Jaguar/Puma vs Silvermont memory controller

[ashetos]

So I've been looking at netbook/convertible-tablet systems and I'm wondering about what SoC is better and at what jobs.

The consensus seems to be that Jaguar/Puma has higher IPC, faster graphics and silvermont has lower power.

However, Silvermont has seemingly twice the memory bandwidth. How does this affect various system configurations? What is the impact of this?

Does silvermont have better scaling with 4 cores than Jaguar due to better memory throughput?

Does silvermont have better combined CPU and graphics performance due to more memory bandwidth being available?

Is memory bandwidth relevant with silvermont or is it overkill?

 

[Anarchist420]

Is memory bandwidth relevant with silvermont or is it overkill?

nothing matters with AMD when they have such terrible cache characteristics. the 9590 should've been 3.2 ghz cores (maybe 3.6Ghz at 4 cores, and 3.9 Ghz with 2 cores) and all full speed cache with the L2 cache and L3 cache latencies reduced to not more than 1/3 of what they actually are. even though K10 has such a long pipeline and some say that the cache latency doesnt contribute to the low performance, i dont understand why they clock the cores so high at the expense of overall performance.

However, I am not an intel fanboy as I used to think their CPUs were overpriced before sandy bridge, and I probably wouldnt have an intel processor if AMD CPUs had reasonable characteristics.

 

[AtenRa]

...snip

ehmm hes talking about low power SoCs not FX line.

 

[NTMBK]

nothing matters with AMD when they have such terrible cache characteristics. the 9590 should've been 3.2 ghz cores (maybe 3.6Ghz at 4 cores, and 3.9 Ghz with 2 cores) and all full speed cache with the L2 cache and L3 cache latencies reduced to not more than 1/3 of what they actually are. even though K10 has such a long pipeline and some say that the cache latency doesnt contribute to the low performance, i dont understand why they clock the cores so high at the expense of overall performance.

However, I am not an intel fanboy as I used to think their CPUs were overpriced before sandy bridge, and I probably wouldnt have an intel processor if AMD CPUs had reasonable characteristics.

Nice derail. This thread has nothing to do with K10, Piledriver or Sandy Bridge- it is about the netbook architectures which have completely different designs...

 

[Jimzz]

Memory bandwidth seems to hold the GPU back more than the CPU. That and those are low power CPUs so even single Ch memory is fine for them.

I think this is still one area where I like AMDs chip better than intels. But if the intel system was cheaper then I may go with them.

 

[raghu78]

Beema A6-6310(15w) can be found in notebooks like Lenovo Flex2-14D which can be used as touch screen tablets. but these notebooks are not detachable into a tablet. If you want a true tablet get the ASUS Transformer T100 which sports the Baytrail-T Z3740. So it all depends on your needs.
Beema A6-6310 is slightly faster than A6-5200 and 20% faster than Baytrail-M Celeron N2940 in CPU performance and 2x the GPU performance. Beema can be used for gaming at low-med settings in latest games.

http://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1353344

 

[monstercameron]

These parts are too limited and clocked too low for memory bandwidth to make a noticeable difference.

Aside.
As someone who moved from a AMD c50 bobcat apu to a dell venue with baytrail, id stay stick with AMD in the lowend. This may be only me but I have to reboot my tab at least once a day, most games don't start up due to drivers Intel doesn't do driver updates at all. When it works its great but when it doesn't -which is more than my old netbook- I just wanna smash it.

 

[ninaholic37]

The consensus seems to be that Jaguar/Puma has higher IPC, faster graphics and silvermont has lower power.

Which chips are you comparing?

The A10 Micro-6700T and Celeron N2808 both seem to list similar TDP/SDP.

 

[MiddleOfTheRoad]

I think it really comes down to how many 3D applications you are planning to run. If you are just going to cruise the internet and check email -- silvermont is a great option and stretches battery life to wonderful levels. If ever plan on running games or 3D apps -- then Jaguar/Puma is the better choice.

 

[witeken]

Which chips are you comparing?

The A10 Micro-6700T and Celeron N2808 both seem to list similar TDP/SDP.

TDP has not much to do with actual power consumption, like idle power consumption.

 

[ashetos]

Which chips are you comparing?

The A10 Micro-6700T and Celeron N2808 both seem to list similar TDP/SDP.

You just compared a top bin chip with a celeron. You need to compare top bin with top bin:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Atom/Intel-Atom Z3795.html

It's pretty clear if you see the line-ups that even puma is higher power than silvermont. Jaguar of course is not suitable for ultra-mobile devices.

It's also clear that silvermont achieves much higher clocks at the same TDP (but then IPC enters the discussion).

We also know that silvermont fits in cell phones:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Atom/Intel-Atom Z3480.html

I didn't expect we would be arguing about the lower power of silvermont.

Any thoughts on memory bandwidth?

 

[jhu]

Nice derail. This thread has nothing to do with K10, Piledriver or Sandy Bridge- it is about the netbook architectures which have completely different designs...

I'm surprised he didn't also mention Warren Harding in his post.

 

[ninaholic37]

You just compared a top bin chip with a celeron. You need to compare top bin with top bin:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Atom/Intel-Atom%20Z3795.html

It's pretty clear if you see the line-ups that even puma is higher power than silvermont. Jaguar of course is not suitable for ultra-mobile devices.

It's also clear that silvermont achieves much higher clocks at the same TDP (but then IPC enters the discussion).

The reason I used the Celeron is because it seems to be used more in netbooks. Then again, I guess most netbooks would use the E1 Micro-6200T so it depends what you're comparing.

TDP has not much to do with actual power consumption, like idle power consumption.

True. I guess the Power Saving features (and how the OS can utilize them) matter most as the CPU would be spending most time in idle.

 

[Cerb]

Is memory bandwidth relevant with silvermont or is it overkill?

The current Atoms probably have dual-channel RAM because they are the same design as the server chips. Practically, it's an academic exercise. The AMDs feel a bit snappier, have better GPUs, and have more robust video drivers. The Intels use less idle power, giving more battery life in a given weight and volume. Both have plenty of CPU cache, and neither have GPUs fast enough to need dual-channel RAM.

Either way you go, make sure you're getting a good SSD, and avoid any eMMC-based storage. A slow SATA SSD, or eMMC, will drastically bottleneck you, even considering the CPUs in question.