Alright i want to compare the core 2 duo e6600 to a sempron 3400+ to see how much faster the core 2 duo is then the sempron.
Ok for pcmark 2005 cpu the core 2 duo scores 6150 and the sempron scores 2329 and 6150 divided by 2329 equals 2.5 so the core 2 duo was 2.5 times faster there
For 3D mark 06 cpu the core 2 duo gets 2094 and the sempron gets 707 and 2094 divided by 707 equals 2.96 so there difference in cpu power there is 2.96.
For photo shop CS3 encoding and filtering a video the core 2 duo does the job in 121 seconds and the sempron does it in 240 and 121 multiplied by 2 equals 242 so the difference there was that the sempron can do the same job in a little faster then 1/2 the time.
For processor floating point and bandwith the core 2 duo e6600 gets 5538 and the sempron 3400+ gets 3946 so the performance differene here is less then 30% so there's not much difference.
For prey the frame rate in the core 2 duo system was 106.60 fps while the frame rate in the sempron system was around 42.90 fps but keeping in mind that gaming doesn't really depend on the cpu it depends on the gpu more but yes the core 2 duo did make a difference and 106.60 divided by 42.90 equals 2.38 so the core 2 duo only out performed the sempron by 2 times again.
So considering all of those bechmarks there the average difference for high end tasks between the core 2 duo e6600 and the sempron 3400+ was around 2.5. So the core 2 duo is 2.5 times faster then the sempron. Now for me 2.5 times the performance increae isn't very much at all, for example if they were both encoding a video and the sempron did it in 200 sec the core 2 duo would get it done in 100 sec and 100 sec difference is not very long its less then a minute. Can someone explain to me how the core 2 duo is suppose to be so much faster then a sempron if its only 2.5 times faster.
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Answers & Comments
Verified answer
First off you're comparing 2 chips that are in totally different classes.
Core 2 Duo was Intel's flagship chip (not necessarily the fastest, that goes to Xeon, but it was the mainstream chip) up until the recent release of the Intel i7 Processor. However, Core 2 Duo is still one of the top dogs in modern PC performance. And more importantly, the Core 2 Duo is a dual core chip.
The Sempron you're comparing is a single core chip.
Like the Celeron from Intel, Sempron uses some technology found in AMD's flagship chips, however, the Sempron is crippled the same way Celeron is. This is done by both Intel and AMD to prevent the budget chips from stealing sales away from their flagship chips. For instance, FSB speeds are lower and Cache levels are lower on the Sempron and Celeron chips.
As for performance, I think you underestimate the 2.5x speed difference you came up with. That is quite a bit actually.
For instance if you were doing a bunch of photoshop work and on one computer it took say 30 seconds for a single file and on the other it took over a minute for a single file. Over the course of 10-15 files, you'd be wishing for the computer that did it in 30 seconds.
These tests are inconclusive because they are aimed at getting the highest numbers for whatever machine the test is run on. In real world situations, the results are so much different.
It's just like EPA fuel economy ratings. The original Prius was rated at around 60+mpg, but no one ever got more than 42mpg at the most.
With so much more software taking advantage of multi-core chips, the Core 2 Duo is only going to get faster over time (obviously up to a certain point). For instance, my Mac Pro has a Xeon Quad-Core setup at 2.66, but before Adobe released Intel native applications for the Mac, it was actually slower than a PowerMac G5. But once Adobe released CS3 with full support for Intel processors, my performance skyrocketed. And the performance on the G5's kinda went downhill to the point where now the upcoming Adobe CS5 won't even support the older chips.
In a while it'll get to the point where software needs multi-core chips to run adequately. And that's where chips like the Core 2 Duo will really shine.