[rescue] Re: Wanted - Dual (or quad) PPro

[Joshua D. Boyd]

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 12:30:21PM -0500, Dave McGuire wrote:
> On Thursday, February 20, 2003, at 09:18 AM, Joshua D. Boyd wrote:
> >> Although I am not a major fan of the PC architecture, I still think
> >> that the PPro was one of the great CPUs. The ideas it introduced have
> >> gone on to have a profound impact on the industry.
> >
> > I wasn't aware that it introduced any new ideas.  Care to share?
> 
>    Well, uOps for one...ever read anything about 'em?

I thought someone was likely to try to point those out.  To which I
counter NexGen.  They did it first with the Nx586, except they called it
a Risc core rather than uops.  And they were on the market several years
before the PPro, and in fact had pretty much disappeared before I heard
Byte mention the PPro.  

I'm having a hard time finding a good reference page for NexGen CPUs.
The Linux Kernal Mailing List archives mention it once or twice, but
only in reference to linux running on it and issues, not documenting
unique features.

Wait, here is a small Byte piece that talks about Intel adapting the uop
feature: http://www.byte.com/art/9511/sec7/art7.htm

I believe that in the end, NexGen got purchased by AMD.