comp hardware comparing

 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Operating Systems OS X (Apple) comp hardware comparing
# 1  
Old 03-19-2004
Lightbulb comp hardware comparing

www.insaen.nl

Last edited by sk8parkinsaen; 03-20-2004 at 04:39 PM..
# 2  
Old 03-19-2004
Question what's the difference?

why is the norm for windows systems about 2.4 Mhz to 3.0 Mhz or higher?Compared to unix systems it seems that unix does more and more stabel with less Mhz?why??!
# 3  
Old 03-22-2004
I hope I'm understanding your question right.
Also, as it is a bit more difficult to give a "generalized" answer to this, I am going to assume that you have background knowledge in PC CPU history -- if that's not the case and if I'm not clear, please tell me so:

I understand you are asking about the "Megahertz gap" between the PowerPC family of CPUs and current x86 compatible CPU families.

First, this doesn't have anything to do with UNIX; it doesn't have anything to do with the question which OS you are using. The "Megahertz gap" is about differences in CPU architecture, and that's a hardware issue.

If you remember the 386/33 MHz and 486/33 MHz, nobody would have assumed these two processors to be equally powerful, even though both processors did indeed run at the same clockspeed (33 MHz).
This is just a very clear example showing that MHz is only ONE indicator of CPU speed.
It is true that a 386 at 33MHz was more powerful than a 386 at 25 MHz.
However, a 386/33MHz was LESS powerful than a 486/25MHz, even though it was running at a higher clockspeed.

To know the power/speed of a CPU, you have (at least) to know both the MHz AND what kind of processor it is. MHz alone does only tell you half the story (and is potentially very misleading). There are many more factors that affect CPU performance, but most would argue that for raw CPU speed, the CPU type and its clockspeed will be the most important info.
Note that this even true WITHIN the same architecture (386 and 486s belong to the same architecture, that of x86 compatible CPUs).
Between different architectures, the differences can be even greater.
A 68k architecture processor at 40MHz would perform very different from a x86 architecture CPU and a PowerPC architecture CPU would perform different still.

The problem is that very recently, there was a time when most recent Intel CPUs performed similar enough at any given MHz, so it was favourable for Intel to tout MHz as the "major" performance indicator. This led many to wrongly believe that MHz was the sole performance indicator, which it isn't.
It also drove Intel's competition crazy as it made e.g. PowerPC CPUs (which are generally, for reasons of hardware architecture, more powerful at a given clockspeed) look much more behind than they in fact were (for a while).

This misunderstanding about the relevance of MHz is however becoming unfavourable even for Intel now, so they're moving away from that, see http://arstechnica.com/news/posts/1079725353.html .

Again, though it can be difficult to make cross-architecture comparisons, PowerPC CPUs are currently faster at a given clockspeed than x86 CPUs. So if you had a x86 compatible CPU and a PowerPC CPU of about equal speed, the clockspeed (in MHz) of the x86 type CPU would be higher.

Coming back to UNIX:
Compared with the Windows family of Operating Systems, most UNIXarian Operating Systems make more efficient use of hardware resources, so the overall system speed would indeed be quicker when using a UNIX type OS, and that applies to whatever CPU you are running the OS on. (Windows nowadays mostly only runs on x86. RISC Alpha CPU support used to be a big thing, but it's pretty much gone the way of the dodo.) UNIX on x86 will likely be quicker than Windows on x86.
NB: You can run UNIX style Operating Systems on pretty much all CPU architectures in existance, see http://www.netbsd.org/ .
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Solaris

Hardware faulty, but which hardware?

Hi folk, I have this hardware faunty message, but dont know which hardware is this ? can you guide me ? --------------- ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- TIME EVENT-ID MSG-ID SEVERITY ---------------... (9 Replies)
Discussion started by: dehetoxic
9 Replies

2. AIX

Problem in ftpying the datasets containing comp values to AIX from mainframe

Hi, When i am trying to ftp COBOL generated data sets which contain comp values to AIX in ASCII mode. the comp values are getting corrupted. If i ftp the data set in binary mode it is working properly, but for this i have to change some compiler options in the COBOL. Also if i want to use the... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: sekhar gajjala
5 Replies

3. AIX

New Hardware

Can someone help me with what I am guessing is a simple job for an AIX admin. However I am 100% HP-UX and not touched AIX before the start of this week. I am trying to connect an IBM Blade (JS22) to our HP Enterprise Tape Library. I have done all the SAN zoning and this appears to be happy... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: Andyp2704
5 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

Comp-3 conversion possible with Shell Scripting or PERL?

I guess the subject asks it all, but I am wondering (before I go and code a COBOL module) if conversion of regular ASCII data to COMP-3 is possible on a UNIX environment (AIX 5.1)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Dave (13 Replies)
Discussion started by: dfran1972
13 Replies

5. Solaris

Hardware

Hi, I'm looking to run Sun Solaris 8 or 9, but have been running windows :mad: .can anyone give me advice about the hardware needed for solaris and possably any software i may need, the type of model and where i may be able to buy these within the uk. :confused: ... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: franz
3 Replies

6. Shell Programming and Scripting

COMP-3 File transmission

Guys, i need to transfer a file which contains both display and comp-3 fields from unix to mainframe. Cyberfusion , FTP doesn't work since they treat display and comp-3 fields same. Any Solution in this regard will be appreciated. Thanks, Sharif.S (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: sharifhere
3 Replies

7. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Problem with comp built for Linux..

I built a PC I intended on using to run Linux. It was using a AMD XP 2000 processor, had a 80 gig hard drive, and 256 mb of ram. I got it all connected and working and installed OpenLinux (from book "Learn Linux in 24 hours" that came with a instillation CD). My intent was to take about a month... (18 Replies)
Discussion started by: Tony Empire
18 Replies

8. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Per and Hardware

Is it possible to use Perl to work with hardware? Or is it strictly for text processing. (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: Luftwaffe
1 Replies

9. UNIX Desktop Questions & Answers

hardware 3d

How do I check my system to see if the graphics are using hardware 3d suport or not. I have a TNT2 on RH 7.1 kernel 2.4.9-?(can't remember off top of my head)I'm running all the latest updates from RH. Also I now have a dvd drive and I am trying to find a player that will play all movies and not... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: MaxCat
1 Replies

10. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hardware

Hi I have a problem to start up my Solaris Ultra 5. When it boots up I get a strange clicking sound, sounds like the hard drive that is "thinking" very hard. On the screen I get these messages: Boot device: Files and Args: Please check cable and try again Network link setup fail Time out... (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: Orange
8 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question