Which bus is faster?

[coyote3]

I want to compare the buses on two computers with CPU-Z. The AMD one has a figure for "HT Link" (1002.15MHz) whereas the Intel one has a figure for "Rated FSB" (798MHz).

Are the MHz figures for each a good comparison, please? (If so, I'm thinking the AMD machine is a little faster.)

 

[smakme7757]

I could be mistaken, but wasn't the Athlon a better CPU at the time?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/1676/3

 

[Maximilian]

The A64 bus is faster, it uses a hypertransport bus which is a newer tech than the older front side bus on the intel. AMD ditched the FSB after the athlon XP, whereas it took intel until the first core i7's to ditch the FSB. Not that it hindered them in overall performance though.

As for comparing the two mhz vs mhz i think it may be an apples to oranges thing due to the differing techs used in each.

 

[ShintaiDK]

The FSB is actually faster in that case since its 64bit and the HT is 16bit.

However, the FSB on the P4 is also used for main memory + chipset functions. While on the A64 its only used for chipset since the main memory sits directly on the CPU. So you end up with the P4 having something like 6400MB/sec for everything. And the A64 having 6400MB/sec for memory AND 2000MB/sec or so for chipset functions. Not to mention lower memory latencies since it doesnt have to pass a chipset like on the P4.

 

[coyote3]

I could be mistaken, but wasn't the Athlon a better CPU at the time?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/1676/3

Thank you very much, smakme7757, that was a far better answer than I hoped for!

 

[coyote3]

However, the FSB on the P4 is also used for main memory + chipset functions. While on the A64 its only used for chipset since the main memory sits directly on the CPU. So you end up with the P4 having something like 6400MB/sec for everything. And the A64 having 6400MB/sec for memory AND 2000MB/sec or so for chipset functions. Not to mention lower memory latencies since it doesnt have to pass a chipset like on the P4.

Thank you very much for your replies, Maximilian and ShintaiDK!

I picked up these systems a couple years ago, it only recently dawned on me that the system with the slower CPU (2.4GHz vs. 3.2GHz CPU) is faster. I might even stick a SSD in there now, since the A64 mobo is SATA2 (while the P4 mobo is SATA1).

This thread is a reassuring confirmation! (I've tried a few benchmark programs, but so far the ones that run on one system haven't run on the other.)