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Poll: What was the most ground breaking consumer desktop CPU?

Probably the Pentium, at least from a gaming perspective.

I remember having a 486 and not even being able to run games that my friends with Hewlett Packard (heh) Pentium 60s had smoking.

C2Ds are nice and all but we live in a world of video card supremacy. Most people could change their processor from a single core Athlon 64 or worse to a C2D and not notice much difference. Really the only people who would vote for multi-core systems are the minority that truly take advantage of them.
 
I think maybe you should include the one processor that was the most groundbreaking, the Athlon 64, as one of your options.

edit: Though admitttedly, the C2D is a fairly close second.
 
Originally posted by: FightTest
Probably the Pentium, at least from a gaming perspective.

I remember having a 486 and not even being able to run games that my friends with Hewlett Packard (heh) Pentium 60s had smoking.

C2Ds are nice and all but we live in a world of video card supremacy. Most people could change their processor from a single core Athlon 64 or worse to a C2D and not notice much difference. Really the only people who would vote for multi-core systems are the minority that truly take advantage of them.
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For me it was Corel Draw 3 that became usable when I moved from a 486 to the original Pentium. In fact, Windows overall started to become useful.

Added Athlon 64 to poll.

I voted for the Core 2 Duo because this chip literally leaped past the X2, which had leaped past the P4.
 
Athlon 64 definitely belongs up there but not on the top. From just the performance basis, you cant deny Core2Duo the #1 spot. Lowest end C2D beats highest A64 in most tests when OC'd.
 
Originally posted by: RedStar
Why is the 8088 not listed? It obviously changed the world!!
Click to expand...

I wanted to keep it to the last 10 years or else there would just be too many chips in there. Apple, Atari, Commodore, Radio Shack... lots of different processors.

 
Ten years = 1996. The original pentium was announced in 1993.

I'd say the Pentium Pro 200 w/2MB L2 cache. Rare and as expensive as some cars. The Corollary 8-way system was the fastest x86 system of the time. (Probably the most expensive too!)
 
Single-core CPUs have just seen steady evolution since the 386 days without any revolutionary jumps.

At its introduction the A64 wasn't that much better than Northwood P4 3.2C, it just brought AMD back into the race after AXP fell behind. Then intel stumbled while A64 pulled ahead.

It's outside the arbitrary 10-year interval, but the 386 was most revolutionary because it introduced the flat 32-bit memory model that we still use today.

Next would be the A64 X2 since it introduced multi-core computing to general use (forcing intel go dual too in response, with the P4 D heat lamps).
 
Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Ten years = 1996. The original pentium was announced in 1993.

I'd say the Pentium Pro 200 w/2MB L2 cache. Rare and as expensive as some cars. The Corollary 8-way system was the fastest x86 system of the time. (Probably the most expensive too!)
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You're right. I mean "about" 10 years.

The Pentium Pro was a server part I believe.

 
Obviously it was the 8088. It brought us the personal computer and so brought computing to the masses. In fact, this chip changed the course of human history!

In fact, i just did a search..and here is the proof on the first hit:

http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/analysis/2161833/beige-box-changed-world

edit: of course you young whipper snappers could not know this bit of ancient history and thus can be forgiven...for having known nothing else. 😉


 
The original Athlon CPUs (550, 650, 750 MHz).

They introduced a sudden jolt of competition in a stale field where Intel dominated. It took 2 years Intel had a answer (and a CPU slightly faster than AMDs), the 3.2GHZ P4. In those 2 years, Athlons were about 2/3 the price for the same or better performance than an "equivalent" Intel CPU.

That's what started the landslide and why AMD has a respectable market share now.
 
Originally posted by: stogez
Athlon 64 definitely belongs up there but not on the top. From just the performance basis, you cant deny Core2Duo the #1 spot. Lowest end C2D beats highest A64 in most tests when OC'd.
Click to expand...
You're comparing the A64 to the wrong competition. It was every bit as fast, compared to it's competition, the Pentium E series, as the C2D is over the X2's, if not more. Of course, the 8088 was by far the most ground breaking of them all. I used to have two of those chips.
 
Before the 386 and the IBM PC:

The Zilog Z-80 in the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1. The first desktop computer you could buy pre-assembled, in a national chain store.
 
"What was the most ground breaking consumer desktop CPU released in the last 10 years in terms of making a significant leap in performance?"

* Pentium is more than 10 years old.
* Cyrix MediaGX?
* Pentium III... Katmai, Coppermine or Tualatin?
* P4... Willamette, Northwood, Prescott or Cedar Mill?
* Core Solo?
* Core Duo?


 
THe A64 brought the level of play and competition to a whole new level, pentium did not even come into the 64bit market until this year
 
Originally posted by: Blain
"What was the most ground breaking consumer desktop CPU released in the last 10 years in terms of making a significant leap in performance?"

* Pentium is more than 10 years old.
* Cyrix MediaGX?
* Pentium III... Katmai, Coppermine or Tualatin?
* P4... Willamette, Northwood, Prescott or Cedar Mill?
* Core Solo?
* Core Duo?
Click to expand...


Okay, I changed the poll question to reflect the correct time period for the choices!

The Cyrix MediaGX....I don't recall anything amazing about that chip
Pentium III - All the same family, Coppermine and Tualatin moved to on-die cache
Core Solo and Duo are mobile chips

 
Originally posted by: j00fek
Originally posted by: RedStar
Why is the 8088 not listed? It obviously changed the world!!
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

It's kind of obvious that the 8088 was the chip that changed the world. Wouldn't be a very interesting poll if everyone voted for one chip. I thought it would be more interesting to have a look at more recent designs, ones that coincide approximately with the time Windows and the internet really started to take off. I'd say that was the early '90's although I know 2000 people will disagree with that!

 
Originally posted by: Hulk
The Cyrix MediaGX....I don't recall anything amazing about that chip
Pentium III - All the same family, Coppermine and Tualatin moved to on-die cache
Click to expand...
The MediaGX was from a different manufacturer than either the Pentium or K2 CPU's. It may have not been amazing, but that could be said about the P2 & K6-2 also.
I recall the move to Coppermine as a pretty big deal in the P3 world.
The P4 Willamette is a different animal than the other "P4" processors.

 
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