dual cpu's

[Guest]

Hello,

I was wondering is it possible to run 2 cpu's and get true multitasking ability using windows 98 or windows me? Basically will it work the same as it would in NT?

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately the answer is no.

The operating system must support Multiprocessors and Win 9x amd ME don't. You can use NT4, Win2K, Linux or BeOS (if you can still get it). If you want games Win2k is worth a try, but it is expensive.

 

[Fltsimbuff]

Adding to this, some programs such as Adobe photoshop can make use of the second CPU whether the OS supports it or not. However, very few programs are like this, and I strongly suggest Win2k

--Fltsimbuff

 

[Guest]

>>some programs such as Adobe photoshop can make use of the second CPU whether the OS supports it or not.

I don't think so - some OSes (like Win98, Win2K) do not expose second CPU so all apps cannot see it, or use it.

 

[Fltsimbuff]

I don't _think_ so either... I know. I stated it as a fact that I'm sure others here can confirm.

--Fltsimbuff

 

[jollygrinch]

'fraid i don't have a link for you but i'm prety sure that photoshop can utilize dual proc's. not qute sure what you mean by "expose second CPU" either.

At the core of every system: "I'm sorry dave, i'm afraid i can't do that."

 

[hammerhead]

Can you prove this please Fltsimbuff? Or at least post some links. I would love to know how this would be implemented.

 

[Guest]

Actually, WinNT,2k & Linux can schedule individual threads on different processors so any single application that lets you do things while something else is happening (e.g web browser) can potentially see a benefit. Only thing is, usually, the scheduler will only use the 2nd processor when the first one is at 100%, so applications won't run twice as fast if they aren't stressing the processor in the first place.

 

[Pettytheft]

Actually if you want to mess around try BeOS, it will use both procs for any apps.

The problem is that there are not any apps out there.

<i>If you take a truth and follow it blindly, it will become a Falsehood and you a Fanatic.</i>

 

[Guest]

i'm uncertai and not refuting you, but mac os is not multiprocessor ready, but photoshop does see benefits from multiprocessor macs. this was one of the big scandals about mac offering multiprocessor systems, i.e. photoshop was practically the only app to utilize them.

 

[Guest]

Adding to this, some programs such as Adobe photoshop can make use of the second CPU whether the OS supports it or not. However, very few programs are like this, and I strongly suggest Win2k

I don't _think_ so either... I know. I stated it as a fact that I'm sure others here can confirm.

Fltsimbuff, this is not what I experienced with Windows 95/98 and Adobe up to version 4.0, and I have never heard anyone say that any program can use the second CPU with Windows 9x or Me. I myself have never seen an application use the second CPU in Windows 9x, though I switched to NT long ago to make user of the second CPU.

Are you sure this is the case? Or am I misunderstanding what you are saying?

 

[Fltsimbuff]

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q193/6/45.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=SMP&rnk=1&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=W98

The above article states that: "Note that some third-party programs may make use of a second processor under Windows in a programmatic manner (most notably, computer-aided design [CAD] programs). The use of a secondary processor is dependent upon such a program and is usable only by that program."

I named Photoshop (5.0+) specifically because I have heard of such implementations with it... Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any info on its SMP compatibility yet. I did find that Photoshop 5 can take advantage of the the Dual G4 Mac's second processor through a software "sleight-of-hand," even without OS X. I expect that they take advantage of it in 98 the same way. I'll post back if I find out more.

--Fltsimbuff

 

[Guest]

Interesting! Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I don't know for certain even if that will work on a Mac or not. In most OS that support SMP and multithreading/tasking the OS must be able to recognize the second CPU and if not there is no way for an application to "see" the second processor since it must receive information about the available resources in the system. Typically the application only handles being multi-threaded in its code and the OS actually handles the scheduling of the threads on individual processors and the first Proc does not have to be at 100%. Workloads are round robined by NT and Win2k and there are obviously apps such as Quake etc that take advantage of these capabilities. I often hate how articles like this are written by people who do not or have not tried one. I have worked with SMP systems since their inception in consumer systems and they work great! If you don't do multiple tasks at once or burn cds in the background then maybe you don't need one but if you were watching a DVD movie and editing a document while you also FTP'd data in the background and have a personal web server dishing up your website all running at once sounds interesting... dont try this on a single processor system.

 

[Guest]

benchmarks for dual mac on os9 (not smp capable)
<A HREF="http://www.macworld.com/2000/07/28/benchmark.html" target="_new">http://www.macworld.com/2000/07/28/benchmark.html</A>

 

[Guest]

Learn something new every day! I am particularly interested in how they accomplish this since they have to handle the particulars of synchronizing threads and locking without the OS.

 

[Guest]

indeed it is strange... don't know how they do it. heard something of a "plug-in" but this helps o' so very little.

 

[Guest]

I guess that is why they charge all the $$$ for those apps.

 

[Guest]

good point... i always wondered why some of these graphics apps were so expensive since bezier splines are built right int the windows api.