[sldev] Alignment and optimizations

[Dzonatas]

Jason Giglio wrote:
> Would it?  How bad is the performance hit on a system it wasn't 
> compiled for?  Is there a "best compromise" CPU that could be 
> optimized for that has the least negative impact on other CPUs?
>
The best compromise is to have the open source available and to be able 
to compile it to a certain processor. Linux distributors have an edge on 
that with the inherit package tools.

With a look at the future specifications for processors, one can easily 
compare the man-hour cost of support for older hardware and find at end 
of the same man-hour time that there will no longer be a need to support 
that older hardware.

Any hardware that doesn't support at least 128bit data-paths on board 
can be considered as older hardware. That bias is trivial by sheer cost 
to process 3D data.

Any attempt to outsource 3D tasks to graphics cards is a band-aid 
approach. That is the non-Linux based "best compromise".

Some people feel at ease to get a new GPU every new manufacture 
revision, so that approach seems justifiable. Why doesn't it happen so 
easily for the CPU? Could it be that the cost to rebuild a system has 
increased? Windows doesn't make it easy anymore to upgrade to a new 
mobo+CPU under the same Windows key, but it will easily accept a new 
plug-n-play GPU! Hmm.

D

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