Computer Hardware component comparisons (between generations)

[Blackraven]

Typically, newer is always better but by how much? In my case, I was trying to measure as to how much superior would Intel's Core 2 processors be when I compare to my old-ass Pentium 4 machines here at home (which are more than 5 years old).

Most would say that it one Core 2 = Twice the performance of even the last gen P4 or Pentium D and I do believe so. Yet is there a way to measure such a thing? And not just for processors but also in other hardware such as graphics cards, RAM memory, motherboards, physical storage drives, optical storage drives and the like....

Anyways, I do have a comparison and I was hoping that you guys could help me answer it:

Would the processor used in the NVIDIA Ion platform (which is basically Intel Atom processor + Geforce 9400 M Graphics Card Module) beat the highest-possible processor found in the Nvidia Nforce2 Ultra 400 chipset (which is AMD Athlon XP 3200+ @ 2.33 Ghz)? And by how much of a degree if possible?

Points to consider:
-Point of Clock speed wars (good for marketing; not the whole story for processor comparisons)???
-Dual Core Diamondville supports SSE3 and 64-bit SIMD instruction sets whilst the AMD Athlon XP did not support any of these (references to level of calculations permitted and stuff)
-Intel Atom processors are designed for mobile use so performance maybe be hampered in order to lessen its TDP & power consumption whilst AMD Athlon XP was not hampered on this and uses the most amount of performance that it can produce (though since the former has a newer CMOS process shrink, such may not serve as a disadvantage anymore over the latter).
-Newer and faster system memory over the nforce2 Ultra 400 platform

What do you think?

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by Blackraven

Typically, newer is always better but by how much? In my case, I was trying to measure as to how much superior would Intel's Core 2 processors be when I compare to my old-ass Pentium 4 machines here at home (which are more than 5 years old).

Most would say that it one Core 2 = Twice the performance of even the last gen P4 or Pentium D and I do believe so. Yet is there a way to measure such a thing? And not just for processors but also in other hardware such as graphics cards, RAM memory, motherboards, physical storage drives, optical storage drives and the like....

Anyways, I do have a comparison and I was hoping that you guys could help me answer it:

Would the processor used in the NVIDIA Ion platform (which is basically Intel Atom processor + Geforce 9400 M Graphics Card Module) beat the highest-possible processor found in the Nvidia Nforce2 Ultra 400 chipset (which is AMD Athlon XP 3200+ @ 2.33 Ghz)? And by how much of a degree if possible?

Points to consider:
-Point of Clock speed wars (good for marketing; not the whole story for processor comparisons)???
-Dual Core Diamondville supports SSE3 and 64-bit SIMD instruction sets whilst the AMD Athlon XP did not support any of these (references to level of calculations permitted and stuff)
-Intel Atom processors are designed for mobile use so performance maybe be hampered in order to lessen its TDP & power consumption whilst AMD Athlon XP was not hampered on this and uses the most amount of performance that it can produce (though since the former has a newer CMOS process shrink, such may not serve as a disadvantage anymore over the latter).
-Newer and faster system memory over the nforce2 Ultra 400 platform

What do you think?

Well. My Core 2 Duo is ancient and gets a 5 in Vista. My older P4 Northwood gets like a 2.

You be the judge.

[WiLLiSTER]

I'm guessing you're talking core2duo? They're a pretty big jump from the P4's and PD's, even more than double performance depending on which you go with.

Go run a few benchs with 3dmark and you'll be able to see the difference...

As for your other question, the ion platform should run circles around the nforce 2 system.

[Blackraven]

Originally Posted by WiLLiSTER

I'm guessing you're talking core2duo? They're a pretty big jump from the P4's and PD's, even more than double performance depending on which you go with.

Go run a few benchs with 3dmark and you'll be able to see the difference...

As for your other question, the ion platform should run circles around the nforce 2 system.

You may have a point (as the die shrink seems to favor the Intel Atom Diamondville as well as the higher ram frequencies involved). Anyways, I'll see if I can read more about this.

Anyways, I was asking this because I was thinking of a probable successor to Bandai-Namco arcade hardware called System N2 (which is based on the highest spec of the Nvidia Nforce 2 Ultra 400 chipset). Granted, it has to be somewhat close to System 357 (which powers Tekken 6 arcade version via an actual PS3 system inside).

Otherwise, if we really wanted to match or beat System 357, then we could always go for nforce 700 (particularly the nforce 790 if they need powerful specs in a small package).

Just my two cents and thoughts