have called it something else suddenly now they know how to make the distinction between that and "traditional cores", all this while they still don't have a clue what a core actually is.

All this is happens in the context where a "normal" consumer can't even properly define what a CPU is and most refer to it as "the brain of the computer".

does not matter if they know the difference provided amd made the effort..
we had the samething over how hard drive space was advertized.. wd settled in that case..
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.44/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
wd settled in that case..
Seagate was class action sued and lost. That's why all hard drives and optical media now have the 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes descriptor on the packaging.

If AMD still produced Excavator processors, they'll probably have to add 1 core = 1 integer core on the box.
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.44/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
486DX is the equivalent of 20 lifetimes old in terms of technology. It's not relevant to processors that debuted in 2011. Complaining that the FPUs were in a coprocessor is like complaining that power windows in vehicles shouldn't be a standard feature today. FPUs are integral to personal computer design for decades. Hell, the text you're looking at right now is processed by FPUs through TrueType fonts. Back when FPUs were separate, fonts were just copied from indexed tables (especially ASCII) because they simply didn't have the resources to render flexible fonts. Today, TrueType fonts are trivial and backpedaling on the hardware that makes it possible is poor design.

Not that it matters. Bulldozer, Steamroller, and Excavator modules share more than just their ability to process floating point decimals--they share control logic. A human losing half of their brain changes who they are. This is also true of AMD modules. The complete unit (a core) includes one of some things and two of others. Nothing wrong with that but what is wrong is AMD advertising it as having two of everything. The judge agreed the arguments need to be heard before a jury.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
28,257 (6.75/day)
486DX is the equivalent of 20 lifetimes old in terms of technology. It's not relevant to processors that debuted in 2011.
Absolutely it is as everything currently in use today owes it's heritage to that generation of CPU's, just like all modern ARM based RISC CPU's owe their existence to the early Acorn CPU's. Just because CPU design's have improved and evolved does not make the older iterations irrelevant.
FPUs are integral to personal computer design for decades.
However, are not required. An Integer Unit can do floating point the long way, which is the way floating point was done before FPU's were designed. A CPU is still a CPU with or without an FPU. Likewise a CPU core is still an individual core whether it has it's own FPU or shares one with another core.
Not that it matters. Bulldozer, Steamroller, and Excavator modules share more than just their ability to process floating point decimals--they share control logic.
By that logic, the Core2Quads and any other CPU that has two or more dies bridged together, and shares resources, do not qualify as a single CPU. They are dual CPU packages. So should we all sue Intel and AMD for that deception?
but what is wrong is AMD advertising it as having two of everything.
AMD never said that. They called it an 8 core CPU, which by technical definition, it is.
 
Last edited:
Top