And as mrow noted, the Intel's are far more power-efficient.  The AMD 8-core units draw 125w to 220w .. clearly requiring significant cooling; yet they're easily beaten by the Core i7-4770, which only draws 84w => and many of the Intel CPU's draw even less ... for example, the G3220 mrow mentioned only draws a max of 54w.

 

I'm guessing that this came about when Intel bought into the technology of a small British company - Acorn Risc Machines (ARM) - an offshoot of Acorn Computers, originally based in Cambridge.

 

I was using, and programming, ARM processors in 1988, when I bought an Acorn Archimedes to replace my home-brew CPM-80 kit, hence avoiding the IBM PC/Microsoft world and 16-bit hardware.

 

 

ARM CPUs, which power most phones and tablets, are a completely different architecture and not compatible with x86. Intel sold its ARM line, XScale, to Marvell in 2006. So really Intel's power efficiency has nothing to do with ARM technology. ARM's power efficiency is what caused Intel to invest a lot more R&D in to making their own chips more power efficient though so as to be more competitive.

As mrow noted, the evolution of the X86 architecture wasn't driven by the ARM acquisition.

 

Basically, the X86 evolved very nicely from the Pentium through the P-II and P-III;  but then Intel made a significant internal change in the design ("NetBurst") which resulted in a P-IV actually being significantly less powerful than a P-III at the same clock speed.    This much longer internal cache would work well for very specific computational demands, but much more often than not it resulted in the instruction cache being dumped and reloaded ... and it also had fairly high power demands.  It was clearly not a good architectural move, and was abandoned when the Core architecture replaced it.    The Core architecture design is actually more of an evolutionary fork from the P-III than the P-IV.

 

 

Of course I know the architectural differences between ARM and X86 processors, but I'm sure that there was some technology crossover when Intel acquired DEC (the main interest being the DEC StrongARM technology) and created its XScale range.

 

ARM/XScale technology definitely went into the Intel IOP range and I believe that some low-level ARM architectural features and fabrication technology found their way into the Intel Core series of X86 processors.

Agree -- I'm sure some of the ARM technology contributed to the Core architecture -- especially the later generations of it.

 

I'm not sure that it was the 'later generations' of core technology which first benefited.

 

Intel Acquired the DEC interests in (Strong)ARM in 1998.  The first of the 'Core' X86 processors (touting 'low power') came out in 2003, and Core 2 in 2006.  Intel disposed of its ARM/XScale assets in 2006.

 

It is interesting to note what is stated on Wikipedia:

Intel still holds an ARM license even after the sale of XScale; this license is at the architectural level.

I'm not sure that it was the 'later generations' of core technology which first benefited.

 

Intel Acquired the DEC interests in (Strong)ARM in 1998.  The first of the 'Core' X86 processors (touting 'low power') came out in 2003, and Core 2 in 2006.  Intel disposed of its ARM/XScale assets in 2006.

 

It is interesting to note what is stated on Wikipedia:

Intel still holds an ARM license even after the sale of XScale; this license is at the architectural level.

 

 

You seem to be grasping for reasons why Intel's low power capabities are based on ARM technology and I'm not really sure why. There is zero evidence I've ever seen to back this up. The foundation of the Core architecture was developed by an Intel team in Israel that had previously worked on memory controllers. As garycase said the foundation of the Core chips are based on forked Pentium III technology, which were much more power efficient than the Pentium 4 NetBurst architecture which was pretty power hungry from the very beginning.

 

If it were as simple as getting an ARM license and using that technology to incorporate to create low power chips why didn't IBM do it to create low power chips so they didn't lose Apple business for PowerPC chips in the Mac product line? Intel did very little with their ARM division and that's why they spun it off.  I'm sure there are some ideas Intel was able to gather from their former StrongARM division but to insinuate that the reason Intel chips are now much more low powered is because of ARM is a seems pretty far fetched. And why wouldn't Intel continue to hold an ARM license? They're dirt cheap.

installed backplate and cpu and unraid booted up like a champ. i do have an issue though, i forgot how big the 212 evo is, i use one in my desktop as well. it's a few mm too tall. i've decided i'll keep it as a spare (was cheap enough, not a big deal), but i really don't feel like changing the backplate again, are these pretty standard for other hsf's?

The 212 evo says:

 

•Versatile all-in-one mounting solution supporting the latest Intel® LGA 1366 / 1155 / 1150 and AMD FM2 / FM1 / AM3+.

 

So, there is a chance that the backplate you installed would just work with another cooler.

 

Depends on how specific/proprietary cooler master was with the design.

 

I'm guessing the back of your MB plate in your case isn't open, eh?

I'm guessing the back of your MB plate in your case isn't open, eh?

 

no, unfortunately not. i guess it's not that hard to remove it, i'm just being lazy lol.

I was on the same boat. I have a sempron 145. But I unlocked the second core and Plex runs pretty well as long as there is only one transcoding stream. Unfortunately I shared my library with some family members and they got obsessed and are fighting over it every night.

 

So I wanted to upgrade. I thought about an i5 but it would cost more than $300 for the cpu, mobo and ram. Instead on ebay I found a used phenom ii x2 545 where the seller guarantees unlock to quad core for $47. I ordered that along with a $20 cooler master heatsink. I should receive them by the end of the week.

 

I'm expecting passmark scores of 3500 compared to the 1400 I had with the dual core sempron and plex should handle multiple transcodes. We'll see

I was on the same boat. I have a sempron 145. But I unlocked the second core and Plex runs pretty well as long as there is only one transcoding stream. Unfortunately I shared my library with some family members and they got obsessed and are fighting over it every night.

 

So I wanted to upgrade. I thought about an i5 but it would cost more than $300 for the cpu, mobo and ram. Instead on ebay I found a used phenom ii x2 545 where the seller guarantees unlock to quad core for $47. I ordered that along with a $20 cooler master heatsink. I should receive them by the end of the week.

 

I'm expecting passmark scores of 3500 compared to the 1400 I had with the dual core sempron and plex should handle multiple transcodes. We'll see

 

 

You should have told your family they have to chip in for the upgrade since they're the reason you need it.

Haha you're absolutely right. Although I also wanted to play with some xen vms on unraid 6 and my sempron can only handle 1 Ubuntu that's running all the plugins at the moment. Well, next time I upgrade, they are paying for it

I just did a swap of my e8400 to a q9650 (both 3ghz core 2 based, but the new one is a quad).

 

Just worked, cept i broke the cpu cooler, it was the plastic ones with the pushpins.

 

Bought a $10 one with a backplate and screws, put some new thermal paste, much better.

 

Not that the system runs any faster or anything, but i also added 4gb of ram (had to find some DDR2 for $30 used) but its all in prep of trying to run 6 with some VMs

I was on the same boat. I have a sempron 145. But I unlocked the second core and Plex runs pretty well as long as there is only one transcoding stream. Unfortunately I shared my library with some family members and they got obsessed and are fighting over it every night.

 

So I wanted to upgrade. I thought about an i5 but it would cost more than $300 for the cpu, mobo and ram. Instead on ebay I found a used phenom ii x2 545 where the seller guarantees unlock to quad core for $47. I ordered that along with a $20 cooler master heatsink. I should receive them by the end of the week.

 

I'm expecting passmark scores of 3500 compared to the 1400 I had with the dual core sempron and plex should handle multiple transcodes. We'll see

 

I finally received the cpu and the heatsink. It was a phenom ii x2 B55. After my mobo unlocked the other 2 cores it is now recognized as an athlon ii x4 555. Passmark score 3800. Yeah baby.

 

Plex used to transcode at 2-3x with occasional slow downs to 1x (the reason why two simultaneous transcoding streams barely worked with occasional buffering). Now I'm getting a constant 5-6x. This was the cheapest upgrade option as I didn't have to change the board or ram.

Won an auction on ebay for a Phenom II X4 965 for $70.  Also bought another 4 GB of DDR2 800 RAM as well. Should keep it going for a while

 

Kryspy

I was wondering if the same thing and figured I'd get my question in here

 

Currently have Unraid and cache drive running several popular add-ons (plex/sick/sab/cp) and was thinking of getting some VMs going in the future.

 

Lots of transcoding done server side and I don't experience much lag or performance issues.

 

Just want stuff done faster!

 

I have a Pentium Dual-Core E5400 (2.7) and was thinking of upgrading to a Core Quad (3.0).

 

I am asking myself (and you guys ) if its worth it for any performance gain?

Just want stuff done faster!

 

8)  [Doesn't everyone?]

 

 

I have a Pentium Dual-Core E5400 (2.7) and was thinking of upgrading to a Core Quad (3.0).

 

I am asking myself (and you guys ) if its worth it for any performance gain?

 

I assume you're talking about keeping your existing motherboard and just doing a CPU upgrade.    If that's the case, you'll need a Socket 775 Core 2 Quad, such as a Q9550 or Q9650.    I did a quick scan of current e-bay listings and found a Q9550 for $89.99 [ http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9550-2-83GHz-12M-1333-MHz-Socket-775-Processor-SLAWQ-/281292959661 ], but no Q9650's.  Amazon has a few used Q9650's from various sellers starting at $156  [ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D86S3G?ie=UTF8&seller=A1EUXKNK3AFTB4&sn=Peach%20Retail ]

 

Is it worth it?  Only you can decide that. 

 

Your current Pentium E5400 scores 1629 on PassMark.

A Q9550 scores 4076;  a Q9650 scores 4240

 

It would seem that a 2.5x performance gain for $90 (the Q9550 from e-bay) would be a pretty good investment ... but you need to weigh that against a complete upgrade to new motherboard/CPU/memory, which could give you even more performance, lower power usage, and better virtualization support.  A Haswell Core i5-4670, for example, scores 7505 on PassMark.    But an upgrade to that would cost you over $400 for CPU, motherboard, and memory.

 

 

that's some good stuff garycase. thank ya.

 

Don't think I'm gonna do a full overhaul just yet, but that CPU upgrade is a good bang for buck move.

 

sweet!

Don't think I'm gonna do a full overhaul just yet, but that CPU upgrade is a good bang for buck move.

 

I agree (as I noted before).    One thing to check:  Look at the CPU support list for your motherboard and be sure it supports the Q9550.  Most socket 775 boards that support the E5400 will support the Core 2 Quads, but it may require a newer BIOS version than you currently have.  If you need to flash a newer BIOS to get Q9550 support, be sure you do that BEFORE you swap the CPU's.

 

Thanks - I had checked before initial post - looks like I'm G2G!

 

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3024

 

 

Definitely good to go.  $90 and 15 minutes to pop in a Q9550 and you'll have a system with 2 1/2 times as much power as you do now 

 

I presume you've change CPU's before ... but just in case, be sure you have some denatured alcohol to clean off the heatsink; and a bit of thermal paste to apply to the new CPU before you install it.

 

Roger that. Thanks bud!