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Questions tagged [architecture]

58 questions
154
votes
4 answers

What is the difference between i686 and x86_64?

I have an AMD Turion and do not know which version to choose from when installing Arch Linux.
Claudiu T.
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61
votes
6 answers

What is hyper-threading and how does it work?

I've heard the term hyper-threading thrown around a bit recently, what exactly is hyper-threading and why is it important?
Gordon Gustafson
  • 2,217
54
votes
2 answers

x86 vs x64 - Why is 32-bit called x86?

Presumably the x86 was called so because the machines used 80386 and 80486 processors. Is that correct? Is that the right way to refer to 32-bit and 64-bit machines?
Jack Kada
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50
votes
7 answers

Why has the size of L1 cache not increased very much over the last 20 years?

The Intel i486 has 8 KB of L1 cache. The Intel Nehalem has 32 KB L1 instruction cache and 32 KB L1 data cache per core. The amount of L1 cache hasn't increased at nearly the rate the clockrate has increased. Why not?
eleven81
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30
votes
2 answers

What command shows the architecture of a binary file on Mac?

I used it a while ago, but cannot find now.
Andy
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28
votes
2 answers

What is the difference between x86_64 and i386?

What is the difference? Under what category does my system fall into? I want to download Fedora12 and it shows me these options. Which one should I download? I have a Sony Vaio cr36g/b with an Intel Core 2 Duo 8100 processor.
pineapple
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22
votes
3 answers

What are the technical differences between Windows Vista and Windows 7?

I'm interested in finding an unabridged technical manual documenting all of the differences between the two operating systems. In Tanenbaum's latest edition of Modern Operating Systems (3rd Edition), he dives into the technical layout of Windows…
Homer6
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16
votes
7 answers

Can machine code be translated to a different architecture?

So this is kind of related to a question about running a Windows server on ARM. So the premise of my question is, can machine code be translated from one architecture to another in order to execute a binary on an architecture different than the one…
Kibbee
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15
votes
2 answers

What is the difference between multithreading and hyperthreading?

I've heard the terms hyper-threading and multi-threading, but what exactly is the difference between them? What kind of Intel processor uses them?
rose
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12
votes
2 answers

Why is cache memory so expensive?

In conversations about computer architecture, it is a given that cache memory is much more expensive than main memory. I understand it must be close to the processor, and thus must be smaller, but what else contributes to the cost of cache memory? …
BradleyMorgan
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11
votes
2 answers

Whats the difference between i386,i686 etc processors?

Which one is latest or normally used in computers today ? What is the type of pentium 4 and Core 2 duo?
pineapple
  • 2,114
10
votes
2 answers

What does it mean for a computer to be an "IBM Compatible PC"?

A couple questions about this: 1) Is this term even relevant any more? 2) Does this mean anything from a developer's stand point? It is not exactly clear to me if this is a BIOS, architecture, bus or a combination. A piece of software I'm working…
Jon
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9
votes
3 answers

Is there a command line tool to check 32-bit or 64-bit of an exe?

On Windows, like: is64 abc.exe 1 and is32 def.exe 1 While abc.exe is compiled 64-bit and def.exe is 32-bit on Windows.
kissson
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6
votes
2 answers

How to determine Windows architecture version on disconnected volume?

I have a scenario where I need to copy some Windows 10 files over to repair some form of corruption that SFC (System File Checker) does not appear to want to resolve entirely. How can I determine the architecture type (32 or 64 bit) of a…
ylluminate
  • 1,331
6
votes
6 answers

Check if my machine is 64-bit capable on Linux (Ubuntu)?

Similar to this question, I have a 32-bit OS (Ubuntu), but I want to know if my machine is 64-bit capable... I checked out the question, but the answers are Windows-specific... I also checked this question, but I want to know if it is 64-bit…
Abdullah 0v0
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