Question about processors

Surely the higher the processor's mhz the quicker it will make calculations?
So why do some processors with lower mhz outperform the ones with higher
mhz?

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 23:44:12 GMT, "Bruce Lee"
<blah@blahbllblahblah.com> wrote:

>Surely the higher the processor's mhz the quicker it will make calculations?

Only if all else remained equal, like the CPU's design, the
cache size, the connected bus speeds, the memory speed and
timings, etc. As for design, it also depends on what kind
of concessions have be made in the design to allow that CPU
to operate at any given frequency, for example the long
pipeline on a P4, and what kind of work that design is most
efficient at.

>So why do some processors with lower mhz outperform the ones with higher
>mhz?

See above, then also consider that software might be
optimized more for one CPU archtecture or instruction
support than others.

"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:dl2mk1hmh8if68649olrhm7oulhc8798ha@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 23:44:12 GMT, "Bruce Lee"
> <blah@blahbllblahblah.com> wrote:
>
> >Surely the higher the processor's mhz the quicker it will make
calculations?
>
> Only if all else remained equal, like the CPU's design, the
> cache size, the connected bus speeds, the memory speed and
> timings, etc. As for design, it also depends on what kind
> of concessions have be made in the design to allow that CPU
> to operate at any given frequency, for example the long
> pipeline on a P4, and what kind of work that design is most
> efficient at.
>
> >So why do some processors with lower mhz outperform the ones with higher
> >mhz?
>
> See above, then also consider that software might be
> optimized more for one CPU archtecture or instruction
> support than others.
>

Cheers. So what's quicker an AMD Sempron 3100+ vs an Intel Celeron D 330j
2.66ghz(533) on the same motherboard, same RAM, same socket?

I've used Tom's Hardware Guide, tomshardware.com to provide this data.

It appears that the sempron will be marginally quicker. I couldn't
find the exact models, so I used a slightly faster Celeron and slightly
slower Sempron. Here's a link to my results:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/index....l2=42&chart=17

As a general rule, assume that the 4-digit number following an AMD
processor, 3100 in this case, is roughly the same as an Intel speed in
MHz.