AMD & Intel: The Processor Files

 To be AMD, or Intel? That is the question!

"May the Bus be with you!"

   And based on which side you choose your fate will be determined. It's like going to Thanksgiving Day dinner at your parents house with your wife. Conversation is struck up, and against all odds your wife and mom end up disagreeing on something and they put it up to you to decide who is right. No matter which one you choose, the other will be mad at you. With AMD you end up with the hardcore gamer crowd who remember the days when AMD processors had special enhancements for graphics and gaming. Then you have your Penny's, Intel Box's, and i7's. Intel is the more expensive older brother that has ruled the hardware market for decades. Most IT professionals with a real education (not your ITT grades or Edu-by-Phone Help Desk Pro's from Tajikistan) tend to side with the  Intel processor architecture. In the past AMD used to be a bigger contender, but Intel's new i-series has proven to be quite ahead of AMD. But that doesn't mean they don't sell. An AMD processor with similar specs as an Intel could be as low as half the price. So what AMD lacks in speed and raw power it makes up with in price. 

  Now that we're familiar with all 2 of the contenders, let's see some history. Intel was first created in 1968 in California, along with every other computer company in the world. It was founded by Gorden Moore (Moore's Law) and Robert Noyce (inventor of the integrated circuit) and Arthur Rock (who didn't do anything spectacular). They hailed from the famous Fairchild Semiconductor co, which means they were really good at building semiconductors. They designed several more efficient conductors early on and then found themselves building the original 8080 Microprocessors based on Frederico Faggin's (don't make fun of this guy, he nearly single-handedly started the processor revolution) design. Newer designs like the K8080 processors helped do away with the room-filling machines of the Dinosaur Age that my in-laws lived through. J/K-OMG. And that pretty much sums up the legacy of texting. In 1969 Advanced Micro Devices, AMD for short, was founded to build computer chips. During the early 90s AMD bought a company named NextGen who were working on an alternative processor style called the Nx686. AMD then took this technology and soon Intel and AMD were building their own processors with their own ideas and a healthy competition was formed. One decided to market itself more to the High-Tech scene with raw power well designed, and the other to the gamers, artists, and underground Tech enthusiasts. 

  So now for the answers we've all been waiting for, "what the hell is a processor anyways?!?" Simple, it's something that processes, right!? It's easy to see that above all the parts in a computer system the processor is both the most talked about and criticized component, but at the same time it's the least understood. How many times have you been in Best Buy and some punk in a hoodie is standing there arguing with a dork in a blue polo about how many gigahertz a machine has and what it can do. As I stand there and listen I realize 2 things: that neither really knows exactly what they're talking about, and I really hate that shade of blue and hoodies. "This 3.0 GHz processor is definitely faster than this 2.8 GHz model!" Not necessarily. "HTT is for making games run faster!" Nope, not exactly. "Dual Core means I'm getting 2 processors." And no. There is much more to a CPU (oh look I'm throwing multiple terms around meaning the same thing! Welcome to the IT field) than its speed rating in hertz. You have to look at the entire CPU to truly determine its power. You see the CPU is the brain of the computer, we have all heard that before, and just like the brain a CPU has a series of neural networks called Data Buses, Front Side Buses, or simply CPU Buses. Data Buses are what bring the binary signals to the CPU. Upon leaving the CPU's core we have "I/O Buses" which we'll discuss in a bit. Today we tend to only see 3 types of Data Bus: 32-bit, 64-bit, and 86-bit. Before we go any further, you need to understand what bits are, and how they measure up. Please see my other post on Binary. When we say 32-bit Data Bus we mean that "32-bits of data can run through the Data Bus at a time". Think of the Data Bus like a highway. 32-bit highways have 2 lanes, 64-bit have 4 lanes, and 86-bit have 6. Each one can accommodate more traffic respectably. So a processor clocked at 2.2 GHz with a 32-bit Data Bus may not be as efficient at processing all those bits as one that is merely 2.0 GHz but with a 64-bit Data Bus.

  Ironically enough, the Data Bus is one place where we can see that bigger-faster isn't always better. You'll find that most 86-bit processors, and by that Operating Systems, are being left by the wayside. Why? With our highway example the 86-bit version has 6 lanes which is much more space for bit-drivers (for you home DIY-ers out there) to cover. With our current technology we can only transmit so many bits to the CPU, so you end up with invariable traffic. A full lane here, an empty one here, scattered bits all around. We've found that 64-bit Data Buses keep traffic steady and consistent. Another good example is an Assembly line. Would you want your materials scattered about the conveyor belt, or would you want them as consistent as possible which helps keep you from wasting money on running machines and lost production time. This example is partially what gives us the term "Assembly Code" which is all those binary digits who are lined up ready for the Customs Depot, or the CPU's "Core", to be processed and then sent on to the promised land- your screen. As for the Operating System tie-in I mentioned- this is where you'd hear about "Windows 7 64-bit", meaning that the "OS" can handle that type of processing and direct it as it processes.

 Now, "what about this HTT stuff that makes my games work more better Mr. Fiebs!" Well, first off- grammar just doesn't seem to be your thing Mr. I'm 13 and a genius. And no, there isn't a correlation between that and "HTTP" Mr. Blue-shirt wonder salesman. "HTTP" stand for "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" and deals with Networking and the Internet, which I'll discuss in a later post. "HTT" or "Hyper Threading Technology" is an Intel technology found in their processors. AMD uses the name "Turbo" for their version. These technologies allow the Processor's "core" to essentially do 2 things at once seemingly or "Virtually". The "core" can be considered the bit junction, or customs house, which processes each one and gets it ready to be assimilated and built in the "Compiler" (we'll talk about compilers in another post); "Prepare for assimilation"- that was for all you Borg fans out there. The key word is however "Virtually" since it's not completely true. These processors are just really good at faking it (just like your girlfriend) and doing some serious multitasking (which is what your doing when your thinking about her, by yourself). Let's use 'you' as an example. Can you really text and drive at the same time? Well, you may think so, but let's define what it means to do 2 things at once. "You absolutely have to be able to do exactly 2 things at the same given time!" Do you need more layman than that?! I hope not. So in a box, Intel box that is, HTT allows processors to switch between high priority processes very quickly without you noticing; seemingly doing 2 things at once. 

 Onto the "Core" topics of what CPU's are. Well, good news- this will be a short paragraph. A "Dual-Core" processor has exactly that, 2 cores. 2 independent Customs Offices to help speed up the processing time of all those immigrant Bits-es who are taking our "Jobs". A "Job", in CS terms, is a processes. So a "Quad-Core" i7 Intel processor with HTT has 4 "independent Cores", not processors, and "virtually" 4 more, seemingly giving you 8 Cores. 

  Now, from this point, we have another aspect of CPU's to talk about: the "I/O Bus" or "Internal Operating Bus" I mentioned earlier. This is just like the Data Bus, just on the other end of the the Assembly Line. After those immigrant Bits-es move through the Customs House, or Core, they then travel along the I/O Bus to reach their destination. In another post I'll discuss where their directions originally come from, which deals with Networking. A single Core can only release up to 32-bits of data at a time. So a modern Single-Core processor can only have a 32-bit Register ("oops I did it again...I played with your terms...and got you lost in their names"). Register is just another name for the I/O Bus. So, logically the next step is that Dual-Core processors can have up to a 64-bit Register, and quad-core processors can have up to 128-bit I/O Buses- actually no. Currently, no matter how many Cores you have, 64-bit is the highest you can attain. 

 Next up: "Johnny Cache" and his hit single "Recollection". The processor's "Cache", as in "L2 Cache", is the component that allows it to store frequently used information which speeds up bit memory "recollection" times. This allows your whole operation to run faster by saving to memory the things you do the most, instead of having to go through them every time. There are typically 3 types of "Cache": Instructional Cache- which speeds up instruction execution time, Data Cache- which speeds up saving and fetching  data, and Translation Look-aside Buffer Cache (TLB Cache)- which is used to speed up virtual-to-physical 'address' translation for both previous types of cache's. Really I could spend the next half-hour talking about various levels of Cache and different architecture types, but just remember that the Cache helps speed up processing times by storing and recalling frequently used data.

 Well, this basically sums it up. Now you should have a rough idea of what you're talking about, with regards to Computer Processors anyway, next time you're in Best Buy debating with a Blue-Shirt.