Subtle shift in clock-speed marketing?

[VirtualLarry]

I noticed that Newegg is now listing the Richland CPUs by their "Turbo" clocks, and not by their base clocks.

I also noticed, that in some of their literature, both Intel and AMD are now listing their turbo clocks first, if they list both of them, and sorting the list by performance, by their turbo clocks.

I suppose that this was inevitable. I mean, after all, most DVD-RW and Blu-Ray drives are listed by their "max" speeds, and not actual speeds. Why shouldn't CPUs be listed that way too?

Coming up, "K" and "Black Edition" CPUs start being listed with "max" clocks, with something ridiculous like LN2 clock speeds for that chip.

 

[Ayah]

Well, consumers do like bigger numbers.

 

[tential]

Pentium 4 proved people will buy things with the largest number even if it has less performance.

 

[podspi]

Clock speed really isn't as useful as it once was to comparing performance, even within similar product 'families'. CPUs now have multiple "top power" states depending on workload.

I would say a fair way to characterize performance is the minimum fully-loaded clock speed, and the maximum possible clock speed. That and benchmarks 😀

 

[ShintaiDK]

This is where it gets funny. In Denmark for example it would be a case for the consumer ombudsmand.

Its borderlining, if not, fraud to advertise with turboclocks, since turboclocks depends on so many factors.

It would have to say "up to" xxGhz on the package. Or the company would be handled over to the police.

It seems Newegg changed it?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

Its now correctly listed. So perhaps it was just a typo from the start.

 

[VirtualLarry]

nope, the A10-6800K is listed as 4.1Ghz. That's the turbo clock, at least according to info from CPU World.

Edit: Huh, AT's article lists the turbo clock as 4.4, and the base clock as 4.1. Perhaps I was wrong?
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7028/amd-richland-desktop-apus-now-available

Here's the CPU World link.
http://www.cpu-world.com/Cores/Richland.html

Maybe I was reading that wrong too. I thought that they were indicating that the A10-6800K went from 3.7 to 4.1.

Edit: The A4-4000 is still listed by its turbo clock at Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113343

 

[ShintaiDK]

The A4 is not looking good. I hope its a typo from Neweggs side.

 

[podspi]

Newegg's 'details' are terrible. I feel very fortunate to live near a Microcenter 😀

 

[Vectronic]

I don't have a problem with displaying turbo clocks since whenever the PC is being used, it's likely going to be running at that.

The problem is by default (with Intel at least) "max turbo" != all core turbo. My i5 stock, is 3.4GHz x4 to 3.6GHz x4... only when 2 or less cores are being "stressed" does it go to 3.8GHz... so saying "4 cores" and "3.8GHz" is a lie without further details. (it's also a stupid limitation to begin with)

 

[ShintaiDK]

I don't have a problem with displaying turbo clocks since whenever the PC is being used, it's likely going to be running at that.

The problem is by default (with Intel at least) "max turbo" != all core turbo. My i5 stock, is 3.4GHz x4 to 3.6GHz x4... only when 2 or less cores are being "stressed" does it go to 3.8GHz... so saying "4 cores" and "3.8GHz" is a lie without further details. (it's also a stupid limitation to begin with)

AMD does the same.

Its simply false to advertise CPUs by their max turbo rating.

I sure dont hope you are ok with it. Because it opens up for huge exploitation. ISPs have for along time done the same. They for example sell you a DSL line up to 20Mbit. Even tho your speed might be 16Mbit due to copper quality, length etc. But since the lower product is 15Mbit, they sell you up to 20Mbit. They could just as well have sold you "up to" a gazillion Mbit and still only delivered 16Mbit for example.

 

[inf64]

Some facts:
A10 6800K is 4.1Ghz base clock and 4.4Ghz max Turbo. It actually usually runs at ~4.3Ghz in most x86 workloads, even MTed ones which is reflected by its scores.

A4 4000 Richland has a clear sticker that states full spec. I don't know what Newegg writes on their website , this is how the sticker looks like (from Newegg picture):

As can be seen , AMD states correct spec on the box : 3.2Ghz max Turbo, 3Ghz base clock.

 

[fleshconsumed]

How is this a mis-advertisement if the CPU will operate at those turbo clocks when stressed at 100%?

The only mis-advertisement I see is putting 1 core turbo clock on the box instead of 4 core turbo.

 

[goobee]

How is this a mis-advertisement if the CPU will operate at those turbo clocks when stressed at 100%?

The only mis-advertisement I see is putting 1 core turbo clock on the box instead of 4 core turbo.

Mis-leading may be a better term. Think of speakers. Although a speaker may be rated to handle up to 300 watts rms, there are factors that have to be considered. If you have a dirty amp, you can easily fry those speaker well before you approach their max.

 

[ShintaiDK]

How is this a mis-advertisement if the CPU will operate at those turbo clocks when stressed at 100%?

The only mis-advertisement I see is putting 1 core turbo clock on the box instead of 4 core turbo.

There is no garantee that it will hit that frequency. Only the base is guaranteed.