Phenom vs. Athlon Core Scaling Compared

[maroon1]

There is no doubt that most of you here know that Phenom scales very well with more cores

But according to Tom's Hardware, phenom doesn't scale very well with higher freq

Here is an example

Athlon64 2.2GHz to 2.8GHz, there was %16.5 performance change.

Phenom 2.2GHz to 2.8GHz, there was only %12.7 performance change


You can see the full review from here
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/14/phenom_vs_athlon_core_scaling_compared/page5.html

 

[StrangleHold]

The last of the review

Also, no one will actually run Phenom with only a single processing core, and benchmarking with only a single core also doesn't measure potential performance benefits introduced by the shared L3 cache when multiple cores access and modify the same data.
There have been similar situations in the past, where a new processor did not deliver more performance than the previous generation. Intel's Pentium 4 Prescott, its first 90 nm processor, could not outperform the 130 nm Northwood, despite some improvements. Still, Prescott was the future, as it enabled Intel to deploy more cache and also to move to a dual core design. And looking at AMD's difficulties this year, we're sure that there is a lot more to expect from Phenom as well.

 

[lovely?]

it does show that improved architechture does make a difference though, and that is the main purpose of testing with a single core active.

 

[hermeslyre]

Comparatively, I believe the C2d was around 30% more efficient than AMD's architecture, testing same Clock speeds. It is fairly disappointing IMO, despite that last bit of commentary.. They'll certainly release a better chip going into the future, But instant and complete competitiveness with Intel's current Architecture was what I was expecting, all things considered.

Of course, I can't just say "Get Back on the ball, AMD!", because, honestly, The only reason the Athlon was so much better than the P4, I think, was because Intel was chasing the RoadRunner, had their head in the clouds, giving AMD the edge when they decided to use their brains. Intel's R&D department invests millions more, and encompasses a much greater degree because of that. It is my opinion, then, that AMD won't have many "Athlon" moments, but will obviously stay competitive by vying with the lower and mid-end market, etc, etc. It's all relative and more than obvious, I know.

Edit: Ha, lol, I see What I did there. Mark this as "Disregard, I suck ****"