Steve,
From CRN -
crn.com __________________
New Athlon Processors Put AMD In Front Of MHz Race
By John Yacono Computer Reseller News
New York, 3:04 PM EST Wed., Dec. 29, 1999
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is upping the anteagain.
In response to reports that rival Intel Corp. has accelerated the delivery schedule for 750MHz and 800MHz Pentium III processors, AMD relaxed its embargo about reporting on the performance of Athlon 800MHz processors. The results are impressive, and AMD is scheduled to release the new Athlons this month.
An 800MHz Athlon system scored 687 in the BAPCo SYSmark for Windows NT 4.0 business application benchmark,cranking out the highest performance numbers the CRN Test Center has recorded. Unlike Intel's latest processor technology, Coppermine, which requires high-speed Rambus memory technology to maximize performance, the AMD system uses older and less expensive SDRAM memory technology. <== [my comment: Isn't what Petz and Cirrulvr have been saying on this thread. Why doesn't ZDNET get it? ]
The 800MHz AMD system was based on a Gigabyte GA71X motherboard with the AMD-750 chipset and ATA66 hard-drive support. Also installed were 128 Mbytes of SDRAM, a 32-Mbyte Nvidia GeForce 256 video card and a 7,200-rpm 20.5-Gbyte IBM hard drive. The computer was tested at the Test Center's standard resolution of 1,024 x 768 and true color at a 75Hz refresh rate under Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6.0.
The only system that came close to earning the score recorded in the CRN Test Center by the 800MHz Athlon unit was a 733MHz Pentium III reference system using an early-design Intel motherboard and Rambus memory. That Intel system scored 645, 6.5 percent behind the 800MHz Athlon. Considering Intel processors tend to gain about 5 percent performance with each additional 50MHz of processor speed, it is reasonable to expect Intel's new 800MHz Coppermine CPUs may close,if not eliminate,that performance gap.
Results obtained with Coppermine systems available through the channel were less spectacular, however. A 733MHz Pentium III-based Compaq Computer Corp. Deskpro EN SFF P733 with Intel's new 820 chipset and 128 Mbytes Rambus memory, scored 626 on BAPCo SYSmark for Windows NT 4.0, placing it 9.7 percent behind the 800MHz Athlon system. The system included a 13.5-Gbyte Ultra ATA hard drive and a 16-Mbyte Matrox G400 AGP video subsystem.
Since the newer Athlons leverage the same system memory architecture as predecessor chips, they can be used as seamless upgrades. Coppermine CPUs might work in older motherboards, but without Rambus memory their performance boost is compromised.
But AMD is revamping its architecture to keep pace with Coppermine systems, and these seamless AMD upgrades may end.
The Athlon's 64-Kbyte/64-Kbyte Level 1 data/instruction cache is four times the size of the Pentium III's, but the Coppermine processor includes its 256-Kbyte Level 2 cache right on the chip, running at the full speed of the processor. As the speed gap between Athlon's CPU and L2 cache widens, the system performance gains earned by moving to higher clock speeds will taper off. AMD has indicated it will ship versions of Athlon with integrated L2 cache in the first half of this year.
Current Athlon PCs are keeping pace with Coppermine systems despite their legacy cache and memory architecture. That indicates the CPU core of the Athlon processor is sufficiently optimized to overcome those drawbacks. A new cache architecture placed around that core could up AMD's ante, forcing Intel to revamp the Pentium III's core.
A redesign of Athlon's system-memory architecture, including the adoption of Rambus, could yield significant benefits, particularly if AMD waits for Rambus to become more cost-effective and mature.
In fact, Athlon chips could reap greater rewards from Rambus than Coppermine processors. The latest processor support chips from AMD communicate with the processor at 200MHz, but they can only talk to a PC100 memory subsystem at 100MHz.
For more on the chip wars, go to: crn.com
__________________________________________________________________________
Goutama |
