the_dingman Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 So... how can I tell if my CPU is SSE2 or SSE3 (hate to admit it, but I've never heard those terms before). I'm running an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (socket 754) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZX81 Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 So... how can I tell if my CPU is SSE2 or SSE3 (hate to admit it, but I've never heard those terms before). I'm running an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (socket 754) google and download everest home edition (its free) , click on motherboard icon, and then CPUID icon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickhamm Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 Use CPU-Z and look at the "Instructions" Section int he middle and see if it says SSE2 and/or SSE3. You can download it here: http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-131.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_dingman Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 So, what exactly are the differences between SSE2 and SSE3 with OS X86? I don't see any clear descriptions anywhere (sticky?) My CPU only supports SSE2, and OS X runs fine, what would I get with a SSE3 CPU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metrogirl Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 SSE = Intel's Streaming SIMD Extensions. SSE was 'improved' to create SSE2 and then SSE3. The actual difference is detailed on Intel's site but I won't link to it because it's incredibly boring. It allegedly makes various graphics functions faster if you have SSE3 (there are more specific graphics ops which take several extra cycles otherwise) but in practice the difference isn't usually noticeable - this quote from a gaming site: "SSE3? Bah. That won't make any difference. Using SSE1 instead of x87 will make a huge difference, but presumably it is used. The bulk of the SIMD instructions you'd want to use are pretty obvious and Intel got it right the first time with SSE1. It is only in very rare cases SSE3 provides any benefit at all." With OSx86 I believe there's more use of SSE3 but since your graphics etc. are probably not fully supported chances are you wouldn't notice any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_dingman Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 I've gotten the impression that SSE3 vs SSE2 with OSX86 makes a big difference, one of the things I seem to have read is that Rosetta only works with SSE3.. am I misled? or is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metrogirl Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 It's true, but there are various patches which emulate SSE2 allowing OSx86 to run. You're better off if you have SSE3, but plenty of SSE2 systems run OSx86 fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxvk Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 What will happen if I boot OSX86 on my pentium 3 will it lock up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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