[X4U] 64 vs 32 was...Re: move to Intel

[Michael Winter]

On Jun 15, 2005, at 8:41 AM, Richard Gilmore wrote:

> What makes the G5 so much faster? I've got a 1.8GHZ G5 that seems  
> way faster
> than my friend's Mini at 1.42GHZ I can't see how 380MHZ makes all  
> that much
> difference.

Lots of things add up to make a faster machine.

Different numbers/kinds of execution units, increased ability to keep  
pipelines full, ability to dispatch more instructions/cycle... There  
are all kinds of factors that make one generation better/faster than  
the previous ones, and it has nothing to do with 32 vs. 64 bits. Ars  
technica usually has pretty good comparisons between processors, but  
they can be a bit "nerdy" if you're not into that kind of stuff.  
Bottom line, if you push them, a G5 can significantly outperform a G4  
at the same clock speed doing 32 bit work (same for G4 vs. G3...).

Then there are other factors like how much RAM,  bandwidth to memory,  
ability to offload more routine tasks to the GPU (Quartz Extreme,  
Core Graphics...). Even things like how fast the hard drive is can  
make a difference. Every chip and bus in the computer can make a  
difference, depending on what you're doing.

So your G5 _system_ has a lot more going for it than the mini does.

-Mike