3DNow

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3DNow

3DNow is a set of SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) instructions developed by AMD to enhance the performance of 3D graphics and multimedia applications on x86 CPUs. It allows multiple data elements to be processed simultaneously, resulting in faster processing speeds and improved performance.

What does 3DNow mean?

3DNow! (3DNow!) is a set of multimedia instructions developed by AMD for its x86 microprocessors. It was introduced in 1998 as a competitor to Intel’s Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE). 3DNow! is designed to accelerate the performance of 3D graphics, video decoding, and audio processing applications.

The 3DNow! instruction set includes 21 new instructions that operate on single-precision floating-point Data. These instructions are optimized for performing common operations in 3D graphics, such as matrix multiplication, vector normalization, and perspective transforms. 3DNow! also includes a number of instructions that are designed to accelerate video decoding and audio processing.

Applications

3DNow! is used in a wide Variety of applications, including:

3DNow! can improve the performance of these applications by up to 20%. In some cases, 3DNow! can even double the performance of an application.

History

3DNow! was developed by AMD in the late 1990s. It was first introduced in the AMD K6-2 processor in 1998. 3DNow! was also supported in the AMD Athlon and Duron processors.

In 2000, AMD released a new version of 3DNow! called 3DNow! Professional. 3DNow! Professional added 11 new instructions to the 3DNow! instruction set. These new instructions were designed to accelerate the performance of 3D graphics applications.

3DNow! was discontinued in 2003. AMD’s newer processors support the SSE2 and SSE3 instruction sets, which are more Powerful than 3DNow!. However, 3DNow! is still used in some older applications.