The Megahertz Myth (sometimes the GHz Myth) is an expression that reflects a common misconception among consumers that processors with a higher clock speed always have better performance than processors with a lower clock speed, and gained popularity mainly thanks to Apple , which used PowerPC processors in Macintosh computers operating at a frequency significantly lower than competing Intel Pentium 4 processors [1] .
In fact, a performance comparison based on a clock comparison is true only for processors with the same architecture and microarchitecture .
AMD in a paper designed to dispel the myth of megahertz provides the following formula for comparing the performance of processors of different architectures: performance is equal to the number of instructions executed per cycle multiplied by the processor clock speed [2] .
Content
- 1 Examples
- 2 See also
- 3 notes
- 4 References
Examples
- Intel Pentium 4 and Pentium III - despite the lower clock speed, the Pentium III processors on the Tualatin core outperformed the Pentium 4 processors on the Willamette core in most tasks [3] .
- Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon 64 are AMD Athlon 64 processors (like the previous Athlon XP ), despite the lower (often significantly) clock speed, they were superior in performance in many applications to Pentium 4 due to architecture [4] . In this regard, starting with Athlon XP processors, AMD processor markings use a performance rating that compares AMD processors with competitor processors. For example, the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor ( Socket 754 ) runs at a clock frequency of 2000 MHz and approximately corresponds in performance to the Pentium 4 3 GHz processor on the Northwood core.
See also
- Clock signal
- P rating
- Bogomips
- Computer computing power
- Performance testing
- Performance test