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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc.

DELL 140.41

+1.1%

Dec 8 3:59 PM EST

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To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (138664)	8/8/1999 1:10:00 PM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) of 176387

By "individual user" I assume you mean a desktop user. The main difference between the PII and PIII for desktop use is the addition of 70 new instructions, originally called the Katami set (after the code name of the PIII) and now marketed as the "Streaming SIMD Extensions". SIMD is computer science shorthand for "Single Instruction Multiple Data" which refers to the processor's ability to carry multiple data contexts and execute on them at the same time. SIMD has been a part of most advanced processors since the mid'80s so I don't know why Intel uses that term here - a marketecture move I would guess. In practical terms, there is almost no software which uses these new instructions - just like there is almost nothing which uses the "MMX enhanced" instructions introduced in the original Pentium cycle. Both the PII and PIII (and the celeron for that matter) use the same "core" or basic internal CPU architecture, which was taken from the PentiumPro or P6 chip. The PII chipsets (supporting chips needed to run the processor) which Intel supplies do not support more than 2 processors but that is not a factor for most desktop users. At speeds greater than 330MHz (i.e. the 350, 400 and 450 chips), the PII has the same 100MHz front side bus as the PIII. So at the same clock speed, the differences in performance are purely a function of the on-chip cache (Level 1 and Level 2) and system design, not the processor. Most PIII systems have 512KB of level 2 cache. PII systems typically have 256KB, and celeron has 128KB (it originally had zero but Intel quickly abandoned that particular hobble). Since the chips are essentially the same internal design, this is Intel's way of creating performance differences which allow them to keep the price for newer chips up. I have used 466 celeron, 450 PII and 450 PIII systems doing lots of routine tasks and frankly can not see a difference in performance. Other things far outweigh the processor speed or type in determining the user experience.

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