Pentium Ii Xeon - Compaq Armada 6500 - Notebook PC Manual

ECG050/0698
. .
P I I X
. . E N T I U M E O N
. .
. .
In addition to the features of the Deschutes Pentium II processor such as 100-MHz GTL+ and
. .
MMX, the Pentium II Xeon processor will have these features:
. .
. .
. .
Processor speeds starting at 400 MHz and expected to increase to 450 MHz and beyond
. .
. .
512-KB, 1-MB, and 2-MB L2 cache configurations
. .
. .
Full-speed L2 cache bus
. .
. .
Slot 2 cartridge
. .
. .
. .
400- and 450-MHz Core Processor Frequency
. .
. .
. .
One of the most significant differences between the Pentium II Xeon processor and current Pentium
. .
Pro processors will be the much faster processor speed. Pentium II Xeon processors are expected
. .
. .
to announce with 400 MHz versions, to reach 450 MHz by the end of 1998, and to increase beyond
. .
450 MHz in later versions.
. .
. .
. .
. . Larger Cache Sizes
. .
. .
The Pentium II Xeon processor will support larger L2 caches than previous Intel processors.
. .
Current Intel information states Pentium II Xeon processors will be available initially in 512-KB
. .
. .
and 1-MB versions, with a 2-MB configuration announced later this year, compared with the
. .
maximum 1-MB cache available on the Pentium Pro. The larger data caches are expected to
. .
. .
provide a significant performance boost, especially in SMP configurations and systems used in
. .
memory-intensive applications such as on-line transaction processing.
. .
. .
. .
Full-Speed L2 Cache Bus
. .
. .
. .
Pentium II processors have a half-speed L2 cache bus connecting the cache memory and the CPU
. .
core. This means a 266-MHz Pentium II actually transfers data between the L2 cache and CPU
. .
. .
core at 133 MHz. However, the Pentium II Xeon processor will have a full-speed cache bus – a
. .
400-MHz Pentium II Xeon processor will transfer data between the L2 cache and processor core at
. .
. .
a full 400 MHz. The combination of the full-speed cache bus and the larger cache sizes will greatly
. .
enhance the performance of the Pentium II Xeon processor relative to the current Pentium Pro and
. .
. .
Pentium II processors, especially in SMP configurations and memory-intensive applications.
. .
. .
. .
Slot 2 Cartridge
. .
. .
Like the Klamath and Deschutes Pentium II processors, the Pentium II Xeon processor will be
. .
. .
packaged in a cartridge form factor. However, the Pentium II Xeon cartridge, called Slot 2, will be
. .
larger than the current Slot 1 cartridge. Compared with the Slot 1 cartridge, the Slot 2 cartridge has
. .
. .
. .
A higher pin count.
. .
. .
Support for a four-processor (4P) multiprocessing bus.
. .
. .
Load/signal integrity modifications.
. .
. .
Capability of delivering more power to support the larger, full-speed L2 cache.
. .
. .
. .
The larger cartridge and corresponding motherboard connector require a higher pin count. The
. .
additional pins on the Slot 2 cartridge provide support for a 4P multiprocessing system bus. Load
. .
. .
and signal integrity modifications in the new design allow a Pentium II Xeon processor to drive up
. .
to four main loads on the GTL+ bus – three other processors and a chipset. This allows the
. .
. .
Pentium II Xeon to scale to 4P SMP configurations with little external logic circuitry. The pins
. .
. .
.

(cont.)