Intel vs AMD By Carrie Pipkin: Introduction and History Ramiro Bolanos : Intel and VIA chipsets Dan Hepp: VIA and AMD chipsets, Conclusion 11 Part 1: Comparative History Generally Intel has been the dominant producer of microprocessor chips AMD has proven to be a fierce competitor Competition stimulated the industry by producing new and innovative microprocessors In the mid nineties Intel begins to face true competition 22 Comparative History ƛƛ8028680286 chip 1980ƞs1980ƞs--IntelIntel was the only true producer of marketable computer chips 19821982--introduceintroduce 80286 286 was able to run software of its prior microprocessor 33 Comparative History ƛƛ8028680286 chip Within 6 years, 15 million 286ƞs are installed around the world Intel contracts third party companies to produce 286ƞs and variants AMD was one of these third party companies AMD became very efficient and capable of being its own producer of microprocessors 44 Comparative History ƛƛ386386 chip 1985, Intel releases its 3232--bitbit 386 microprocessor. Faster and capable of multitasking AMD, under licensed production, produces 386 chips allowing Intel to meet market demands 55 Comparative History ƛƛ386386 chip During the reign of the 386, AMD decides to produce its own CPU. 19871987--AMDAMD began legal arbitration over rights to produce their own chips. After 5 years of battle, the courts sided with AMD. 66 Comparative History --486486 chip 19891989--IntelIntel releases its 486DX. Allowed point and clicking Initially twice as fast as its predecessor. Intel continued to upgrade to speeds reaching 66MHz. 77 Comparative History --Am386Am386 chip 19911991--AMDAMD released Am386 Intelƞs 486 released two years prior AMD believed there still existed a market By October, AMD sold one million units 88 Comparative History --Am486Am486 chip 19931993--AMDAMD releases first competing chip: Am486 19941994--AMDAMD improves chip with Am486DX Am486DX processes up to 100MHz 99 Comparative History --PentiumPentium 1993, Intel realizes it cannot trademark numbers Ơx86.ơ This allows AMD the ability to essentially clone Intelƞs chips Intelƞs solution: dubs its new chip the Pentium instead of releasing it as the Ơ586ơ Comparative History --PentiumPentium Handles and processes more media types such as speech, sound , and photographic images. It Offered multiple processing speeds up to 200MHz. It became well entrenched in the market During this time, Intel truly dominated Comparative History --Am5x86Am5x86 19951995--AMDƞsAMDƞs first attempt to compete with the Pentium by introducing Am5x86 It was really for those who wanted to upgrade their 486 motherboards without making a jump to the Pentium motherboard AMD did not fare well with this chip Comparative History --AMDAMD K5 19961996--K5K5 introduced First chip comparable to the Pentium Could be placed in the same motherboard as the Pentium, making it compatible Because it was released 3 years after the Pentium, it was met with cool reception Comparative History --PentiumPentium Pro In the previous year, Intel released the Pentium Pro Able to handle more instructions per clock cycle Intelƞs ability to get a new chip on the market before AMD has had the effect of overshadowing any of AMDƞs microprocessors Comparative History --AMDAMD K6 19961996--AMDAMD purchases the company NexGen who were making a microprocessor of their own AMD uses their core 686 processor to develop the AMD K6 Additionally, they slap on Intelƞs MMX code making it compatible with Pentiums. Comparative History --AMDAMD K6 K6 was released in 1997 and reached speeds of 166Mhz to 200Mhz K6 was significantly cheaper than the Pentium K6 was able to move up to speeds as high as 300MHz, out performing the Pentiums Intel was ready for the challenge Comparative History --PentiumPentium II Later than year, Intel unveils the Pentium II It was equipped with MMX instructions, ready to handle video, audio, and graphics data Better capable of handling video editing, sending media via the Internet, and reprocessing music By 1998, the Pentium began to climb in processing speeds up to 450 MHz. Comparative History --TheThe Celeron K6 was doing well as a cost effective alternative to the Pentium II, although it was an inferior chip In response, in 1998, Intel introduced its own cheaper and inferiror microprocessor: the Celeron It was a stripped down version of the Pentium II Comparative History --AMDƞsAMDƞs K6--22K6 AMD fights back with an enhanced K6 to take on the Pentium II: the K6K6--22 Their K6 chip included what they called Ơ3DNowơ technology 3DNow is an additional twentytwenty--twotwo instructions to better handle audio, video, and graphic intensive programs AMD then releases K6K6--33 and proves to be a threat toto Intel Comparative History --PentiumPentium III 19991999--IntelIntel responds by coming out with the Pentium III It had an additional 70 instructions, improving its ability to process advanced imaging, streaming audio, video, & speech recognition programs One goal of the Pentium III was to enhance the Internet experience Comparative History --thethe Athlon The Athlon was a new chip from the ground up It was capable of doing everything the Pentium III could do, but was much cheaper The Athlon was beating out the Pentium III Comparative History --CeleronCeleron II In 2000, Intel decides to launch a two pronged attack against AMD First, Intel fights for lowlow--endend market by introducing the Celeron II It ranges in speed between 500 and 1100MHz. It was a stripped down processor with enhanced speed It was fairly cheap, making it competitive Comparative History --PentiumPentium IV Intel also introduces the Pentium IV It uses four main new technologies: Hyper Pipelined Technology, Rapid Execution Engine, Execution Trace Cache and a 400 MHz system bus Its major improvement was increased speed, initially starting at 1.5Ghz with ability for expansion Today itƞs reaching upwards to a remarkable 3GHz Comparative History --PentiumPentium IV The Pentium IV can now produce high quality video stream radio and TV quality information across the internet Render upscale graphics in realreal--timetime Perform several applications simultaneously while connected to the Internet Comparative History --thethe Duron As result of Intelƞs attack on AMD, Intel is once again dominating the market AMDƞs response to the Celeron II was the Duron, released the same year (2000) It is a geared down version of the Athlon, but edges out the Celeron Comparative History --AthlonAthlon XP The Athlon chip was destroying the Pentium III, but now is destined for the graveyard In response to the Pentium IV, AMD enhanced the Athlon by coming out with the XP series. Test show that an Athlon XP running 1.4GHz performs nearly as well as a Pentium of 2Ghz The Athlon XP is a quality chip, but is fading away under the onslaught of the heavy performance of the Pentium IV Comparative History --thethe ClawHammer Intel now holds edge over AMD in chip technology Rumored that AMD is developing a powerhouse chip called the ClawHammer It is apparently in a testing stage Chipsets Our goal has been to understand the history and details of the competition and their processors between Intel and Amd Also of importance are Chipsets Knowing some information on chipsets helps determine an appropriate opinion on Intel & AMD Chipsets A chipset is a group of integrated circuits, sold as one unit, designed to perform one or more related functions We are focused on chipsets that provide functionality for the CPU We compared chipsets from both AMD and Intel as well as an outside manufacturer, who makes chipsets for both, VIA. Chipset Most advanced chipset for the AMD CPU Consists of the VT8235 Southbridge and the VT8377 Northbridge. Main Features of KT400 Front Side Bus (FSB) up to 333Mhz Support for PC 3200 DDR Ram memory @ 400 Mhz NorthNorth--SouthSouth Bridge Link @ 533 Mhz 5 available PCI slots KT400 VT8377 Features Lightening fast memory access: 2.7 Gb/s AGP @ 8X offers 2.1 Gb/s dedicated speed to 3D graphics Fast 333 Mhz FSB KT400 VT8235 Features 533 Mhz 8X VV--linklink interface between North and South bridge USB 2.0 ATA133 6 Channel Audio Few Popular Motherboards using the KT400 Gigabyte 7VAXP Abit AT7 MAX2 ASUS A7V8X MSI KT4 Ultra Soyo KT400 Ultra Dragon Performance Measurements AMD (using KT400) vs. Pentium Using Soyoƞs KT400 Ultra Dragon Motherboard Higher number better Higher number better Higher number better AMD 760 MPX Chipset (Dual Processor) Consists of the AMDAMD--762762 system controller (northbridge) and the AMDAMD--768768 peripheral bus controller (southbridge). Main features of AMD 760MPX Front Side Bus (FSB) up to 266 Mhz per processor (533Mhz) Support for PC 2100 DDR Ram memory @ 266 Mhz NorthNorth--SouthSouth Bridge Link @ 66 Mhz Up to 7 available PCI slots Features of AMD 760MPX 762 System Controller Two 266 MHz pointpoint--toto--pointpoint AMD system buses PC 2100 DDR Ram memory @ 266 Mhz AGP 4X video card support Features of AMD 760MPX 768 Peripheral Bus Controller Host PCI bus utilizing a 66MHz/6466MHz/64--bitbit interface. Secondary 33MHz/3233MHz/32--bitbit PCI bus interface, including PCI bus arbiter with support for up to eight external devices UDMA 33/66/100 compatible EIDE bus master controller SMBus controller with one SMBus port Advantages of the AIPC and the SMBus Bus Through the AIPC bus, the Processors have direct access to the south bridge Through the SMBus, the memory