Results
Separate tables of speeds obtained via L1 cache, L2 cache and RAM are given below. Except when connected via the memory bus, performance via caches tends to be proportional to CPU MHz for a given type of processor. So, only a sample of results are provided. Details of cache sizes, speed and range of CPU MHz can be found in CPUSpeed.htm.
L1 Cache Results - The results show that Pentium 4 CPUs can produce faster data transfer rates than AMD processors of the same MHz on serial and random integer reading tests, but they perform much worse with reading/writing. Core 2 Duo is the best overall. To clarify the results, the table includes instructions/byte ratios that can be used to convert MBytes/second to Millions of Instructions Per Second (MIPS). These have been used to produce the example %MIPS/MHz figures shown. Note that serial and random speeds are generally similar on L1 cache.
L2 Cache Results - Results provided are fastest serial speeds and random speeds at 96 KB. The latter decreases with increased memory demands and depends on L1 cache size to some extent. Again example %MIPS/MHz calculations are given, showing that both Intel P4 and AMD CPUs can be faster on some of the tests but Core 2 Duo is better than both.
RAM Results - This shows maximum serial speeds and random access performance at 6144 KB (6 MB). An indication of the type and speed of RAM is also shown. Best performance on sequential operation is shared between Pentium 4 and Pentium 4E, with Pentium M being best on random access. AMD CPUs show improvements over Integer Serial Read speeds on the other test but only the Athlon 64 provides reasonable comparative performance across the board.
The latest results are for Core 2 Duo, showing some excellent and some poor speeds. The latter might be due to the nForce 570 chipset used. Later results via Intel 965 chipset confirmed this suspicion.
RAM Random Access Results - As random access speeds tend to reduce with increased data size, results are given here for the first random reading test at 1.5 to 96 MB. L2 cache sizes are also included to show that larger caches generally produce better performance. The impact of reading a burst of data is reflected by the relative good performance of Pentium III CPUs. These have 32 byte bursts compared with 64 or more on the other CPUs. AMD Athlons have greater reductions in speed at the higher data sizes.
Dual Core Results See below.