Sse2

[sushii.]

Sorry for the n00b question, but what is SSE2, and can I get it without having to buy a new processor?

[%hMa@?b<C]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSE2
no, you cannot download sse2, just as you cant download new ram. it is part of the hardware. Most new processors, such as my opteron have sse3 now-adays.

[reclusivemonkey]

Sorry for the n00b question, but what is SSE2, and can I get it without having to buy a new processor?

Are you sure you don't have it?



cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep flags


If it appears there, you have it.

[Ampi]

Hmm, I have the exact same problem. Apparently I do have sse, is it possible to upgrade to sse2??

[igknighted]

Hmm, I have the exact same problem. Apparently I do have sse, is it possible to upgrade to sse2??

Yup... with a new chip. Pretty much any chip from the last 4 years has SSE2.

[Ampi]

being a complete n00b over here :)

new chip, means I have to buy something, right?? And what exactly?
And it that the only way to get matlab running? (I'm guessing yes :()

[igknighted]

being a complete n00b over here :)

new chip, means I have to buy something, right?? And what exactly?
And it that the only way to get matlab running? (I'm guessing yes :()

Yes, it does mean buying something. If you can post your hardware specs we could probably point you to a chip that would be a drop in replacement (probably under $50) for your current setup. It's a dead simple upgrade (only slightly more difficult than adding ram) if you wanna give it a shot.

*note, this is assuming your mobo can handle a newer chip... not necessarily a given. Thats why we need your precise specs.

[Ampi]

I am not really sure what my specs are so here is the output of commands that seem to give this kind of information...

How does a new chip compare to buying a new computer?

Except for my computer box, I have nice hardware. My computer box is simply seven years old and working surprisingly well (=quick) and can handle a lot. But I can imagine that it is old.
The only thing with the sse2 is that I need this kind of software, but I am not really willing to go back to Intel on my desktop.

So the real question is if I consider buying a new computer then I'll have a "good" chip but does buying a "good" chip alone allow me the postpone the new computer for a couple years?



$ cat /proc/meminfo

MemTotal: 255944 kB
MemFree: 17324 kB
Buffers: 6244 kB
Cached: 113356 kB
SwapCached: 40 kB
Active: 154820 kB
Inactive: 57892 kB
HighTotal: 0 kB
HighFree: 0 kB
LowTotal: 255944 kB
LowFree: 17324 kB
SwapTotal: 746980 kB
SwapFree: 712268 kB
Dirty: 384 kB
Writeback: 0 kB
AnonPages: 93108 kB
Mapped: 46076 kB
Slab: 12196 kB
SReclaimable: 5524 kB
SUnreclaim: 6672 kB
PageTables: 1488 kB
NFS_Unstable: 0 kB
Bounce: 0 kB
CommitLimit: 874952 kB
Committed_AS: 395388 kB
VmallocTotal: 770040 kB
VmallocUsed: 26648 kB
VmallocChunk: 740340 kB




$ cat

processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 6
model : 6
model name : AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 1150.037
cache size : 256 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mp mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow up ts
bogomips : 2302.49
clflush size : 32