Day 12

Daniel Berry

CPU

Microprocessors are the brains of any computer. In this lesson we will look at the CPUs of the past and present and how they work.  CPUs have made great leaps in recent years in both speed and design.  The evolution of the chip demonstrates the increased technology available as well as the vast differences in PCs over the past ten years.  We will start by looking at the history of the microprocessor. 

Intel is the corporation responsible for much of the development in the past 30 years.  Back in 1971, Intel introduced the mighty 4004 microprocessor, which powered desktop calculators.  These early CPUs were made of thousands of transistors and works at thousands of cycles per second.  If the car industry had increased the top speed and performance of their cars as the computer industry has changed, then today it would only take 9 seconds to drive from L.A. to N.Y.

 The performance of a CPU cannot be derived solely on the clock cycle of the processor. For example, the AMD 1.3GHz is able to out-perform an Intel 1.7 GHz, which does have a higher clock frequency.  So what other things should be considered when we are looking for a top performer?  

·        Data bus size (amount of data that can pass through the bus at one time)

·        Bus speed (the frequency of the bus)

·        Data transfer rate (amount of data that can pass through the bus in one second)

·        Word size ( the amount of data that can be processed internally at one time)

·        Cache memory (a type of fast RAM that supplies the CPU with small packets of data for faster processing)

·        Dynamic Execution (The ability for a processor to process more than one instruction each cycle)

 

 

CPUs have changed dramatically in the past 20 years.  Intel started making microprocessors in 1971 and has lead the way to newer technologies and faster chips.  AMD, Advance Micro Devices, has also been very innovative with their chip designs. This list does not contain every chip design made, but does show all of Intel's chips and many of the lastest AMDs.

Chip Name	Introduction Date	Clock Speeds	Bus Width	Number of Transistors (Scale)	Addressable Memory	Brief Description
4004	11/15/71	108 KHz	4 bits	2,300 (10 microns)	640 bytes	First microcomputer chip, Arithmetic manipulation
8008	4/1/72	108 KHz	8 bits	3,500	16 KBytes	Data/character manipulation
8080	4/1/74	2 MHz	8 bits	6,000 (6 microns)	64 KBytes	10X the performance of the 8008
8086	6/8/78	5 MHz 8 MHz 10 MHz	16 bits	29,000 (3 microns)	1 Megabyte	100X the performance of the 8008
8088	6/1/79	5 MHz 8 MHz	8 bits	29,000 (3 microns)	1 Megabyte	Identical to 8086 except for its 8-bit external bus
80286	2/1/82	8 MHz 10 MHz 12 MHz	16 bits	134,000 (1.5 microns)	16 Megabytes	300-600X the performance of the 8008. First to allowed for virtual memory.
Intel386(TM)DX Microprocessor	10/17/85	16 MHz 20 MHz 25 MHz 33 MHz	32 bits	275,000 (1 micron)	4 gigabytes	First X86 chip to handle 32-bit data sets
Intel386(TM)SX Microprocessor	6/16/88	16 MHz 20 MHz	16 bits	275,000 (1 micron)	4 gigabytes	16-bit address bus enabled low-cost 32-bit processing
Intel486(TM)DX Microprocessor	4/10/89	25 MHz 33 MHz 50 MHz	32 bits	1,200,000 (1 micron, .8 micron with 50 MHz)	4 gigabytes	Level 1 cache on chip
Intel486(TM)SX Microprocessor	4/22/91	16 MHz 20 MHz 25 MHz 33 MHz	32 bits	1,185,000 (.8 micron)	4 gigabytes	Identical in design to Intel486(TM) DX but without math coprocessor (lower cost)
Intel486(TM)DX2 Microprocessor	1992	50 MHz 66 MHz 80 MHz	32 bits	1,185,000 (.8 micron)	4 gigabytes	Allowed for the CPU to run two times the bus speed.
Intel486(TM)DX4 Microprocessor	1994	75 MHz 100 MHz 120 MHz	32 bits	1,185,000 (.8 micron)	4 gigabytes	Allowed for the CPU to run three times the bus speed.
Intel Pentium® Processor	3/22/93	60MHz 66MHz 75MHz 90MHz 100MHz 120MHz 133MHz 150MHz 166MHz 200MHz	36 bits	3.1 million (.8 micron)	64 gigabytes	Superscaler architecture brought 5X the performance of the 33-MHz Intel486 DX processor.  Runs at 185°F and must have a heat sink with fan for cooling.
Intel Pentium® Pro Processor	3/27/95	150MHz 180MHz 200MHz 233MHz	36 bits	5.5 million (.32 micron)	64 gigabytes	Dynamic execution architecture drives high-performing processor
Intel Pentium MMX	1997	166MHz 200MHz 233MHz	36 bits	4,500,000 (.28 micron)	64 gigabytes	New MMX instructions allow this CPU to perform multimedia instructions with greater speed
AMD K6-2	1997	233MHz 266MHz 300MHz 333MHz 350MHz 400MHz 450MHz 500MHz 550MHz	36 bits	9,300,000 (.25  micron)	64 gigabytes	New MMX and 3Dnow! instructions allow this CPU to perform multimedia instructions with greater speed. Socket 7 Design. Die size of 81mm2. -features 64K of L1 cache.
Intel Pentium II	1997	233MHz 266MHz 300MHz 333MHz 350MHz 400MHz 450MHz 500MHz	36 bits	7,500,000 (.25  micron)	64 gigabytes	Slot one design
AMD K7	1999	500MHz to 750MHz	36 bits	17,500,000 (.25 micron)	64 gigabytes	Slot A design
Intel Pentium III	1999	500MHz to 1,100MHz	36 bits	9,500,000 (.25 to .18 micron)	64 gigabytes	Slot one and Socket 370 design
Intel Pentium IV	2000	1,300MHz to 1,700MHz	36 bits	42,000,000 (.18 micron)	64 gigabytes	400 MHz system bus
AMD Duron	2000	500 MHz to 950 MHz	36 bits	25,000,000 (.18 micron)	64 gigabytes	Socket A design -features 192K of total on-chip cache. Die size of 100mm2. Uses 3d Now! Technology.
AMD Duron, Morgan Core	2001	above 1,000 MHz	36 bits	25,180,000 (.18 micron)	64 gigabytes	Socket A design -features 192K of total on-chip cache. Die size of 106mm2. Uses 3d Now! Technology and supports full Intel SSE . Hardware auto data pre-fetch. Low power consumption. Running at 1.75 V, max current 26.3 A, max. power 46.1 W
AMD Athlon Thunderbird	2000	600 MHz to above 1,500 MHz	36 bits	37,000,000 (.18 micron)	64 gigabytes	Slot A and Socket A design -on-chip L2 cache for a total of 384K full speed, on-chip cache. die size of 120mm2 Peak data rate of 2.1GB/s. Uses 3d Now! Technology.
AMD Athlon Thunderbird, Palomino Core (XP)	2001	1,200 MHz to above 1,500 MHz	36 bits	37,500,000 (.18 micron)	64 gigabytes	Socket A design -on-chip L2 cache for a total of 384K full speed, on-chip cache. die size of 128mm2 Peak data rate of 2.1GB/s. Uses 3d Now! Technology and supports full Intel SSE . Hardware auto data pre-fetch.
Transmeta Crusoe TM5800	2001	667 MHz to above 1,000 MHz	36 bits	25,000,000 (.13 micron)	64 gigabytes	474 pin BGA design Die size of just 55mm2
Future Processors	2002 and beyond	Will work at speeds above 20 GHz	64  and 128 bit	Will have 100 of millions to billions of transistors	64 gigabytes and beyond	Will allow for far more complex interactions with users and software.

 

 

AMD Chips Compared To Intel’s

 

 

 

AMD Athlon Performance Benchmark using

BAPCO SYSmark 2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Gallery

1971: 4004 Microprocessor

 

1972: 8008 Microprocessor

 

 

 

 

1974: 8080 Microprocessor

 

 

1978: 8086-8088 Microprocessor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1982: 286 Microprocessor

 

1985: Intel 386 Microprocessor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1989: Intel 486 Microprocessor

 

 

 

1993: Pentium Microprocessor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1997: Pentium II Microprocessor

 

 

 

 

1999: Pentium III Microprocessor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2000: Pentium IV Microprocessor

 

AMD's XP 1800

How does a CPU work?

A microprocessor executes a collection of machine instructions that tell the processor what to do. Based on the instructions, a microprocessor does three basic things:

• Using its ALU (Arithmetic/Logic Unit), a microprocessor can perform mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Modern microprocessors contain complete floating point processors that can perform extremely sophisticated operations on large floating point numbers.
• A microprocessor can move data from one memory location to another
• A microprocessor can make decisions and jump to a new set of instructions based on those decisions.

The end result may look very sophisticated, but this result is only the combining of many simple results into one. Here is a diagram, which I made to help…

0 – Reset

1 – Clock

A – Instruction Decoder

B – Instruction Register

C – ALU

D – Test – T/F

E – Registers A, B, and C.

F – 3 – State

G – Address Latch and Program Counters

H - Data Bus (In/Out)

I – Address Bus (In/Out)

J – Read

K – Write

This is about as simple as a microprocessor can ever be. This microprocessor has:

• An address bus (that may be 8, 16 or 32 bits wide) that sends an address to memory
• A data bus (that may be 8, 16 or 32 bits wide) that can send data to memory or receive data from memory
• A RD (Read) and WR (Write) line to tell the memory whether it wants to set or get the addressed location
• A clock line that lets a clock pulse sequence the processor
• A reset line that resets the program counter to zero or whatever or a specific value and restarts execution.

Let's assume that both the address and data buses are 8 bits wide in this example.

Here are the components of this simple microprocessor:

• Registers A, B and C are simply latches made out of flip-flops
• The address latch is just like registers A, B and C.
• The program counter is a latch with the extra ability to increment by 1 when told to do so, and also to reset to zero when told to do so.
• The ALU could be as simple as an 8-bit adder, or it might be able to subtract, multiply and divide 8-bit values.
• The test register is a special latch that can hold values from comparisons performed in the ALU. An ALU can normally compare two numbers and determine if they are equal, if one is greater than the other, etc. The test register can also normally hold a carry bit from the last stage of the adder. It stores these values in flip-flops and then the instruction decoder can use the values to make decisions.
• There are 6 boxes marked "3-State" in the diagram. These are tri-state buffers. A tri-state buffer can pass a 1, a 0 or it can essentially disconnect its output (imagine a switch that totally disconnects the output line from the wire the output is heading toward). A tri-state buffer allows multiple outputs to connect to a wire, but only one of them to actually drive a 1 or a 0 onto the line.
• The instruction register and instruction decoder are responsible for controlling all of the other components.

The instruction decoder that would:

• Tell the A register to latch the value currently on the data bus.
• Tell the B register to latch the value currently on the data bus.
• Tell the C register to latch the value currently on the data bus.
• Tell the program counter register to latch the value currently on the data bus.
• Tell the address register to latch the value currently on the data bus.
• Tell the instruction register to latch the value currently on the data bus.
• Tell the program counter to increment
• Tell the program counter to reset to zero
• Activate any of the 6 tri-state buffers (6 separate lines)
• Tell the ALU what operation to perform
• Tell the test register to latch the ALUs test bits
• Activate the RD line
• Activate the WR line

Coming into the instruction decoder are the bits from the test register and the clock line, as well as the bits from the instruction register.

 

 

SMM

System Management mode allows the computer to slow or shut down certain devices if the system is idle.

 

Dynamic Execution

This was introduced in the Pentium Pro.  Allowed the CPU to process instructions that follow unavailable data while waiting.

 

As newer technology is released, prices on today’s technology will drop to even lower levels.  In Price Watch CPU prices were:

	Oct 18, 2000	Jan. 3, 2001	June 22, 2001	Aug. 13, 2001
Pentium® II 400MHz Slot1, 100 MHz BUS,    512k Cache	$97	$67	$67	--
Pentium® II 450Mhz Slot 1, 100MHz BUS,    512K ,Cache  SECC2	$96	$79	$87	$84
Pentium® III 500MHz SLOT1, 100MHz BUS, 512K Cache, SECC2	$114	$140	--	--
Pentium® III 500E MHz SLOT 1, 100 MHz BUS,   256K Cache, SECC2	$112	$110	--	--
Pentium® III 600B MHz SLOT1, 133MHz Bus,      512k Cache, SECC2	$145	$136	$130	$158
Pentium® III 600EB MHz SLOT 1, 133Mhz Bus,   256K Cache, , SECC2	$134	$123	$82	$73
Pentium® III 733 MHz Coppermine, 133 MHz Bus,      256k Cache, FCPGA	$172	$160	$93	$95
Pentium® III 800EB MHz, Coppermine, 133MHz Bus, 256K CACHE, FCPGA	$214	$175	$124	$122
Pentium@III 866EB MHZ Coppermine 133mhz Bus, 256K Cache, - Flip Chip - FCPGA	$299	$210	$146	$139
Pentium® III 933EB MHz Coppermine -slot 1-133MHz Bus, 256K cache	$420	$289	$160	$147
Pentium® III 1Ghz Coppermine, FCPGA, Flip Chip,  133 MHz 256K Cache	$665	$430	$170	$178

 

In Price Watch AMD CPU prices were:

	June 22, 2001 ($)	Aug. 13, 2001
Duron 800	36	35
Duron 850	49	44
Duron 900	63	52
Duron 950	84	58
T-B 1,000/ 266 bus	89	72
T-B 1,133/ 266	98	88
T-B 1,200/ 266	104	99
T-B 1,330/ 266	134	111
T-B 1,400/ 266	171	139
PC2100 DDR Memory 256 Megs	49 with Lifetime Warranty	35

Special Note-

The computer show is coming to Fresno..... Part                         Name                  Budgeted Price     Real Price CPU:      AMD 1.33 GHz (266 bus)                           M/B        Asus A7A 266                      RAM     DDR2100 Micron 256            CD-ROM  Creative 52X                      HDD   40 Gig Fujitsu                           CASE  ATX 300W                              Video GeForce2 GTS  w/ 64 MB       Sound Creative Live! Value                  40 Modem        Lucent                              15~ 35 Heat sink   Global Win FOP 38+          30 Case Fans                            Two at       5 each FDD                                                      5 Keyboard/ mouse                                  10 Win98 SE Lic#                                      15~90     Totals

 

A + Questions

 

CPU

 

One of the major components of a PC is the Central Processing Unit (CPU) which can be best described as:

a) The device that sends the monitor signals telling it what to display

b) The area that regulates all of the system power usage

c) The area where all the of the Basic input/output routines are stored

d) The area where all of the processing takes place

 

A numeric co-processor handles what function?

a) POST

b) Floating Point Calculations

c) Counts RAM

d) Data Processing

 

What does the CPU do? (choose all that apply)

a) Control power voltages

b) Execute program instructions

c) Dictate video resolution

d) Perform math functions

e) Control input/output operations

 

You get a call from a user complaining that his computer consistently locks up after only 5 minutes of operation. What is the possible cause?

a) Track 0 bad

b) bad CPU fan

c) Faulty power supply

 

What types of Cache memory are available on a Pentium Pro CPU?

a) L1

b) L1, L2

c) L1, L2, L3

d) L1, L2, L3, L4

 

The first CPU to come with a built-in co-processor is ________?

a) 486sx

b) 486dx

c) 386sx

d) 386dx

 

Which processor uses slot 1?

a) 8088

b) 80386

c) 486DX

d) Pentium II

 

Which processor uses Socket A?

 a) Pentium 4

b) AMD K6-2

c) Power PC

d) AMD Thunderbird

 

Which processor uses 3D Now! Technology

a) Later Macintosh CPUs

b) Later AMD CPUs

c) All modern CPUs

d) Later Intel CPUs

 

A PC with a 486DX2 processor runs internally at 50 Mhz. What speed would its external logic be running?

a) 10 MHz

b) 25 Mhz

c) 50 MHz

d) 100 MHz

 

A PC with a 486DX4 processor runs internally at 120 Mhz. What speed would its external logic be running?

a) 25 MHz

b) 33 Mhz

c) 40 MHz

d) 50 MHz

 

Which processor uses Socket 7?

a) 80286

b) 80387

c) Pentium

d) 386DX

 

Can A AMD Thunderbird use the same socket as a Pentium III?

a) No

b) Yes

c) Yes with a converter socket

d) It depends on which the MHz speed of the CPU

 

The _____ chip uses a 64-bit data path.

a) 486dx

b) 386sx

c) Pentium