AMD confusion

[mutt]

hi
Im looking to upgrade my computer, a new MB and CPU are part of the plan. Im considering a 3.2ghz p4, but want to understand the AMD aswell. I am pretty confused about how fast they are compared to the P4 and whether u need 64 software to run them at there potential speed?. Can someone who knows what they are on about please enlighten me? What exactly does this AMD Athlon XP 2800+ , 2.08 GHz mean to me compared to a P4 3.2?

thanks

sorry i put the wrong amd CPU name in before

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

The 64 3200+ can compete with the p4 3.2ghz supposedly by amd, I, myself don't know if its true or not, but it sounds about right.

 

[ShinRa]

frequencies really dont mean as much as you think. my fx-53 is running at only 2.4ghz but it blazes the crap out of my old 3.0ghz p4.

 

[Asus]

AMD does more work per cycle. Athlon 64 right now uses 32bit programs and OS. Every benchmark you see is with only 32bits. Window XP 64bit edition is yet to come. You need a 64bit OS to use the 64Bits. AMD's design is much more efficent and fills it's time better than the Pentium 4. That is why the Pentium 4 can make use of Hyperthreading, to use it's time better.
Benchmarks

I'm bored so I'll make an analogy.
MPH is like MHz/GHz
Dirt moved is like operations per clock cycle.

Let's say their job was to move 24 tons of dirt from A to B which is 50 miles apart.
Intel's P4 truck can travel 100MPH and carry 6 tons of dirt.
AMD's A64 truck can travel 67MPH and carry 12 tons of dirt.

Intel's P4 truck would have to take 4 trips which would take 4 hours to complete the job.
AMD's A64 truck would take 2 trips which would take 3 hours to complete the job.
AXP at the same MPH as the A64 would take 3 trips and take 4.5 hours.
Change the work load or the amount of dirt to be moved and you will get different results.

 

[mutt]

thanks dude
that clears up alot
AMD it is then

 

[craig]

AMD does more work per cycle. Athlon 64 right now uses 32bit programs and OS. Every benchmark you see is with only 32bits. Window XP 64bit edition is yet to come. You need a 64bit OS to use the 64Bits. AMD's design is much more efficent and fills it's time better than the Pentium 4. That is why the Pentium 4 can make use of Hyperthreading, to use it's time better.
Benchmarks

I'm bored so I'll make an analogy.
MPH is like MHz/GHz
Dirt moved is like operations per clock cycle.

Let's say their job was to move 24 tons of dirt from A to B which is 50 miles apart.
Intel's P4 truck can travel 100MPH and carry 6 tons of dirt.
AMD's A64 truck can travel 67MPH and carry 12 tons of dirt.

Intel's P4 truck would have to take 4 trips which would take 4 hours to complete the job.
AMD's A64 truck would take 2 trips which would take 3 hours to complete the job.
AXP at the same MPH as the A64 would take 3 trips and take 4.5 hours.
Change the work load or the amount of dirt to be moved and you will get different results.

Thats possibly the best analogy to explan CPU operation I've ever read! You Rock!

 

[Vigilante]

ehhh....ive used an analogy similar to that for customers looking to buy a pc at bestbuy...but you even went into the math...which i usually dont. =)

 

[-TaNaKa-]

AMD is much much better for me. Cuz im into gaming.

Soon with my athlon 64 3200+ im gonna rock the sh*t out of games

Atm i have a 1 of a kind AMD Athlon 900 mghz, 5 years old
Never had problems with it, its so stable. But his time has run out and it cant keep it up anymore

 

[ewilson248]

i even heard that intel is starting to shy away from raw MHZ numbers, and may even start ratings like AMD soon, they are running into the same problem that AMD did, doing more work per clock cycle so as not to increase heat output..

 

[Asus]

Yeah
Intel has started to use model numbers but not performance ratings. They rate their P4 Prescott CPUs on on their new platform with numbers like 540, 550, and 560.
They are thinking about going with less MHz and more IPC because they basicly ran into a wall for power and heat with their scaling.
AMD uses performance ratings because while their performance was solid, the public saw their MHz behind Intel which had been marketed and talked up.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

AMD does more work per cycle. Athlon 64 right now uses 32bit programs and OS. Every benchmark you see is with only 32bits. Window XP 64bit edition is yet to come. You need a 64bit OS to use the 64Bits. AMD's design is much more efficent and fills it's time better than the Pentium 4. That is why the Pentium 4 can make use of Hyperthreading, to use it's time better.
Benchmarks

I'm bored so I'll make an analogy.
MPH is like MHz/GHz
Dirt moved is like operations per clock cycle.

Let's say their job was to move 24 tons of dirt from A to B which is 50 miles apart.
Intel's P4 truck can travel 100MPH and carry 6 tons of dirt.
AMD's A64 truck can travel 67MPH and carry 12 tons of dirt.

Intel's P4 truck would have to take 4 trips which would take 4 hours to complete the job.
AMD's A64 truck would take 2 trips which would take 3 hours to complete the job.
AXP at the same MPH as the A64 would take 3 trips and take 4.5 hours.
Change the work load or the amount of dirt to be moved and you will get different results.

wow.. Asus i wish u would get "bored" more often
seriously, that is the best analogy to explain the difference in CPU brands i have ever read. :thumbs:

 

[Hazar]

wow.. Asus i wish u would get "bored" more often
seriously, that is the best analogy to explain the difference in CPU brands i have ever read. :thumbs:

Lol. but absolutely right.

Judging by the benchmarks, the fx-53 is much superior in games but not in cpu intensive tasks such as rendering.

 

[Z|insane]

Wow, thats impresive Asus.

 

[Asus]

Not sure what's so great. hehe
Just took a minute or two.
Now if I did an analogy for the entire system that would be interesting...:burp:

Rendering tasks usually support multiple threads so using a dual CPU or HT allow them to render quicker. In those types of applications a dual Opteron wins some and a dual Xeon wins some.