Which CPUTYPE in make.conf?

[Michael Powell]

Mike Clarke wrote:

> 
> I have a AMD Athlon 4850e which is described as "Athlon 64 X2"
> Dual-Core" processor.
> 
> /usr/share/examples/etc/make.conf lists recognised CPU types, but which
> of athlon64, athlon-mp or athlon-xp is the most appropriate for this
> CPU? I've been using "athlon64" so far without any problems but I don't
> know if it's the most appropriate choice or if there's even any
> significant difference between them.
> 

athlon64 is probably a good choice. I haven't looked at it in a while, and 
there isn't much difference. IIRC the older athlon-xp included support for 
3D Now and mmx while the athlon64 adds sse and/or sse2.

I think this matters more to third party ports software builds than it does 
the system. I thought that large pieces of the kernel were designed to not 
make much, if any, use the various SIMD extensions. Maybe this has changed 
and I'm behind the times. 

Your use of athlon64 seems reasonable to me. It is what I've been using. If 
it can be done better I'm always on the look out for better.

-Mike