A Definition of Hyperthreading

2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
Is this a good definition of Hyperthreading written below?

Intel's HyperThreading Technology allows a single processor to effectively create two logical processors to an operating system. A single processor can execute multiple instructions on the same clock cycle increasing CPU performance. This simulates multiprocessing performance with a single processor. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use.
 
2048Megabytes said:
Is this a good definition of Hyperthreading written below?

Intel's HyperThreading Technology allows a single processor to effectively create two logical processors to an operating system. A single processor can execute multiple instructions on the same clock cycle increasing CPU performance. This simulates multiprocessing performance with a single processor. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use.
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That part is incorrect... HT doesn't make multiple instructions execute simultaneously on the same clock cycle. It works more like this: there are two logical threads (#1 and #2) both use the same execution core, and both can (and do) have stuff running on them...now, when thread #1 stalls for reason or another (branch prediction mistake, dependency hazard, etc.), it lets thread #2 to take over the execution core instead of letting it sit idle, so whatever program is running on that thread will continue to execute, instead of having all processes stall which is what would happen on a non-HT CPU... and if #2 stalls it lets #1 to kick back in... this is kinda crappy explanation, I know, but since you seem to understand HT fairly well I assume you get this :cool:

I'll try to summarize this... it doesn't make multiple instructions run on the same clock cycle, it lets the CPU to execute instructions from other processes when the current process stalls (makes sense? if not, forget about my summary...)
 
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Alright, now I believe the revised below definition is correct.

Intel's HyperThreading Technology allows a single processor to effectively create two logical processors to an operating system. A single processor can execute programs more efficiently increasing CPU performance. This simulates multiprocessing performance with a single processor. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use.
 
Well, I can't see anything wrong with your revised version, of course you could've included HOW it actually increases performance but that seems correct...
 
My first HT processor was a P4 in our current family computer (Gateway E-4100). Boy, is that thing fast, paired with a Radeon X9550, and you've got a nice computer that can play the slightly older games on max. (Doom 3, Half-Life 2, etc.)
 
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