Performance Topics; Improving The Performance Of Your Pc's Processor - HP Vectra XU 6/XXX Optimization Manual

NOTE

PERFORMANCE TOPICS

The following topics are covered in this chapter:
•

Improving the performance of your PC's processor

• Advantages of dual processor configurations
• Matching memory capacity to your requirements
• Benefits of 32-bit applications
• Installing fast peripherals on the PCI bus
• Increasing the speed limit with Ultra SCSI
• Making the most of your IDE channels
• More video performance
• Your PC's audio resources
• HP PCI integrated 10/100VG LAN interface.
IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR PC'S PROCESSOR
Your HP Vectra XU PC uses the most powerful processor currently available in any HP Vectra
PC: the Intel Pentium Pro. The advanced capabilities of this processor are sufficient to handle
any desktop application you may use. However, it is also possible to further increase the
performance of your PC's processor by replacing it with an upgrade processor. This section
explains how and why.
The Processor's Clocks
Everything your PC's processor does is synchronized to a regular pulse known as the processor
clock. The speed of this clock defines the speed at which your processor performs its work.
Your PC's Pentium Pro processor uses a system board clock source of either 60 or 66 MHz. All
operations on the local bus (such as data transfers with memory) are synchronized to this
clock. Other devices in the PC also use this clock to generate their own clock signals; for
example, the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus controller divides this clock in half
to produce the 30 or 33 MHz PCI clock.
For its own internal operation, the Pentium Pro processor multiplies the clock source to obtain a
faster, internal clock. It is the frequency of this internal clock that defines your processor's
speed. For example, the 150 MHz processor uses the 60 MHz clock source and multiplies this
by 5/2 to produce its own 150 MHz internal clock.
The advanced Pentium Pro processor installed in
your PC provides the best performance when used
with 32-bit operating systems and applications.