AMD's 760MPX Chipset - Multiprocessor for the Masses

Linux Performance

Linux kernel compilation provides an entirely different standpoint from which to judge performance. Most obviously, it demonstrates performance relative to the Linux kernel instead of a Microsoft operating system, thus providing a more well-rounded test suite. However, it also benchmarks using compilation instead of trying to reproduce the tasks Microsoft Office user would perform. Yes, some people do more with their CPUs than sum tables in Excel.

In our earlier review of AMD's 760MP chipset, we were quite impressed with the results of moving from 1-CPU builds to 2-CPU. For this review, we decided to focus on clock rate importance and the age-old Intel vs. AMD battle. Please read our original 760MP review for a single vs. dual CPU comparison and general discussion of relevance in a Linux environment.

Linux Kernel Compilation Performance make -J 2 (Compile Time in Seconds - Lower is Better) AMD Athlon MP 1900+ (1.6GHz) AMD Athlon MP 1.2GHz Intel Xeon 1.7GHz 115.54 136.72 147.8 | 0 | 30 | 59 | 89 | 118 | 148 | 180

The Athlon MP 1900+, despite being 30% faster than its 1.2GHz counterpart, only reduced compilation times by 15%. Thus, CPU speed is only half the limiting factor in these tests. Memory bandwidth and cache latency are likely the other major factors; as nearly all disk access should have been cache work.