Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 12:00:59 +1030 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: khansen@njcc.com Cc: Archie Cobbs <archie@whistle.com>, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: what does MMX mean? Message-ID: <19980116120059.60836@lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <34BE41EE.E3B@njcc.com>; from Ken Hansen on Thu, Jan 15, 1998 at 12:05:50PM -0500 References: <199801142355.PAA05051@bubba.whistle.com> <34BE41EE.E3B@njcc.com>
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On Thu, Jan 15, 1998 at 12:05:50PM -0500, Ken Hansen wrote: > Hello, > MMX processors have new instructions (over "classic" pentiums) > and have increased on-chip caches (32K instead of 16K IIRC). > > In my *opinion*, an MMX processor is probably worth the price > difference, even if you don't use the additional instructions. > > Also, when MMX is used by a non-Intel mfg., it may not mean > the on-chip cache is 32K, that may just be an Intel-specific feature. MMX really only refers to the instructions, not the cache size. It stands for "Multimedia Extensions". The instructions in question do clever things like 8 parallel 8-bit arithmetic operations on a single word, which can be of advantage in graphics rendering. Greg
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