AMD Talks Down the Importance of x86 Performance

In a blog post made by AMD’s Director of Client Technology, Godfrey Cheng, the argument is made that x86 performance isn’t a factor that should be weighed too heavily when it comes to making comparisons between the two major CPU competitors, AMD and Intel. Given that it’s Intel with the clear advantage in x86 performance, this blog post could be seen as a way for AMD to spread some FUD around, but let’s not jump to conclusions.

In general, the most popular uses for x86 are simple… manipulating spreadsheets, editing documents, using the Web, and so forth. In that sense, most CPUs on the market are just fine for doing things like that, and unless you are doing some seriously heavy-duty editing in a spreadsheet, the performance differences between any CPU are going to be hard to notice in the real-world.

That’s a fair point to make, and it’s one I can agree with. To help prove the point that AMD excels where it’s important, the company published a video at YouTube which showcases a classic Intel vs. AMD battle. The company chose to use Intel’s Core i7-2630QM quad-core and compare it to a comparable Llano-based offering. In the test, a game is run behind a video and spreadsheet and even a 3D model.

The purpose of the test is to show that AMD excels in multi-tasking where graphics are concerned, earned by the fact that AMD has invested much more transistor space and development time for graphics. In the test, Intel’s integrated Sandy Bridge GPU struggles with the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark, while even with all of these workloads running, AMD’s Llano excels.

Even without running the test in-house, the results here are some I can believe. After all, AMD has the tried-and-true graphics technologies, and Intel is still trying to catch up. For that reason it’s easy to understand that AMD’s offering would multi-task GPU scenarios much easier than Intel’s. What the video doesn’t quite show is how the CPUs compare in other non-GPU ways, such as with image manipulation and video encoding… and the reasons are probably clear. According to AMD, though, its focus into Llano is based on what customers need and use their PCs for, so for all intents and purposes, that’s fair.

Software applications have changed how consumers use their personal computers. People are using more modern workloads like 3D graphics, HD video and Internet surfing in a much more prevalent manner. Sure, we all dabble with spreadsheets and word processing once in awhile, but any modern x86 CPU-based PC can handle these workloads with ease. But with these modern applications, the capacity to multitask, improve image quality and enhance power efficiency are much more important than raw x86 performance in determining how good a consumer’s experience is with a particular PC.