On Sat, 5 Jan 2002 05:06, tester wrote:
[snipped]
> pesarif wrote:
> > Secondly, I noticed in a number of posts that people have mentioned that
> > i686 (Pentium II) packages will run on a Pentium (i586). If gcc does
> > processor-specific optimisations (e.g. use of new instructions), then how
> > could i686 packages possible run on i586?
>
> There are two levels of such optimizations--first is optimizing and the
> second is compiling for exclusively. These are to some extent compiler
> dependent. i686 files often show a loss in performance even on i686
> machines over the i586 counterparts, perhaps because i686 instructions
> were thought up by marketing geniuses at Intel rather than deliberately
> designed by engineers (whoohooo, am I ever getting cynical...) Athlon
> rpms are almost worth the trouble for specific compilation, but I have
> yet to find a case where i686 compilation actually improves performance.
>
> It is the same with MMX. Software has to be specifically crafted to
> take advantage of MMX instructions, not just a compiler flag set, though
> that may provide a modicum of help for a well-written compiler.
>
> Civileme
>
So do i686 packages ("optimised to the max") work on i586?
Thanks again,
pesarif
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