Hyper-threading technology is the latest innovation that aims to significantly improve processor performance throughout the enterprise. But what really differentiates it from other technologies?
Douglas Downing, Intel business manager: servers, desktops and networking at local distributor Rectron, takes a closer look at hyper-threading and explains how it not only benefits the organisation, but the individual PC user as well.
When thinking about buying desktop PCs for your company, chances are that you`re paying more attention to potential operating systems (Oss) and application software than to the characteristics of the hardware.
Sure, you want the latest hardware, but the bigger questions on your mind are probably "How well will vendor A`s software run for me?" and "Will security problems go away with this software?".
However, the key issue here is that the latest software combined with the most cutting-edge hardware technologies can indeed enhance productivity.
This brings us to hyper-threading technology, also known as HT technology. Available on Intel`s Xeon and Pentium 4 processor families, the technology provides a significant performance boost by enabling a processor to utilise resources more efficiently.
Getting more from your processors
Basically, without making it too complicated, HT technology provides thread-level parallelism (TLP) on each processor, which results in increased utilisation of processor execution resources.
In layman`s terms, it allows your single CPU to process more than one set of instructions (a thread) at a time without the overhead of multiple CPUs.
If you can process more instructions at the same time, it stands to reason that your applications will run faster.
As mentioned, HT technology is standard on all Pentium 4 and Xeon cores. However, to make use of it, your PC must have a BOIS and an OS that support the technology.
The good news is, that major PC manufacturers already support hyper-threading on servers, workstations and even desktop devices.
To date, however, there are only a few OSs - though the major ones - that support HT technology.
But, if you`re running an older OS, rather disable HT technology in the BIOS setup program, as it just doesn`t work as effectively with more mature software.
Intel is also working with the Linux community to get the necessary optimisations for HT technology included in distribution. If you, therefore, run Linux on your desktop, just check with your PC vendor if the device can utilise hyper-threading and how you can enable it.
Why HT technology for the average PC user?
HT technology enables PC users to switch between applications and have things running efficiently in the background.
Importantly, applications that are CPU-intensive such as virus checking and image editing will execute much faster than on a system without HT technology.
Other key HT technology benefits include:
* Increased system responsiveness in multitasking environments;
* Increased performance for both current and future multithreaded applications; and
* Flexibility for IT to run critical background applications in a more secure, manageable computing infrastructure.
In short, you can do more in less time and isn`t this why you buy a PC in the first place?
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