Re: AMD vs Intel - Ghz & performance question

> As for why the AMD's do so much better at a given Mhz? It's mostly
> because the AMD's do more work per clock cycle than the P4's. That's why
> Intel is phasing its P4's out, and eventually replacing them with
> derivations of its Pentium-M mobile processor.

No it's not. Intel is phasing out the Pentium 4 because increasing the
clock rates increased the thermal and power requirements too much. The
fact that their replacement has more emphasis on IPC is a result of
that, not the cause.

> The P-M's are closer in
> philosophy to the AMD processors, i.e. do more work per clock cycle.

It's funny how you try and make this situation sound like Intel is
following in AMD's footsteps. When, ironically, Intel is simply
returning to prior successes (the P6 and derivatives. Moreover, the
philosophy behind AMD's processors is 'balanced design', not braniac
(although it is all relative).

The only CPUs that really focus on doing the most work per cycle are
Itaniums. One might also consider the POWER5 in that category, but it
does have a rather long pipeline.

> Other factors affecting AMD's performance is something they call Direct
> Connect Architecture. DCA is a quick way to describe both its integrated
> memory controller and its Hypertransport bus. Intels use a single
> connection called the Front-Side-Bus (FSB) to connect all of the memory
> and peripherals to the processor. It's simple, but it's also
> congestable, with so much data coming over one link. AMD replaced the
> FSB with DCA. The peripherals connect through a point-to-point link
> called Hypertransport, instead of a shared bus. The memory connects
> through its own memory controller, instead of through a chipset which
> then connects to the FSB. Basically a lot of the AMD success is
> completely attributable to DCA.

Hypertransport really is only worth 10% performance gains for single
socket systems...nobody has really offered proof otherwise. Especially
since for single socket systems the FSB is only used for memory and
I/O...just like HT.



To answer the OP's question:

1. Use an AMD system, they are much better for gaming.
2. The performance of a CPU is basically a result of how much work it
does per cycle (IPC) and how many cycles per second (frequency).

Basically, AMD's design execute more instructions per cycle (IPC) than
Intel's desktop designs. The reasons why are mostly related to
pipeline depth and a number of other factors that aren't really
relevant to a purchasing decision. Intel chose a while back to pursue
higher frequencies, and therefore sacrificed IPC. This strategy relied
on being able to keep ahead of AMD in frequency by a substantial
amount. Unfortunately, problems with heat forced Intel to stop
increasing the speed/frequency of their chips...consequently, AMD has
the highest performance desktop chips.

David

.

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