64-bit and SSE

[retard]

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:17:12 -0500, Nick Sabalausky wrote:

> "retard" <re at tard.com.invalid> wrote in message
> news:hmjmjd$15uj$1 at digitalmars.com...
>> Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:49:02 +0000, dsimcha wrote:
>>
>>> Given that Walter has indicated that 64-bit support is on the agenda
>>> for after D2 is finished and x87 is deprecated in 64-bit mode, will we
>>> also see SSE(2) support in DMD in the relatively near future?  If so,
>>> will it be exposed as a compiler option even when compiling in 32-bit
>>> mode?
>>>
>>> I've realized that this is kind of important for me since Intel
>>> deprecated x87 on its Core 2 and Pentium 4 chips, meaning any old
>>> school floating point code runs painfully slow compared to, say, an
>>> AMD chip that still has a decent x87.
>>
>> SSE(2) ? Don't people already use SSE 4.2 and prepare for AVX?
> 
> Yes. The ones who enjoy arbitrarily shrinking their potential user base.

Why not dynamic code path selection:

if (cpu_capabilities && SSE4_2)
  run_fast_method();
else if (cpu_capabilities && SSE2)
  run_medium_fast_method();
else
  run_slow_method();

One could also use higher level design patterns like abstract factories 
here.