[ale] multi processing?

[Danny Cox]

On Sat, 2002-10-05 at 00:10, Stephen Turner wrote:
> hey, i was curious, ive read how before the pentium there was no
> multiprocessing other than what software could manage, so my question is,
> if i compile linux for a 386 and i run it on a pentium, does it take
> advantage of multiprocessing? or just run the software processing?

	As other have noted, "multiprocessing" and multitasking have been
available ever since the i386.

	However, with the Pentium IV, some chips will have "hyperthreading". 
Tom's Hardware and Anandtech both have writeups on them.  In some
processing mixes, hyperthreading can help a lot, but in others, it
hinders overall performance.

	As I understand it, one cpu can at times behave as if it were two.  In
some cases where the cpu would otherwise wait for an event to occur, it
can switch context to another ready-to-run process, and gain some
performance.  I *think* 20-30% in the best cases....

-- 
kernel, n.: A part of an operating system that preserves the
medieval traditions of sorcery and black art.

Danny


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