IPC of FX-8150?

[blckgrffn]

Wrong. IPC is one of the best performance barometers for a CPU out there. As the P4 and BullDozer have proven mhz don't mean jack unless you're comparing apples to apples.

?

I think are both saying the same thing in different ways?

I mean, a 3.0C P4 stuck in there handily with single core A64's, did it not? Despite its "lack of" IPC?

If somehow a 4Ghz BD core and a ~2.6Ghz SB core used the same amount of juice we'd like be in just about the same position. Unfortunately for AMD, that is not even close to reality.

IPC is certainly important but is not the final word in CPU performance... if you got to carried away with IPC you wouldn't have the clock cycles to handle cache misses, etc. very gracefully. There has to be a balance...

If not, why wouldn't we just increase IPC and forgo clock speed increases?

 

[richaron]

Wrong. IPC is one of the best performance barometers for a CPU out there. As the P4 and BullDozer have proven mhz don't mean jack unless you're comparing apples to apples.

Perfect example of why a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

One could easily say IPC doesn't mean jack if one chip is clocked an order of magnitude higher. The thermal envelops counts too.

It's all part of a beautiful mosaic, and unfortunately a lot of these dudes are colour blind.

 

[Denithor]

Perfect example of why a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

One could easily say IPC doesn't mean jack if one chip is clocked an order of magnitude higher. The thermal envelops counts too.

It's all part of a beautiful mosaic, and unfortunately a lot of these dudes are colour blind.

LOL!!

Dead right. It really comes down to IPC*GHz and TDP has to be a consideration too. If you're lacking in either of the first two or significantly higher in the third you won't fare well.

Netburst, especially later generations, were perfect examples of this. Intel pushed the GHz side of the equation and let the IPC portion stagnate (or even slip backwards). And as the GHz increased the TDP also went up dramatically. Without any significant overall improvements, as the IPC held back the whole thing. Allowing AMD their one truly shining moment...