vs.
|
|
vs. |
|
There is a major competition going on right now in microprocessor world. This competition focus on mainly two main titans, Intel and AMD. This competition as long as it remains will yield great benefits to us as consumer through better performing processors and lower prices.
Intel has become synonymous with PC and Microsoft. Do you have Intel inside? Who doesn’t? Well, I’m sure there are a lot more people today running a processor other than an Intel Pentium class. If you have shopped for a computer in the last three years (Which, I’m guessing you have considering the average lifespan of a PC today is only two years), I’m sure you know who this competitor is. AMD has worked their way up to be a major competitor in the CPU industry. This competition has yielded great benefits for you and I as consumers.
What are some of some of these benefits? Well first and foremost on my list would be performance, second would be cost. Intel does not “own the market” anymore. Many consumers want the best and they will pay for the best. To get these sales AMD and Intel have had to strive to make better products and release them sooner. Now you may be asking, “Which processor is the best?” The answer is simple; … well, maybe not that simple – it depends! It depends on what you want or need you computer to do.
About a month ago I was in the market to replace my 466 MHz Intel Celeron Processor. I remember when I bought it two years ago that there were some AMD processors on the market for much cheaper but I assumed they were in fact "much cheaper" so I didn't really look into it. Since then I have heard more and more about AMD performance increases and that they were not only competing against Intel but they were producing a superior processor.
Let’s try to look at each processor and decide which CPU is the best – for you! To focus this research we will select Intel's current desktop computer processors against AMD current desktop computer processors. It will be hard to compare apples to apples with only "hearsay doctrine". Pretty much all of the information that I will present will be taken from the sites listed in my references. The only personal testing I can offer is between my home computer and my work computer. My home computer is an AMD Athlon XP 1600+ while my work PC is a 1.80GHz Pentium 4. Performance seems to be relatively the same. I seem to have more problems at work but I don't think it deals so much with the processor as it does with other hardware which I will not get into. The only complaint I have with my AMD is the fan noise, but we will discuss this issue in the efficiency section.
We will also try to focus on the competitors' most recent top performers. As of April 23, 2002, for AMD this will be the Athlon XP 2100+. For Intel this will be the Pentium 4 2.40GHz (with their new 0.13 micron core being codenamed the "Northwood"). We will also focus our criteria on some certain key aspects of each processor as a guide. These criteria will be:
Speed/Performance - Everyone wants the fastest computer on the block. Speed begins with the processor.
Price - Of course everyone WANTS the fastest computer, but how much are they willing to pay for such performance.
Efficiency - Some may be concerned about the electricity that their machine is going to consume - especially if they plan on leaving it on day and night. Another efficiency concern is the heat that it will produce. Can this heat be damaging?
Stability - Performance doesn't mean very much if the processor is not stable. What gains do you get if you have a fast processor that you are constantly rebooting?
Compatibility - This may be a concern for consumers who are using old programs that they have grown to love. Will they still work with the new processor?
Comparison Matrix - Here we will throw in all the information we can find to compare these two CPU titans.
Summary - I will be casting my own personal votes in each criteria and summarize my findings in this section. We will determine a solution on how to find the best processor for your needs.
Glossary of Terms - This might be useful when we start talking specifications! You may actually want to start here to make sure you understand each of the terms.
When I was in high school I asked my tech savvy friend, "How do you know how fast a computer is?"
"By the megahertz!" was his reply.
Back then, getting up to 100 MHz was a big deal. That was the dream machine. Somehow I got it in my head that MHz was all that mattered. With Intel leading the market and being found in virtually every consumer PC maybe it was. By the time I left the country to serve a two year mission in South Africa, top speeds were reaching up to 200 MHz. I thought that was pretty impressive. Now I can't remember the last time I sat at a machine only running 200 MHz.
By the time I returned home from my mission processor speeds had reached 600 MHz. So from what I can remember I would guess processor speeds gained about 400 MHz from 1996 to 1998.
Well as you now know manufacturers have pretty much quadrupled that speed. When researching for a new computer I noticed that AMD's high end processors had a lower clock speeds than Intel's. They boasted the same performance as the higher end Intel's but at a lower price. How could they be as fast with lower MHz? Well one main reason is that the AMD Athlon will complete 9 operations per cycle while the Pentium for completes 6. AMD recently adopted a new naming convention for their processors. Although they are clocked at relatively lower speeds, they perform as well as higher clocked Pentium class processors. In order to help consumers they have put a number which would compare to performance rating of the clock speeds of Pentium processors. For example, a 1.4GHz Athlon processor is roughly equivalent to a 1.6GHz Pentium 4. Thus the 1.4GHz Athlon would be known as a 1600+ model. From all I have read these naming convention seems highly accurate, in most cases AMD were said to be modest or conservative!
Currently Intel has taken an advantage with with their new 0.13 micron technology. One major advantage for Intel is system bus speed. Intel packs a powerful 400 MHz while the Athlon tops off at 266 MHz. This could play out to be a major advantage for Intel if AMD does not come up to speed. What good would it be if video card manufacturers for instance produced hardware compatible with the higher bus speed if the processor could not handle it?
Right now according to the most recent tests I have seen, the Northwood seems to be pulling ahead in speed, but it is all so dependant on other hardware and what software you are performing the tests on that I can not say that Intel is a clear favorite for speed. This coupled with the trend of Intel and AMD swapping the crown with each company's latest processor out performing the other, I think we are just going to have to settle for a tie in the speed category.
And the winner is: Tie
If you've shopped for a computer at all recently I think this one is a pretty easy answer. AMD always tends to be a lower priced processor for their comparatively performing speeds.
According to PriceSCAN.com on 4/23/02, the best price for an AMD Athlon XP 2100+ 1.73GHz processor was $255.00. The best price for a Pentium 4 2.4GHz was $595.00. That's a difference of $340. You could buy two AMD's for the price of the latest Intel and still have money left over! Is the extra performance worth the extra money?
For companies and persons looking only at performance price may not be an issue. But for the average consumer price would be near the top as far as pros and cons go. To find a high performing processor at a low price is like having your cake and eating it too. AMD can provide this type of satisfaction. This is why for price, my vote goes to AMD.
And the winner is: AMD
The only complaint I have about my new AMD machine is the noise. The Athlon uses a 0.18 micron core which runs at 1.750V core voltage and draws an average of close to 36 amps of current, dissipating 62.5 - 70W in heat. 1 I have not read of any problems produced by the heat output, but the processor is definitely very hot. This is the reason for the noisy fan I have to put up with.
The smaller the die, the less power it consumes in addition to the inherently higher clock speeds that are able to be produced. Intel's new 0.13 micron technology provides greater speed than ever with lower power consumption. The Pentium 4 uses 1.5V operating voltage range. In comparison, the 0.18 micron core named the "Willamette" running at 2GHz consumes about 72 watts of power. The new Northwood core at 2.2GHz. consumes 55 watts. That's an impressive 24% power consumption improvement and a perky 10% jump in clock speed, at the same time. Intel is the only major processor vendor in high volume production with a .13 micron process. 3
Until AMD makes plans to move to a .13 micron technology, which I haven't seen anything indicating they will anytime in the year 2002, I believe Intel will hold the efficiency crown.
And the winner is: Intel
In the past AMD seems to have a poor track record for stability. But today it is simply not an issue. Of all the information I could find concerning stability of both products the rank relatively the same. The are both rock solid! One article I read gave AMD the crown for stability but going from my limited source base I will have to say that if stability is your first concern, look to your second concern. I'm calling this one a tie.
And the winner is: Tie
Intel has long been known as the stability/compatibility king hands down. AMD has come a long way in the past few years and stability is not an issue that continues to plague them. Compatibility issues still surface much more often than they do with the Intel line of products.
This may be happening repeatedly due to the fact that Intel has its corporate hand in almost everything while AMD although strong cannot compete at the same level as them. What this means is Intel always is a part of newly released products and makes sure that the product being released works with their chipset. AMD still does not have the market power to force companies to make sure they are AMD compatible before being released, and this sometimes results in products being put out on the shelf before being fully tested with the AMD platform. This is not the fault of AMD but the companies who are putting out a product that is not fully tested and certified to work on the AMD platform and who's only interest is in getting the cash as fast as possible and then worry about fixing the problems later. 4
Given Intel's strong backwards compatibility history will will hand them the compatibility crown.
And the winner is: Intel
Sometimes it is nice to look at everything at a glance. Let's take a look at a comparison matrix and put everything head-to-head.
Comparison Matrix
|
Feature |
Intel Pentium 4 |
AMD Athlon XP |
|
No |
Yes |
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Operations per clock cycle |
6 |
9 |
|
Integer Pipelines |
4 |
3 |
|
Floating Point Pipelines |
2 |
3 |
|
Full x86 decoders |
1 |
3 |
|
12k µop (Trace Cache) + 8KB (Data Cache) |
128K |
|
|
512KB |
256KB |
|
|
Total on-chip full-speed cache |
64KB + 12k µop |
384KB |
|
Total effective on-chip full-speed cache |
256KB - 12k µop (inclusive) |
384KB (exclusive) |
|
System bus speed |
400MHz (100 x 4) |
266MHz (133 x 2) |
|
3D Enhancement instructions |
SSE2 |
3DNow!™ Professional |
|
Cache/prefetch controls |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Streaming controls |
Yes |
Yes |
|
DSP/comm extensions |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Die size |
0.13 micron |
0.18 micron |
|
Interconnects |
copper |
copper |
|
SSE Instructions |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SSE2 Instructions |
Yes |
No |
|
On-die Thermal Diode |
Yes |
Yes |
According the the overall votes, Intel has the lead 4:3. But to say this is reason enough to buy an Intel may not be fair or accurate. If you are looking to buy a new computer in the future put a rank on what is most important to you. Create a score card. For me, my score card would look something like this:
|
Rank |
Criteria |
Intel |
Intel Score |
AMD |
AMD Score |
|
5 |
Speed/Performance |
1 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
|
4 |
Cost/Price |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
3 |
Stability |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
2 |
Efficiency |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
Compatibility |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Totals |
4 votes |
11 |
3 votes |
12 |
|
Explanation: For me Speed/Performance was what I wanted most in a computer, but it had to be at good price. I didn't want to sacrifice one or the other, so I put these two at the top of my list. Third on my list would be stability. What good would a processor do me if it crashed every hour or so? Next would be efficiency. This is not a big concern for me, but it would be nice to maintain a lower power bill. Last on my list is compatibility. I'm not running any antique programs and I'm sure what I use is pretty mainstream that both would be compatible anyway so it ended up at the bottom of my criteria rankings.
The rank does not have to be in increments of 1 but I did it for this example. Just make sure that you multiply the rank by vote. You don't have to use my voting criteria either. Say you determine to give 3 votes of efficiency to AMD and 4 votes to Intel. In essence you would be saying that Intel is 75% more efficient that AMD. Again just multiply the votes by the rank to get the score.
After multiplying each of the rankings by the votes I would get a score for each criteria. When I total up the scores AMD comes out on top 12:11. So again for emphasis, it may not be the best idea to ask someone the generic question "Which processor is better?" because it all depends on your desires and needs in a computer.
There is a major competition going on right now in microprocessor world. This competition focus on mainly two main titans, Intel and AMD. This competition as long as it remains will yield great benefits to us as consumer through better performing processors and lower prices.
| 0.13-micron technology |
0.13 micron is a manufacturing term that refers to the feature size of the poly-silicon gate in the microprocessor. This feature size has a direct correlation to the speed and power requirements of the microprocessor. As feature sizes are reduced, the process speed (MHz) increases while the power requirements decrease correspondingly. 0.13 micron is currently the smallest feature size available in high volume manufacturing, and is used for the highest end desktop Pentium® 4 processors. This technology allows for greater speeds than ever before with lower power consumption, resulting in greater performance and longer battery life in thinner, lighter notebooks.2 |
| bus |
A collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. You can think of a bus as a highway on which data travels within a computer. When used in reference to personal computers, the term bus usually refers to internal bus. This is a bus that connects all the internal computer components to the CPU and main memory. There's also an expansion bus that enables expansion boards to access the CPU and memory.
All buses consist of two parts -- an address bus and a data bus. The data bus transfers actual data whereas the address bus transfers information about where the data should go.
The size of a bus, known as its width, is important because it determines how much data can be transmitted at one time. For example, a 16-bit bus can transmit 16 bits of data, whereas a 32-bit bus can transmit 32 bits of data.
Every bus has a clock speed measured in MHz. A fast bus allows data to be transferred faster, which makes applications run faster. 5 |
| cache |
Cache is a block of high speed memory where data is copied when it is retrieved from the RAM. This storage of key instructions enables a performance improvement in the processor.2 Both Intel and AMD processors incorporate level 1 (L1) and level 2 (L2) caches. |
| CPU |
Abbreviation of central processing unit, and pronounced as separate letters. The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.
On personal computers and small workstations, which we we only discuss in the context of this paper, the CPU is housed in a single chip called a microprocessor..
Two typical components of a CPU are:
|
| L1 Cache |
Short for Level 1 cache, a memory cache built into the microprocessor. The L1 cache is also called the primary cache. |
| L2 Cache |
The L2 cache is an area of high-speed memory that improves performance by reducing the average memory access time. |
| MHz |
Abbreviation for megahertz. One MHz represents one million cycles per second. The speed of microprocessors, called the clock speed, is measured in megahertz. For example, a microprocessor that runs at 200 MHz executes 200 million cycles per second. Each computer instruction requires a fixed number of cycles, so the clock speed determines how many instructions per second the microprocessor can execute. To a large degree, this controls how powerful the microprocessor is. Another chief factor in determining a microprocessor's power is its data width (that is, how many bits it can manipulate at one time).
In addition to microprocessors, the speeds of buses and interfaces are also measured in MHz. 5 |
| NetBurst™ micro-architecture |
The NetBurst™ micro-architecture delivers a number of new and innovative features including Hyper Pipelined Technology, 400 MHz System Bus, Execution Trace Cache, and Rapid Execution Engine. It also delivers a number of enhanced features, including Advanced Transfer Cache, Advanced Dynamic Execution, Enhanced Floating Point and Multimedia Unit, and Streaming SIMD Extensions 2. |
| QuantiSpeed™ Architecture |
QuantiSpeed architecture, the latest technological enhancement to the award-winning AMD Athlon processor core, provides for extra performance in the cutting-edge features users need most. At the heart of QuantiSpeed architecture is a nine-issue, superscalar, fully-pipelined core. This provides more pathways to feed application instructions into the execution engines of the core, simply allowing the processor to complete more work in a given clock cycle. Additional features of QuantiSpeed architecture include a superscalar, fully-pipelined floating point engine, hardware data prefetch, and exclusive, speculative Translation Look-aside Buffers (TLBs). Combined, these features help boost overall productivity and allow a system to boot and load applications quickly. In the end, users will enjoy an effortless computing experience.
Software applications and Internet plug-ins run lightning-fast because they are optimized to take advantage of innovative QuantiSpeed architecture and 3DNow! Professional technology, found exclusively in the AMD Athlon XP processor. AMD has generated benchmark data for the performance results of the AMD Athlon XP processors that Andersen, a global leader in professional services, has independently audited. Visit the AMD Web site at www.amd.com to view the data and audit results. 6 |
1. AnandTech.com - http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1574&p=2; 04/23/02
2. Intel.com - http://www.intel.com/home/glossary/body.htm; 4/23/02
3. HotHardware.com - http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/CCAM/p4northwood.shtml; 4/23/02
4. motherbooards.org - http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/hardware-reviews/1072_1.html; 4/23/02
5. Webopedia.com - http://www.webopedia.com/; 04/23/02
6. AMD.com - http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_756_3734^3740,00.html; 4/23/02
TweakTown - http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=236; 4/23/02
WhatIs.com - http://whatis.techtarget.com/; used for glossary of terms; 4/23/02
AnandTech.com - http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1574; 4/23/02
AMD.com - http://www.amd.com/us-en/; 4/23/02
Intel.com - http://www.intel.com/; 4/23/02
PriceSCAN.com - http://www.pricescan.com/; 04/23/02
Webopedia.com - http://www.webopedia.com/; 04/23/02
hardCOREware - http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/processors/axp_vs_p4/1.htm; 4/23/02
HotHardware.com - http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/CCAM/p4northwood.shtml; 4/23/02
motherbooards.org - http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/hardware-reviews/1072_1.html; 4/23/02