pentium 641 CPU - just a single core with 32 bit win XP, right?

[rockin_rick]

I think that I'm going to order a Pentium 4 641 Cedar Mill 3.2GHz CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116003 for my mame cab.  I was all set until I read one of the reviews for it at newegg.  It said:

This cpu is seen by my system as 2 cpu's because I do not have the 64bit windows.

What?  I've been out of the intel loop for several years and consider myself to have a well above average tech level, but I've never heard of anything like this...  Does this reviewer just not know what he's talking about?

Specifically, If I get this and use it with a compatible EM64T mobo, along with Win XP Pro, it will just be seen as a single core, right? 

Thanks,
Rick

[scotthh]

It is a single core chip (as reported in Newegg's specifications). If hyperthreading is enabled, Windows will show two processors in the device manager. You should be able to turn hyperthreading off in the BIOS settings, at which point it would be seen as a single core in Windows. 

[rockin_rick]

hmmh - learn something new everyday....  thanks for the info.

The mobo that I had in mind does have the BIOS option to turn off hyperthreading.  I'm assuming that turning it off is the best way to utilize this CPU for mame usage, right?

Rick

[leapinlew]

hmmh - learn something new everyday....  thanks for the info.

The mobo that I had in mind does have the BIOS option to turn off hyperthreading.  I'm assuming that turning it off is the best way to utilize this CPU for mame usage, right?

Rick

Thats a lot of CPU for mame... If you tell us the kind of games you plan on playing we can make sure your getting what you want for the money.

[rockin_rick]

I think that this is the best CPU for me, value-wise.  I'm looking to be able to play as many games as possible without breaking the bank, which I define as about the price of this processor.  I don't have an older system to use, so I have to buy one and I don't really want to go used or ebay.  I also only need the CPU and mobo as I have everything else (RAM, PSU, HD, etc).  I don't really know every game that I want supported at full frame rates, but I want to discover new games and hope that most play 100%.  I also want to future proof it as much as possible.  You never know when mame will slow down due to better emulation in future releases (like when the sound rewrite in 0.93 or the video update in ~0.106), and I'd like the option to be able to take advantage of the better emulation without getting new hardware.  Basically, since I have to buy something, this seems about right for the price.  The most performance for the $$$$$....

So should I disable HTT or leave it on for best performance with the latest version of mame?  It does take advantage of multiple threads somewhat, so   I'm researching HTT more....

Thanks,
Rick

[scotthh]

I'm assuming that turning it off is the best way to utilize this CPU for mame usage, right?

That makes intuitive sense. I played around with turning HTT off at work and I didn't notice a difference in how my applications ran (this was as unscientific a test as you could come up with). Since I'm likely to run multiple windows at work, it made me feel good to leave HTT on. I would find some game that can choke the CPU and try it out both ways, which ever way works better, is the way to go.

Tiger-Heli mentioned this benchmark in this thread. From a quick look at the site, it looks like Mame likes higher MHz and that chip should do nicely, especially for $75.