[9fans] AMD Sempron

[9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

Does the i386 kernel run on AMD Sempron CPUs?

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[jmk]

On Fri Jun 30 13:26:31 EDT 2006, lyndon@orthanc.ca wrote:
> Does the i386 kernel run on AMD Sempron CPUs?

An educated guess would say yes. It runs on all other K7/K8
processors. I think the Sempron is a budget brand which was
K7 originally but can be K8 depending on how new it is. Try
it and see.

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

> I think the Sempron is a budget brand which was
> K7 originally but can be K8 depending on how new it is.

Yah, the technical docs are very unclear about this.

> Try it and see.

I would have to buy the system before I could do that :-(

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[quanstro]

i think sempron is a marketing term.  you need the chip revision letter
to tell what the heck it really is.

- erik

On Fri Jun 30 13:06:01 CDT 2006, lyndon@orthanc.ca wrote:
> > I think the Sempron is a budget brand which was
> > K7 originally but can be K8 depending on how new it is.
> 
> Yah, the technical docs are very unclear about this.
> 
> > Try it and see.
> 
> I would have to buy the system before I could do that :-(

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

> i think sempron is a marketing term.  you need the chip revision letter
> to tell what the heck it really is.

The system is an eMachines T3304.  All I've been able to find out so far 
is that it's a socket 754 Sempron 3300+ processor.  No info on chipset, 
on-board Ethernet, etc.  Best Buy Canada is practically giving them 
away, but the local store doesn't have any stock, so I can't wander over 
and plug in a CD.

--lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lou Kamenov]

On 6/30/06, Lyndon Nerenberg <lyndon@orthanc.ca> wrote:
> > i think sempron is a marketing term.  you need the chip revision letter
> > to tell what the heck it really is.
>
> The system is an eMachines T3304.  All I've been able to find out so far
> is that it's a socket 754 Sempron 3300+ processor.  No info on chipset,
> on-board Ethernet, etc.  Best Buy Canada is practically giving them
> away, but the local store doesn't have any stock, so I can't wander over
> and plug in a CD.

freebsd/i386 and freebsd/amd64 works on  these semprons without
problem, they even have sse3  (754 ones), though i haven't tried plan 9.

l

Re: Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Rob Pike]

I thought it was 'Semprini'.

-rob

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[easy laughs]

> I thought it was 'Semprini'.

No no no that was the aftershave.

Re: Re: Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[David Leimbach]

On 6/30/06, Rob Pike <robpike@gmail.com> wrote:
> I thought it was 'Semprini'.
>
> -rob
>
I thought for sure that word would be censored.

here are the words not to be used again in this broadcast:
B*M
B*TTY
P*X
KN*CKERS
W**-W**
SEMPRINI

Dave

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[quanstro]

only socket A semprons are k7s.
from AMD's site the 3300+ socket 754 is stepping D0, E3 or E6.

the E3/E6 is a 64-bit Palermo core with mmx/sse2/3dnow! with a 16bit 800Mhz HT link.
the D0 is the same but might (!) not support 64bit and the cache sizes are half as bug.
(64/128 vs. 128/256).

- erik

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K7/index.html
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/TYPE-Sempron%2064.html

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

> the E3/E6 is a 64-bit Palermo core with mmx/sse2/3dnow! with a  
> 16bit 800Mhz HT link.
> the D0 is the same but might (!) not support 64bit and the cache  
> sizes are half as bug.
> (64/128 vs. 128/256).

Bloody hell.  Let's just simplify the whole mess and give them all a  
brand name of CPU™.

I've have a new plan:  I'll buy the Sempr0n box to use as a  
replacement for my BSD server, and run Plan 9 on the old box (a Via  
C3 Nehemiah).  This works better anyway, as the Via "server" will  
actually fit on the boat ;-)

--lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[quanstro]

it's not that bad.  they're all K8s with different steppings.  what you don't 
know is the cache size or if it's got 64-bit capabilities, which kenc does not
yet support.  i don't think what you don't know will be a problem in this
case.

it's interesting with all the marketing going on right now you need to be
quite savvy to figure out what you're really getting.  a bit like the days of
hand-built computers.

- erik

On Sat Jul  1 19:35:43 CDT 2006, lyndon@orthanc.ca wrote:
> > the E3/E6 is a 64-bit Palermo core with mmx/sse2/3dnow! with a  
> > 16bit 800Mhz HT link.
> > the D0 is the same but might (!) not support 64bit and the cache  
> > sizes are half as bug.
> > (64/128 vs. 128/256).
> 
> Bloody hell.  Let's just simplify the whole mess and give them all a  
> brand name of CPU™.
> 
> I've have a new plan:  I'll buy the Sempr0n box to use as a  
> replacement for my BSD server, and run Plan 9 on the old box (a Via  
> C3 Nehemiah).  This works better anyway, as the Via "server" will  
> actually fit on the boat ;-)
> 
> --lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[jmk]

yes. you can fuss over the micromanagement that
ekes out every fractional % of performance but unless
you are in a very specialised environment that's
just obsession. the chips either implement the
instruction set and architectural features you expect
or they don't. plan9 expects little from the cpu.

as usual, what's round about the cpu is the problem,
graphics, network, and now to some extent usb (and
sata?) being the primary concerns for support. but,
of course, device drivers aren't hard (are they? if
they were why do other operating systems have so many,
coded by such obviously mediocre programmers?), so a
little elbow grease should fix that.

On Sat Jul  1 20:59:23 EDT 2006, quanstro@quanstro.net wrote:
> it's not that bad.  they're all K8s with different steppings.  what you don't 
> know is the cache size or if it's got 64-bit capabilities, which kenc does not
> yet support.  i don't think what you don't know will be a problem in this
> case.
> 
> it's interesting with all the marketing going on right now you need to be
> quite savvy to figure out what you're really getting.  a bit like the days of
> hand-built computers.
> 
> - erik
> 
> On Sat Jul  1 19:35:43 CDT 2006, lyndon@orthanc.ca wrote:
> > > the E3/E6 is a 64-bit Palermo core with mmx/sse2/3dnow! with a  
> > > 16bit 800Mhz HT link.
> > > the D0 is the same but might (!) not support 64bit and the cache  
> > > sizes are half as bug.
> > > (64/128 vs. 128/256).
> > 
> > Bloody hell.  Let's just simplify the whole mess and give them all a  
> > brand name of CPU™.
> > 
> > I've have a new plan:  I'll buy the Sempr0n box to use as a  
> > replacement for my BSD server, and run Plan 9 on the old box (a Via  
> > C3 Nehemiah).  This works better anyway, as the Via "server" will  
> > actually fit on the boat ;-)
> > 
> > --lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

> the chips either implement the
> instruction set and architectural features you expect
> or they don't.

Not having played with any of the 64 bit intel/amd gear I'm not
really comfortable with having to figure out the hard way just how
"compatible" they are with 32 bit mode, despite (or in spite of)
claims made by the manufacturers.  Hardware is just too fscking
weirde these days.

--lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[quanstro]

they're 100% compatable in 32bit mode.

On Sun Jul  2 00:23:10 CDT 2006, lyndon@orthanc.ca wrote:
> > the chips either implement the
> > instruction set and architectural features you expect
> > or they don't.
>
> Not having played with any of the 64 bit intel/amd gear I'm not
> really comfortable with having to figure out the hard way just how
> "compatible" they are with 32 bit mode, despite (or in spite of)
> claims made by the manufacturers.  Hardware is just too fscking
> weirde these days.
>
> --lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

> you need to be
> quite savvy to figure out what you're really getting.  a bit like
> the days of
> hand-built computers.

When I build them by hand I *know* what I'm getting.  That's the
problem here :-(

Anyway, if the little bugger will play nice as a 32-bit CPU I suppose
I'm okay.  But that BSD machine could use a kick in the pants, so I
think I'll stick to the plan, anyway.

And I don't even want to ask about the G5 box I'm working on getting
my fingers on.

--lyndon

Re: [9fans] AMD Sempron

[C H Forsyth]

>And I don't even want to ask about the G5 box I'm working on getting
>my fingers on.

that's a little easier than amd64 for 64-bit code generation.
i'm also fairly sure it has got a 32-bit mode for use initially.