[dba-Tech] Laptop Recommendation

JMoss jmoss111 at bellsouth.net
Tue Jun 8 12:06:42 CDT 2004


Computer math falls into two major categories,  integer and floating point.
The location of a decimal point can be moved or "floated" according to it's
precision. Integer math results in round numbers and is limited in size
based on whether it is a small integer, normally 2 bytes or a long integer,
normally 4 bytes.  Floating point math results in numbers with a decimal
point or a large number that can not be represented as an integer. I know
less than nothing about processor architecture, but read that AMD's floating
point engine was better than Intel's, or maybe that the AMD design was based
on RISC technology which added and extra calculation engine?

Just my take on thing: Since Intel was the first kid on the block they
probably were more profitable early due to minimal competition than they are
now which made them a financially stronger company. I think that AMD and
others had to go heavily into debt to try and catch up, and do a lot of
price cutting just to buy market share. Intel has had a head start, more
resources for R&D and advertising, is firmly entrenched in corporate America
as most CIOs cringe at the mention of AMD, and they have several exclusive
agreements with some large system houses such as Dell. My opinion is that
Intel makes a fine microprocessor as does AMD. It's just my humble opinion
that day in and day out I get more bang for my buck with AMD. I may very
well be wrong about all of this, but that is my opinion.

jm

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Jon Tydda
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 11:22 AM
To: Dba-Tech (E-mail)
Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Laptop Recommendation


So what are floating point calculations all about? And if AMD are that good,
why are Intel the much bigger company with 95% of the market?


Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: JMoss [mailto:jmoss111 at bellsouth.net]
Sent: 08 June 2004 17:20
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Laptop Recommendation


I don't remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but going back 13
years, I almost remember that being one of the the main reasons for choosing
the AMD 386 DX40 over Intel, however the overall price/performance advantage
did weigh in.

jm

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Mitsules,
Mark S. (Newport News)
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 10:57 AM
To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues'
Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Laptop Recommendation


If I'm not mistaken, floating point calculations have always been the
strongest feature of AMD processors.


Mark


-----Original Message-----
From: JMoss [mailto:jmoss111 at bellsouth.net]
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 11:48 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Laptop Recommendation


I've been using AMD processors for 13 years and never owned an Intel
processor, but the United Devices cancer research program that runs on my
AMD Athlon 2500 (1.8 ghz) speaks volumes to me about AMD vs Intel
performance comparisons. The benchmark system for the UD program is a 1.5
GHz P4 and has a rating of 100. My AMD 1.8GHz machine consistently produces
rating numbers in the 170 - 180 area. Most other volunteer participants
report similar results. An interesting fact is that the UD Cancer research
program is partially sponsored by Intel, which doesn't necessarily mean that
their code is optimized for Intel processors, but I'd say that it's not
likely optimized for AMD processors either.

jm

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Francisco H
Tapia
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 10:18 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Laptop Recommendation


I'm looking towards the AMD64 laptops for my next pc/laptop.

Athlon's for me have performed leaps and bounds over P4's.  In fact, Ghz
per Ghz, I have an AMD 2000 (1.6ghz) at home and a P4 1.6ghz at work,
and can you guess wich runs faster?

:)

with the new batch of AMD64 they are putting dual cores so that's one
other reason i'm holding off, that and the next gen in video
connectivity (pciexpress) i'm sure they'll have something similar for
laptops that or the adaption that ATI was working on for replacable
video cards :o)



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