Introduction to MMX

MMX is a Pentium microprocessor from Intel that is designed to run faster when playing multimedia applications. According to Intel, a PC with an MMX microprocessor runs a multimedia application up to 60% faster than one with a microprocessor having the same clock speed but without MMX. In addition, an MMX microprocessor runs other applications about 10% faster, probably because of increased cache. All of these enhancements are made while preserving compatibility with software and operating systems developed for the Intel Architecture.

The MMX technology consists of several improvements over the non-MMX Pentium microprocessor:

1. 57 new microprocessor instructions have been added that are designed to handle video, audio, and graphical data more efficiently. Programs can use MMX instructions without changing to a new mode or operating-system visible state.
   
2. New 64-bit integer data type (Quadword).
   
3. A new process, Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD), makes it possible for one instruction to perform the same operation on multiple data items.
   
4. The memory cache on the microprocessor has increased to 32 KB, meaning fewer accesses to memory that is off the microprocessor.