I used read articles such as this one on Ars Technica with wonder at how anyone could understand such complex and meaningless jargon, and how those diagrams of square labeled blocks could ever be related into anything like a CPU. Today I read another one, the first in a while and to my suprise I actually understood what it was talking about. During last semester I took a class on Computer Architecture where we studied the architecture of a MIPS processor and we also had a bit of a look at some of the Intel stuff too.
The class was invaluable in helping me to grasp the concepts of computer hardware and understand how it all goes together. It’s also really nice to be able to read an article like the previously mentioned Ars Technica article and be able to follow it and understand the implications, advances and possible uses of such hardware. Intel’s Silverthorne CPU really is a marvel, even in todays world of tiny chips and billions of transistors. To pack a full 64 bit CPU with such low power consumption into such a small size is marvelous. I don’t think the chip will be perfect by all means but it’s a step forward in the right direction.
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