CPU Core?

[name9902]

what is meant by a CPU core? is that the instruction set or what?

 

[stevty2889]

It's usualy refering to chip itself.

 

[TheRyuu]

The CPU core is most likely refering to the "die" on the chip.

It can also refer to which CPU core (i.e. core 0 and core 1 for dual core)

 

[name9902]

mmm, so the core is the actual chip inside the CPU, excluding the other electronics inside the CPU rightz?

 

[BrownTown]

Core can mean alot of things

1. the actual silicon piece of the CPU (could have more then one)
2. the type of processor (Northwood, Winchester, Troy etc..)
3. an Intel prcessor based off the Yonah core (see definition 2), and likely several future processors
4. the official name for Intel next generation microarchitecture

 

[name9902]

Well, i guess i'm referring to what it means when info for a CPU that is to be sold is displayed, which is #2 on your list.

Basically asking what the "type" is referring to in #2 there...

(1) Like when ppl say, that's a Northwood Core, or a Prescott Core...what's the difference?

(2) Also, what is the "die" on a chip?

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: name9902
Well, i guess i'm referring to what it means when info for a CPU that is to be sold is displayed, which is #2 on your list.

Basically asking what the "type" is referring to in #2 there...

(1) Like when ppl say, that's a Northwood Core, or a Prescott Core...what's the difference?

(2) Also, what is the "die" on a chip?

In the simpliest way I can put it:

A processor is fabricated off a silicon wafer. You can picture a silicon wafer as a large sheet which has many processors drawn onto it. A die is a cut out that wafer which contains one processor. A processor/die can contain one or more 'cores'. Each core contains a whole mess of circuits which can execute a set of instructions. The difference between each core like Prescott, Northwood is the way the company designed the core to execute the instructions. Some ways are faster than others.

 

[Duvie]

A lot of time with current cpus you see more of the package and very little of the actual core....The actual core will contain the logic, execution units, PFUs, ALUs, buffers, cache, etc....

The northwood to prescott core is the same architecture just the core was revised...It was revised with more cache albeit higher latency, longer pipeline, all on a 90nm die..I think it also added SSE3 instruction set...

Now to confuse you even more there was northwood A B and C....The last one introduced HT or hyperthreading....It can get quite confusing as has been mentioned around these parts...Often an architecture can span 3-4 years plus and go through several die shrinks and revisions...all while still being the same architecure...

 

[name9902]

mmm, pretty confusing, few more things though.

When i look at a CPU, let's say it's a PGA packaged CPU, the metalic looking part attached to the board is the shell huh...and then the actual CPU is the mess of wires inside there

And...saying "Processor" refers to the whole die. The smaller messes of wires inside, individual from one another are cores, so obviously, to have multiple cores is better than not? and is it safe to say that there's more room inside the shell of a single core CPU than a multiple core CPU?

Are CPU cores are just revisions of architectures usually? cuz it seems like they'd have to be, just additions to architectures and instruction sets

And lastly, is the core, the "mess of circuitry", what's basically inside a CPU? or is there much more.

Sorry for so many questions =/ but i'm curious!

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: name9902

When i look at a CPU, let's say it's a PGA packaged CPU, the metalic looking part attached to the board is the shell huh...and then the actual CPU is the mess of wires inside there

Close enough.

And...saying "Processor" refers to the whole die. The smaller messes of wires inside, individual from one another are cores, so obviously, to have multiple cores is better than not? and is it safe to say that there's more room inside the shell of a single core CPU than a multiple core CPU?

In basic terms yes. A single core cpu will take up less 'space' than a multiple core cpu.

Are CPU cores are just revisions of architectures usually? cuz it seems like they'd have to be, just additions to architectures and instruction sets

Sometimes they're revisions of architectures, sometimes they're totally revamped architectures. Either way for legacy support, they still all use the same instruction set and sometimes add more.

And lastly, is the core, the "mess of circuitry", what's basically inside a CPU? or is there much more.

There is very little more outside of the 'mess of circuitry'. The other things are maybe some electronic parts used to stabilize the supply voltage.

 

[name9902]

Got it, thanks a lot for the info.

One last thing b4 i'm done though...

What's the point of a site selling Processors to list something like the Core , just to list all possible specs?

I don't suppose a majority of the people who'd search a site like this know the intricate details of what differenciates the cores from one another...

 

[Duvie]

The core is going to be specific to those revisions...

IE listing a 3500+ wincehster which is 2.2ghz and a 3500+ Venice which is also 2.2ghz is key...

The venice is part of the E3 revision or known as Rev E which added SSE3 instruction sets, I think was hair better thermally, had improved memory controller that allowed 4 dimms to be operated at 400ddr...with the winchester you dont get this...

Now to throw in another twist there was the 3500+ clawhammer which denoted a 130nm process..

With te 3200+ line there was a Venice, Winchester, Clawhammer (i think with 1mb cache), and a Newcastle that was sckt 754 (not sckt 939 like venice and winchester) was on 130nm process, and only had an HTT of 1600 (or 2x800) verus 2x1000 or 2000 of th esckt 939s, as well as had single channel memory controller...

It is very important to list core name...

 

[name9902]

mmm tru, i wasn't aware that the core affected that many things in a system...even the socket type huh...thanks a lot for the info

 

[BrownTown]

well, the core is very important if you know much about a CPU. Pentium 4 Williamette and Pentium 4 presscott are completely different. Also, if you wanna overclock even core revisions (like Northwood B and C are important), I have a Northwood B 2.0G, which would overclock alot worse than a Northwood C 2.0G (don't know if they make those though)

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: name9902
mmm tru, i wasn't aware that the core affected that many things in a system...even the socket type huh...thanks a lot for the info

Well the core doesn't necessarily determine the socket type. After all there are socket 754 venice cores and socket 939 clawhammers. The important thing to remember is that features that you may desire could be included on one revision of a particular speed stepping, and not in another. For instance, an person who intends to overclock would want a 90nm winchester, venice or San Diego instead of the 130nm Newcastle due to the thermal properties of the smaller manufacturing process. Staying up on these revisions can be quite challenging but it's the best way to ensure that you are getting what you want in a processor.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
well, the core is very important if you know much about a CPU. Pentium 4 winchester and Pentium 4 presscott are completely different. Also, if you wanna overclock even core revisions (like Northwood B and C are important), I have a Northwood B 2.0G, which would overclock alot worse than a Northwood C 2.0G (don't know if they make those though)

I never knew there was a p4 winchester!!!

 

[BrownTown]

opps!, Anyways, edited to say williamette , stupid similar names

 

[name9902]

hm, when nm is mentioned as process type...what exactly does this mean? i thought nm was a measurment ^^

 

[Bobthelost]

It's a measurement of how far apart the nodes are inside the CPU, there's a thread on it in highly technical at the moment.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: name9902

What's the point of a site selling Processors to list something like the Core , just to list all possible specs?

For most "normal users" the core specification is not something they know about and therefor doesn't care about. For those of us who have it as our hobby, we know 95% of the info about the CPU once we get the to know which core it is. So to avoid confusing normal users and still inform about which specs it has they only list the core name.

Basically you need to find some articles that explains what is the difference between the generations of cores.

http://images.tomshardware.com/2005/11/...ll_cpu_charts_2005/cpu_history_big.gif

code names = core names

 

[NaOH]

nm refers to how far apart the "wires" are on the die. Hence, smaller width in between wires, means smaller over processor. There's only so small they can go with this until quantum physics plays a part.