ALU/FPU Explain Please

[ThePunkGeek]

Well i heard them terms and i know thats what cpu benchmarks go by but am not really all the sure what roll they play on the cpu.
thanks

[Teacher_Doug]

The ALU is the arithmetic & Logic unit. It takes in the instructions in machine code and applies them (sort of) to do specific Logical tasks, like add 51 to value in regAE , keep doing it until reg15B2 shows 0

The FPU is the Floating Point Unit. Binary arithmetic, which is what all digital computers use, doesn't have decimals, so there are methods to get round this, using exponentials (I think). As control over real numbers is vital for 3D modeling (amongst many things) then a method of dealing with, and rapidly calculating and using decimals had to be developed.

Early processors were not good at it. The first one I know of was the 386DX, the 486SX wasn't good, and the early Pentiums1s and some pentium2s had serious problems. The early AMD and Cyrix chips were very poor at it . Nowadays, a viable chip would have to have a strong floating point operation if it wanted to stay in business, and after many porkies from the chip manufacturers in the past, FPU benchmarks ensure they tell the truth.

:D There, that wasn't so bad was it!


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Oh dear, was it that boring :eh?:

[Wa11y]

Originally posted by drobb2
Oh dear, was it that boring :eh?:

Actually, I found that all to be quite interesting! Thanks for that thorough answer!

[Teacher_Doug]

Thanks Wally, it's nice to be appreciated...sob..sob..wipes eyes with back of hand, blows nose
:D I only do it because I DREAM of the ********

[Jeff Bolton]

yeah, i think i learned that at the beginning ot the semester in computer science but i forgot it already! (third week). shows you how much my sponge of a brain retains. :p

jeff

[Teacher_Doug]

Be thankful, I've got to remember it, regurgitate it and even worse, I've got to UNDERSTAND it, so I can explain it to my students.


Education is H*LL

Have another beer:beer:


ps Jeff, LOVE your new avatar (0)