CPU Performance Ratings

I'm confused by the CPU performance rating figures. I have two processors, one is in my desktop and is an Athlon XP 2800+. This has a clock speed of 2.2Ghz and a performance rating of 2.8Ghz. So far all is OK.

The I have Core Duo running at 1.66Ghz. This has a Performance Rating (according to ATI's Vista Ready tool) of 3.74Ghz.

Now the question is, is the rating of the Core Duo for just a single core, or is it for both?

 

dude... its a mobile processor, which is made to perform similar to a desktop (a little slower) but at a much lower frequency, so it can save on battery life... its probably 2x 1.66ghz, each core... as whats showing up on the tool...

 

Neither. It's for Vista. No more no less. it doesn't measure anything other than "how good is this CPU at running Vista"

 

That wasn't quite what I was asking, I know that the Core Duo is quite a few generations above the Athlon XP, and therefore, should have a higher rating at a lower clockspeed. I was wondering where the rating comes from. As 1.66 x 2 is about 3.3, I thought it could be both cores combined.

If it isn't, then I should be able to get about 7Ghz performance from the machine if I use both cores for independant tasks, is this the case?

 

The problem is that MHz is a completely meaningless metric.
*if* what they call MHz corresponds roughly to the Pentium 4, then it sounds about right that *one* 1.66GHz Core Duo is about as fast as, say, a 3.3GHz Pentium 4. And then maybe they add a bit extra because it's dualcore.

It could also refer to MHz for a Athlon 64, in which case a Core Duo would probably get around 3.7GHz *if* you just double up the figure for dualcore systems.

or it could mean a dozen other things. Like I said above, the only reliable conclusion you can draw is that"Your CPU is as Vista Ready as other CPU's that get the same rating, and readier than those that get lower ratings"

That says nothing about how fast it is overall (overall at what?), or how well it uses multiple cores.

 

So the AMD rating is compared to the Pentium 4? Is there a tool then that will tell me what other processor speeds are in comparison with the Pentium 4? Also, do AMD still use the P4 in their naming convention?

 

The ratings of AMD processors (like 3800+) are roughly equivalent to Pentium 4, yes. At least that's true for their singlecore chips.

But that's just how AMD choose to name their chips, and it has nothing to do with Vista readiness or the score given by the tool you're using. They might be using a different system. The point is that MHz can mean nothing at all, or hundreds of different, meaningless things. It's as meaningful as comparing cares *solely* from a RPM number, completely ignoring everything else that affects the performance.