[geeks] Re: [rescue] This Just In: HP to buy Compaq

[Zach Malone]

The PPro was the first of the P6 core processors.  Other processors in this
family include the Pentium II, Pentium III, the P2 and P3 Xeons, and the
Celerons.  One thing about the PPro that makes them popular is that they are
extremely stable, and you can assemble a machine with a lot of them for a
lot less then a Xeon machine with more then 2 processors.  Finally, as I
understand it (correct me if I am wrong), the PPro was the first x86
processor that has a RISC core, with a CISC interpreter, giving it better
performance then similar era Pentium MMX chips.
    Zach
(Moved to geeks)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kurt Huhn" <kurt at k-huhn.com>
To: <rescue at sunhelp.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 6:05 PM
Subject: Re: [rescue] This Just In: HP to buy Compaq


> > Ken Hansen writes:
> >  >
> >  > But the real find was a PPro 200 system
> >
> > Okay, this time I'll bite. What's so great about the PPro that makes
> > it better than other Intel chips? Are they still worth getting nowadays?
> >
>
> Well, performance-wise, they're not as great as some of the chips out
these
> days.  However, the PPro is still an excellent and *very* viable chip for
> all sorts of CPU intensive stuff.  You won't get *incredible* performance,
> but you will get *solid* and *consistent* performance.
>
> They run relatively cool (as far as intel processors go), don't require
> strange cooling fans (a heatsink and some measure of airflow through the
> case is usually fine), they usually have a good amount of on-chip cache
> memory, the cache runs at core speed, a 180mhz is essentially a 200Mhz
(good
> if you bought a 180 :), not as sensitive to heat as other processors, are
> low-profile (makes custom cases easy), will run all day without a single
> hiccup.
>
> Yes, other Intel chips will do the same, but the PPro is the yardstick of
> quality that other chips are measured by.  The PPRo was the first
"quality"
> chip that intel produced - that made it possible for Intel x86 to compete
in
> the server and graphic/engineering workstations arenas.  The PPro can go
> into MP systems too - I'm not positive, but I think PPros can be
configured
> in up to 8-way with the right motherboard.
>
> All in all, the PPro is a very flexible and configurable chip.
>
> That, and these chips are now very inexpensive.  I recently bought a pair
at
> $29 per, and now the price is nearly half that at some places (on sale).
I
> recall when these chips first came out - they cost in the neighborhood of
> $2000 if you had friends at  the store...
>
> Kurt
>
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