CPU Benchmark Question

[josephfuentes]

I had posed this in a thread I had originally opened but no one seemed to answer. Here goes.

Everyone talks that this X processor is better than Y processor. AMD vs Intel. dual core vs quad core. Opteron vs Xeon. Stepping vs FSB vs L2 cache considerations. Doesn't matter.

What does "better" mean actually? I know that simple clock speed is no measuring stick. Even my daughter knows that and she's 7 yrs old!

So what are the real benchmarks that separate the boys from the men (CPUs)? Is it; photoshop editing? gaming apps? movie making? Nah! That's child's play.
What benchmark is there that will crunch even the baddest of the bad CPU that will make it cry for mercy? Is it teraflop apps? 3D solid modelling? real time meteorological simulation? What is it?

 

[Elias824]

ive heard a few pepole saying that benching server database apps is pretty intensive, Usually I just compare gaming benches since thats what I mostly use my comptuer for. There isnt really any 1 benchmark thoough that means X is better then Y, some cpu's and configurations are better at some things and worse at others. It all just boils down to what you need your computer for or what you are interested in.