difference between P4 1.6 and P4 1.6A?

Sunny129

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2000
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seeing as how i plan on getting one and OCing it shortly, i should probably already know this. i do know that the 1.6A is in fact the one i should be getting, but i was just wondering about the actual difference between them. i figure it has to do with a difference in core type, or the number of pins, or the bus speed each runs on, or something like that. but i would like someone to clear it up for me...

thanks...eric
 

Budman

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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1.6 = 256k cache 0.18 micron = not great overclocker

1.6a = 512k cache 0.13 micron = great overclocker.
 

Cuda1447

Lifer
Jul 26, 2002
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Originally posted by: Budman
1.6 = 256k cache 0.18 micron = not great overclocker

1.6a = 512k cache 0.13 micron = great overclocker.



Ok Im sure you guys won't mind a newb question....

What exactly does the cache affect, and also what is the micron, and what does that affect?

 

Sunny129

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2000
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well i believe the cache is the on-chip memory. so the 1.6A has twice as much as the 1.6. and the micron is just refers to the process in which the chip was made. .18 micron means a chip's transistors were created at .18 micrometers, or microns, (.18 x 10^-6 meters) wide. so if the transistors on another chip are only .13 microns in width, then many more can fit onto one chip, allowing it to process many mips (millions of instructions per second) more than a chip based on the .18 micron process, thus rasing the clock frequency in MHz, b/c MHz is essentially mips...

and thanks for clearing up the difference between the 1.6 and the 1.6A ;)
 

Rhombuss

Golden Member
Nov 22, 2000
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For any Intel CPU 2.0GHz and below, the "A" just denotes that it is a Northwood P4 core, and not a Williamette P4 core.
 

Sunny129

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2000
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Originally posted by: Cuda1447
Wow, hey thx Sunny! You should be a teacher or something... :)

i should hardly be a teacher...i was actually the one who originally didn't know the exact difference between the 1.6 and 1.6A ;). by the way, and meant to say don't quote me on that micron information. i don't remember exactly what the micron measurement represents, but its either the width of a single transistor, or the width of the laser used to create transistors on the chip...
 

Cuda1447

Lifer
Jul 26, 2002
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Either way, the lower the better, which is all that really matters to me right now.
 

Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
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.13µ = the transistor gate length. (Btw, you can fit almost 1000 of those in the width of a human hair.)

Basically, they can run faster and require less voltage than a larger gate.

And yes, the L2 cache is memory on die and runs at full speed, in the case of the Northwood (and Willamette.) But not all cache is on-die. It wasn't too long ago that it was located on a cartridge, and before that on the motherboard. But obviously, it runs faster and can be accessed much quicker when it's located on the die itself.