Alecks Gates wrote: > On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 9:32 PM, Dale <rdalek1...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Michael Mol wrote: >>> On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 8:21 PM, Dale <rdalek1...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> The point made about producing less heat with the smaller nm sounds >>>> reasonable tho. >>> Less heat with the smaller nm, but only if all other things remain equal! >>> >>> In reality, manufacturers use additional margin within their TDP to >>> improve the product otherwise. Perhaps they increase the clock speed >>> somewhat. Perhaps they increase the amount of on-die cache. Perhaps >>> they reduce the instruction pipeline. >>> >>> AMD, for example, has tended to maintain keep something in the market >>> for a 125W, 95W and 65W TDPs for several years. Each year, the >>> functionality that used to be in a 125W TDP processor shows up in a >>> 95W TDP processor, and the latest 125W TDP processor beats the pants >>> off of last years'. >>> >> >> I found this to be plain weird when I built my new rig. My old rig was >> a AMD 2500+ single core system with 2Gbs of ram. It pulled about 400 >> watts or so for normal desktop use. A little more when compiling and >> such. My new rig, AMD Phenom II 955 with four cores and 16Gbs of ram. >> Heck, just a single core is much faster than my old rig. Thing is, the >> new rig pulls less than half of what the old one pulls, WHILE >> COMPILING. I can't recall the nm part but I think the CPU I got for my >> old rig was supposed to be for laptop use. >> >> AMD sure is getting more efficient as you point out. I still wonder >> where we will be in 10 years. Just how fast can they make them? >> >> Dale >> >> :-) :-) >> >> -- >> I am only responsible for what I said ... Not for what you understood or how >> you interpreted my words! >> >> > Definitely OT but that's surely not because of the CPU, or at least > not only the CPU. Many people highly underestimate the value of a > good and efficient power supply, which can make a huge difference. > This is one of those things that companies such as Dell like to cut > costs on because the average user neither sees the PSU specifications > nor knows enough to ask about it. Of course, efficiency within the > entire computer helps, but a bad power supply can really hurt your > electric bill. > > On topic, AMD is definitely getting more efficient but mostly because > that's where the technology is headed in general -- Intel seems to do > a better job at efficiency per core but they also use hyper threading, > whereas AMD is putting their bets into more physical cores. Yes, I'm > going to say it again, but AMD is what you want for multitasking. > They are switching their goals from high-performance cores to > highly-concurrent CPUs, GPUs, and APUs. > > Concurrency is the future, it's just hard for a lot of people to think > in such a way (and our technology doesn't leverage it to its full > capacity). Just look at the human brain: "a maximum of 1,000 nerve > impulses per second is possible. However, firing rates of 1 per second > to 300-400 per second are more typical."[1] Basically the average > neuron seems to be about only 300Hz, but there are trillions upon > trillions of synapses within the brain. I don't know about you, but I > am, allegedly, a fully-functioning, self-aware, intelligent being. > > [1] http://www.noteaccess.com/APPROACHES/ArtEd/ChildDev/1cNeurons.htm > >
It may not be JUST the CPU but the CPU is a big part of it. I might add, I moved one hard drive from the old system to the new one. The ones in my new rig that were new are about the same power wise, same brand too. I actually have the same number of drives in my new rig as was in my old rig. So that balances out. I might also add I have 16Gbs of ram in my new rig but only 2Gbs of ram in the old one so that doesn't fit either. As to the power supply, I build my own rig and I always pick a good power supply that is efficient. The power supply is larger in my new rig. I was thinking that the new rig would pull a bit more power so I actually got a power supply that is really a little bit to big. If anything, that would be a negative on my new rig not a positive. The mobo is the only thing different other than the CPU itself. Oh, let's not forget that my new case has those large 230mm fans. Three of them to be exact. I wouldn't be surprised if they pull about the same power tho. The CPU fan is larger on my new CPU tho. It may pull a small amount more but not enough to really worry about much. My video card is faster in the new rig too. So, all in all, one would expect the new rig to pull more power not less. It is a more powerful machine compared to my old rig. I did some math, my new rig is overall 7 times faster than my old rig. I plan to upgrade to a newer, faster CPU with more cores when prices come down a bit more. Dale :-) :-) P.S. I don't have a store bought system. I build mine from scratch. While I would recommend Dell to someone who can't build their own, I wouldn't buy one myself. -- I am only responsible for what I said ... Not for what you understood or how you interpreted my words!