If a 2.93GHz 80W Conroe XE is 1.25x faster than a 2.8GHz 125W FX-62 then the Conroe will have a 95% performance/watt lead over Athlon 64 FX.
It would have an advantage but not a real 95% advantage.
1 - AMD's wattage rating use a different methodology than Intel's.
"How does AMD define TDP?
“ Thermal Design Power (TDP) is measured under the conditions of TCASE Max, IDD Max, and VDD=VID_VDD, and include all power dissipated on-die from VDD, VDDIO, VLDT, VTT, and VDDA.”
This means that TDP, as defined by AMD, is measured at the maximum current the CPU can draw, at the default voltage, under the worst-case temperature conditions. This is the maximum power that the CPU can possibly dissipate. Intel, however, has a different definition.
How does Intel define TDP?
From the Intel Datasheet for Northwood CPUs:
“ The numbers in this column reflect Intel’ s recommended design point and are not indicative of the maximum power the processor can dissipate under worst case conditions.”
And from Intel’ s datasheet for Prescott CPUs:
“ Thermal Design Power (TDP) should be used for processor thermal solution design targets. The TDP is not the maximum power that the processor can dissipate.”
And the most telling quote of all, contained in both documents:
“ Analysis indicates that real applications are unlikely to cause the processor to consume maximum power dissipation for sustained periods of time. Intel recommends that complete thermal solution designs target the Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicated in Table 26 instead of the maximum processor power consumption. The Thermal Monitor feature is intended to help protect the processor in the unlikely event that an application exceeds the TDP recommendation for a sustained period of time.”
geek.com
2 - AMD's figure includes the on chip memory controler. Intel's measurement does not. |
