Intel Processor Specs vs AMD Processor Specs

Intel Processors

Technology Used

Intel® Core™ microarchitecture

Intel® Core™ microarchitecture: Higher performance, greater energy efficiency, and more responsive multitasking for enhanced user experiences in all environments.

Intel® Quad-Core technology

Intel® Quad-Core processors deliver four complete execution cores within a single processor, delivering unprecedented performance and responsiveness in multithreaded and multitasking business and home use environments.

Intel® 65nm technology

Additional transistors deliver advanced capabilities—from dual- and multi-cores and improved cache, to innovative technologies such as virtualization and security.
First delivered in 2005

45nm Hi-k metal gate technology

With more than 400 million transistors for dual-core processors and more than 800 million for quad-core, the 45nm family introduces new microarchitecture features for greater performance and new levels of energy efficiency.
H2 2007
Intel® next generation architecture—"Nehalem"

Nehalem is a truly dynamic and design-scalable microarchitecture that will deliver both performance on demand and optimal price/performance/energy efficiency for each platform.
2008

Intel® 64 architecture

Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.
First delivered in 2004

New instruction set innovation—SSE4

Streaming SIMD Extensions 4 (SSE4) is Intel's largest ISA extension in terms of scope and impact since SSE2 and offers dozens of new innovative instructions.
H2 2007

Architecture Used

Intel® Core™ Microarchitecture

Intel® Core™ microarchitecture is the foundation for new Intel® architecture-based desktop, mobile, and mainstream server multi-core processors. This state-of-the-art, multi-core optimized microarchitecture delivers a number of new and innovative features that have set new standards for energy-efficient performance.
Intel Core microarchitecture extends the energy-efficient philosophy first delivered in Intel's mobile microarchitecture found in the Intel® Pentium® M processor, and greatly enhances it with many new and leading-edge micro architectural innovations as well as existing Intel NetBurst® microarchitecture features.

Intel Architecture Labs

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Intel Architecture Labs, also known as IAL, was the Personal Computer system research and development arm of Intel Corporation during the 1990s. IAL was created by Intel Vice-President Ron Whittier together with Craig Kinnie and Steven McGeady to develop the hardware and software innovations considered to be lacking from PC OEMs and Microsoft in the late 1980s and 1990s.

IAL pursued both hardware and software initiatives, but the latter became de-emphasized after the efforts collided with similar activities by Microsoft. For example, Native Signal Processing (NSP) was a software initiative to allow Intel-based PCs to run time-sensitive code independently of the operating system, allowing real-time audio and video processing on the microprocessors of the mid-1990s. Microsoft refused to support NSP in its operating systems and convinced PC makers that the NSP drivers would render their systems unsupported, and Intel pulled back from promoting the software, leaving NSP as an orphan. IAL also tangled with Microsoft by supporting Netscape and their early browser, and by producing a fast native x86 port of the Java system. Most of these projects were later shelved, and after 1997 IAL tended not to risk competing with Microsoft. The details of IAL's conflicts with Microsoft over software were revealed in Steven McGeady's testimony in the Microsoft anti-trust trial.
Not all of IAL's software efforts met bad ends due to Microsoft -- IAL developed one of the first software digital video systems, Indeo(tm), technology that was used in its ProShare videoconferencing product line but suffered late from neglect and was sold to another company in the late 1990s.

However, IAL successes in the hardware world are legendary, and include PCI, USB, AGP, the Northbridge/Southbridge core logic architecture and PCI Express (the now-dominant architecture for multi-processor servers).
In 2001, after the departure

AMD Processor Specs

Technology Used

(Advanced Micro Devices) A major manufacturer of semiconductor devices including x86-compatible CPUs, embedded processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices and networking chips. Founded in 1969 by Jerry Sanders and seven friends, AMD's first product was a 4-bit shift register. During the 1970s, it entered the memory business, and after reverse engineering the popular 8080 CPU, the microprocessor market as well.

Throughout the 1980s, AMD was a second-source supplier of Intel x86 CPUs, but in 1991, it introduced the 386-compatible Am386, an AMD-architected chip. With its own chip designs, AMD began to compete directly with Intel. Two years later, the Am486 was introduced, followed throughout the 1990s by the K5, K6 and Athlon families. In 2000, AMD introduced its value line of Duron chips, which were superseded by Sempron in 2004. All AMD-designed chips have been noted for their cool-running, innovative architectures.

In 2003, AMD debuted the Opteron, the first 64-bit x86-compatible CPU on the market. Intended for servers and high-end workstations, the Opterons were followed by 64-bit Athlon models for the desktop. Microsoft announced it would support AMD's 64-bit extensions in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Over the years, numerous PC vendors, both small and large, have successfully used millions of AMD's CPU chips in their PCs.

Opteron

The first of AMD's 64-bit CPU chips, formerly code named Sledgehammer (part of the Hammer line). Introduced in April 2003, the Opteron fully supports 32-bit applications, but requires that programs be optimized and recompiled to take full advantage of the 64 bits. The 64-bit version of Windows XP also takes advantage of the increased CPU word size. Intended for servers and high-end workstations, the Opteron competes with Intel's Xeon and Itanium lines. AMD subsequently introduced 64-bit Athlon CPUs

Athlon

A family of Pentium-compatible CPU chips from AMD. The first 32-bit models were introduced as Pentium III-class CPUs in 1999 with a 200MHz system bus and CPU speeds up to 650MHz. Over subsequent years, AMD added numerous models of 32-bit Athlons for desktop, server and mobile use, long since exceeding the initial clock speeds

AMD64

The AMD64 design, known as the Direct Connect Architecture (DCA), includes a set of 64-bit instructions as well as 64-bit registers that allows the CPU to address more than 4GB of memory, which is the limit of 32-bit registers. It also added a DDR memory controller directly on the CPU chip for increased performance.

Architecture Used

AMD started as a producer of logic chips in 1969, then entered the RAM chip business in 1975. That same year, it introduced a reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080 microprocessor. During this period, AMD also designed and produced a series of bit-slice processor elements (Am2900, Am29116, Am293xx) which were used in various minicomputer designs.

During this time, AMD attempted to embrace the perceived shift towards RISC with their own AMD 29K processor, and they attempted to diversify into graphics and audio devices as well as EPROM memory. It had some success in the mid-80s with the AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World Chip" FSK modem, one of the first multistandard devices that covered both Bell and CCITT tones at up to 1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex. While the AMD 29K survived as an embedded processor and AMD spinoff Spansion continues to make industry leading flash memory, AMD was not as successful with its other endeavors. AMD decided to switch gears and concentrate solely on Intel-compatible microprocessors and flash memory. This put them in direct competition with Intel for x86 compatible processors and their flash memory secondary markets

AMD x86 processors


AMD 80286 1982
In February 1982, AMD signed a contract with Intel, becoming a licensed second-source manufacturer of 8086 and 8088 processors. IBM wanted to use the Intel 8088 in its IBM PC, but IBM's policy at the time was to require at least two sources for its chips. AMD later produced the Am286 under the same arrangement, but Intel canceled the agreement in 1986 and refused to convey technical details of the i386 part.
AMD challenged Intel's decision to cancel the agreement and won in arbitration, but Intel disputed this decision. A long legal dispute followed, ending in 1994 when the Supreme Court of California sided with AMD. Subsequent legal disputes centered on whether AMD had legal rights to use derivatives of Intel's microcode. In the face of uncertainty, AMD was forced to develop "clean room" versions of Intel code.

In 1991, AMD released the Am386, its clone of the Intel 386 processor. It took less than a year for the company to sell a million units. Later, the Am486 was used by a number of large OEMs, including Compaq, and proved popular. Another Am486-based product, the Am5x86, continued AMD's success as a low-price alternative. However, as product cycles shortened in the PC industry, the process of reverse engineering Intel's products became an ever less viable strategy for AMD

Group Assignment

History of Intel

Around 1978-1979 Intel took the next step up by introducing the 8086 processor. This was one of the earlier 16-bit processors. IBM decided to us it.
Around 1984-1985 Intel introduced the 80286 which added more sophisticated memory management.
In 1987 the 80386 became available. This was a 32 bit word machine with real memory management (paging)
In 1990, the 80486 arrived sporting an integrated floating point unit and higher performance.
The Pentium was introduced around 1992-93.

Intel was founded on July 18, 1968 with one main goal in mind: to make semiconductor memory more practicle. Intels first microprocessor, the 4004 microcomputer, was released at the end of 1971. The chip was smaller then a thumbnail, contained 2300 transistors, and was capable of executing 60,000 operations in one second. Shortly after the release of th 4004 the 8008 microcomputer was released and was capable of executing twice as many operations per second then the 4004. Intels commitment to the microprocessor led to IBM's choice of Intel's 8088 chip for the CPU of the its first PC. In 1982, Intel introduced the first 286 chip, it contained 134,000 transistors and provided around three times the performance of the other microprocessors at the time. In 1989 the 486 processor was released that contained 1.2 million transistors and the first built in math coprocessor. The chip was approximately 50 times faster then Intels original 4004 processor and equaled the performance of a powerful mainframe computer. In 1993 Intel introduced the Pentium processor, which was five times as fast as the 486, it contained 3.1 million transistors, and was capable of 90 million instructions per second (MIPS). In 1995 Intel introduced its new technology, MMX, MMX was designed to enhance the computers multimedia performance. Throughout the years that followed Intel released several lines of processors including the Celeron, the P2, P3, and P4. Intel processors now reach speeds upwards of 2200 MHZ or 2.2 GHZ.

Origin of the name

At its founding, Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce wanted to name their new company "Moore Noyce". This name, however, sounded remarkably similar to "more noise" — an ill-suited name for an electronics company, since noise is typically associated with bad interference. They then used the name NM Electronics for almost a year, before deciding to call their company INTegrated ELectronics or "Intel" for short. However, Intel was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to buy the rights for that name at the beginning

Founders of Intel

Intel was founded in 1968 by Gordon E. Moore (a chemist and physicist) and Robert Noyce (a physicist and co-inventor of the integrated circuit) when they left Fairchild Semiconductor. A number of other Fairchild employees also went on to participate in other Silicon Valley companies. Intel's fourth employee was Andy Grove (a chemical engineer), who ran the company through much of the 1980s and the high-growth 1990s. Grove is now remembered as the company's key business and strategic leader. By the end of the 1990s, Intel was one of the largest and most successful businesses in the world, though fierce competition within the semiconductor industry has since diminished its position.

Intel headquarters in Santa Clara

Moore's Law

Moore's Law is the empirical observation made in 1965 that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit for minimum component cost doubles every 24 months.[1][2] It is attributed to Gordon E. Moore (born 1929),[3] a co-founder of Intel. Although it is sometimes quoted as every 18 months, Intel's official Moore's Law page, as well as an interview with Gordon Moore himself, state that it is every two years.

Earliest forms

The term Moore's Law was coined by Carver Mead around 1970.[4] Moore's original statement can be found in his publication "Cramming more components onto integrated circuits", Electronics Magazine 19 April 1965:

Under the assumption that chip "complexity" is proportional to the number of transistors, regardless of what they do, the law has largely held the test of time to date. However, one could argue that the per-transistor complexity is less in large RAM cache arrays than in execution units. From this perspective, the validity of one formulation of Moore's Law may be more questionable.
Gordon Moore's observation was not named a "law" by Moore himself, but by the Caltech professor, VLSI pioneer, and entrepreneur Carver Mead.[2] Moore, indicating that it cannot be sustained indefinitely, has since observed "It can't continue forever. The nature of exponentials is that you push them out and eventually disaster happens."[5]
Moore may have heard Douglas Engelbart, a co-inventor of today's mechanical computer mouse, discuss the projected downscaling of integrated circuit size in a 1960 lecture.[6] In 1975, Moore projected a doubling only every two years. He is adamant that he himself never said "every 18 months", but that is how it has been quoted. The SEMATECH roadmap follows a 24 month cycle

Understanding Moore's Law
Moore's law is not about just the density of transistors that can be achieved, but about the density of transistors at which the cost per transistor is the lowest[1]. As more transistors are made on a chip the cost to make each transistor reduces but the chance that the chip will not work due to a defect rises. If the rising cost of discarded non working chips is balanced against the reducing cost per transistor of larger chips, then as Moore observed in 1965 there is a number of transistors or complexity at which "a minimum cost" is achieved. He further observed that as transistors were made smaller through advances in photolithography this number would increase "a rate of roughly a factor of two per year".[1]

Formulations of Moore's Law

PC hard disk capacity (in GB). The plot is logarithmic, so the fit line corresponds to exponential growth.
The most popular formulation is of the doubling of the number of transistors on integrated circuits every 18 months. At the end of the 1970s, Moore's Law became known as the limit for the number of transistors on the most complex chips. However, it is also common to cite Moore's Law to refer to the rapidly continuing advance in computing power per unit cost, because increase in transistor count is also a rough measure of computer processing power. On this basis, the power of computers per unit cost - or more colloquially, "bangs per buck" - doubles every 24 months (or, equivalently, increases 32-fold in 10 years).

Amdahl's Law

Amdahl's law, named after computer architect Gene Amdahl, is used to find the maximum expected improvement to an overall system when only part of the system is improved. It is often used in parallel computing to predict the theoretical maximum speedup using multiple processors.

Amdahl's Law is a law governing the speedup of using parallel processors on a problem, versus using only one serial processor. Before we examine Amdahl's Law, we should gain a better understanding of what is meant by speedup.
Speedup:
The speed of a program is the time it takes the program to excecute. This could be measured in any increment of time. Speedup is defined as the time it takes a program to execute in serial (with one processor) divided by the time it takes to execute in parallel (with many processors). The formula for speedup is:

T(1)
S=-------------
T(j)

Where T(j) is the time it takes to execute the program when using j processors. Efficiency is the speedup, divided by the number of processors used. This is an important factor to consider. Due to the cost of multiprocessor super computers, a company wants to get the most bang for their dollar.
To explore speedup more, we shall do a bit of analysis. If there are N workers working on a project, we may assume that they would be able to do a job in 1/N time of one worker working alone. Now, if we assume the strictly serial part of the program is performed in B*T(1) time, then the strictly parallel part is performed in ((1-B)*T(1)) / N time. With some substitution and number manipulation, we get the formula for speedup as:

N
S = -----------------------
(B*N)+(1-B)
N = processors
B = % of algorithm that is serial

This formula is known as Amdahl's Law. The following is a quote from Gene Amdahl in 1967:
For over a decade prophets have voiced the contention that the organization of a single computer has reached its limits and that truly significant advances can be made only by interconnection of a multiplicity of computers in such a manner as to permit co-operative solution...The nature of this overhead (in parallelism) appears to be sequential so that it is unlikely to be amenable to parallel processing techniques. Overhead alone would then place an upper limit on throughput of five to seven times the sequential processing rate, even if the housekeeping were done in a separate processor...At any point in time it is difficult to foresee how the previous bottlenecks in a sequential computer will be effectively overcome.

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