Performance Comparison of Two Microprocessors

from Different Generations

Electronics and Microprocessor Assigment 3
Muhamad Asyraf Bin Md Zin (KEM110033)
Department of Mechanical
Faculty of Engineering
University of Malaya
neozeroash@hotmail.com

Abstract - The objective of this assignment is to compare
two microprocessor from the past and present generation
along with their detail of performance, hardware and software
specification. For this assignment, I have picked Intel Pentium
4 Processor 519K that lunch on 4
th
quarter of 2004 and Intel
Core i7-4790K Processor that lunch on the 2
nd
quarter of 2014.
By this, we can see how microprocessor has been developed,
innovate and evolve for just about 10 years.
I. INTRODUCTION OF MICROPROCESSOR
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a
computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single
integrated circuit (IC), or at most a few integrated circuits. It
is a silicon chip that contains a CPU. In the world of personal
computers, the terms microprocessor and CPU are used
interchangeably. At the heart of all personal computers and
most workstations sits a microprocessor. All modern CPUs
are microprocessors making the micro-prefix redundant. The
microprocessor is a multipurpose, programmable device that
accepts digital data as input, processes it according to
instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as
output. It is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has
internal memory. Microprocessors operate on numbers and
symbols represented in the binary numeral system.
Microprocessors also control the logic of almost all digital
devices, from clock radios to fuel-injection systems for
automobiles.
II. INTRODUCTION OF SELECTED MICROPROCESSOR
A. Intel Pentium 4
Pentium 4 is a line of single-core desktop and laptop
central processing units (CPUs) introduced by Intel on
November 20, 2000 and shipped through August 8, 2008.
They had a 7th-generation x86 microarchitecture, called
NetBurst, which was the company's first all-new design since
the introduction of the P6 microarchitecture of the Pentium
Pro CPUs in 1995. NetBurst featured a very deep instruction
pipeline to achieve very high clock speeds. Intel claimed that
NetBurst would allow clock speeds of up to 10 GHz;
however, severe problems with heat dissipation (especially
with the Prescott Pentium 4) limited CPU clock speeds to a
much lower 3.8 GHz. In 2004, the initial 32-bit x86
instruction set of the Pentium 4 microprocessors was
extended by the 64-bit x86-64 set.
B. Intel Core i7 4
th
Gen (Haswell)
The Intel Core is a multi-core processor
microarchitecture unveiled by Intel in Q1 2006. The first
processors that used this architecture were code-named
Merom, Conroe, and Woodcrest. The high power
consumption and heat intensity, the resulting inability to
effectively increase clock speed, and other shortcomings
such as the inefficient pipeline were the primary reasons for
which Intel abandoned the NetBurst microarchitecture and
switched to completely different architectural design,
delivering high efficiency through a small pipeline rather
than high clock speeds.
III. TECHNICAL COMPARISON
Table I below shows the comparison of the essentials
specification processor between Intel Pentium 4 519K and
Intel Core i7-4790K.
TABLE I. SPECIFICATION COMPARISON
Specification
Microprocessor
Pentium4 Core i7 Haswell
Number of Cores 1 4
Clock Speed 3.06 GHz 4 GHz
Cache 1 MB L2 Cache 8 MB
Bus Type FSB DMI2
System Bus 533 MHz 5 GT/S
Instruction Set 64-bit 64-bit
Lithography 90 nm 22 nm
Max TDP 84 W 88 W
Case Temperature 67.7
o
C 72.72
o
C

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of
independent central processing units in a single computing
component (die or chip). Just like a stopwatch, clock speed
measures how fast a processor performs an activity. Clock
speed rates are shown in gigahertz (GHz), which means a
billion cycles per second. On Pentium 4 519K the number of
core is 1 with speed of 3.06 GHz while core i7 Haswell have
4 core with speed of 4 GHz on each core that also have 8
threads (software term for the basic ordered sequence of
instructions that can be passed through or processed by a
single CPU core) in it which makes the Core i7 Haswell
processor run multiple task more efficient and fast without
lagging and burden each of these core. Therefore, these
efficiency creates uniform hear around the core, thus making
it more durable in long term of use.
A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing
unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average time to
access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which
stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory
locations. When the processor needs to read from or write to
a location in main memory, it first checks whether a copy of
that data is in the cache. If so, the processor immediately
reads from or writes to the cache, which is much faster than
reading from or writing to main memory. On Pentium 4, the
cache is 1 MB while Core i7 Haswell has 8 MB thus having
a bigger capacity. Bigger cache along with high rate of clock
speed will make a better cache performance (measure of the
effectiveness of the cache for a given program or algorithm)
on the Core i7 Haswell.
A bus is a subsystem that transfers data between
computer components or between computers. Pentium 4 use
front-side bus (FSB) communication interface, which carries
data between the CPU and memory controller hub. Core i7
use the direct media interface (DMI), which is a point-to-
point interconnection between an Intel integrated memory
controller and an Intel I/O controller hub on the computers
motherboard.
An instruction set refers to the basic set of commands
and instructions that a microprocessor understands and can
carry out. The value shown represents which Intels
instruction set this processor is compatible with. Both of the
processor are compatible up to 64-bit.
The Intel Core microarchitecture also includes an
enhanced Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) to further facilitate
macrofusion. Its single cycle execution of combined
instruction pairs results in increased performance for less
power. Calculation in a single clock design an
extraordinarily complex ALU that calculates the square root
of any number in a single step. The Pentium 4 processor
execution units are designed to optimize overall
performance by handling the most common cases as fast
as possible. The Pentium 4 processor can do fully
dependent ALU operations at twice the main clock rate.
The ALU-bypass loop is a key closed loop in the processor
pipeline. Approximately 60-70% of all uops in typical
integer programs use this key integer ALU loop. Executing
these operations at the latency of the main clock helps
speed up program execution for most programs. Doing the
ALU operations in one half a clock cycle does not buy a 2x
performance increase, but it does improve the
performance for most integer applications.
Pentium 4 processor is capable of addressing up to 4 GB
of RAM. Chipset/motherboard limitations may make the
possible max for a system less than that. Most of it
compatible to DDR2 which fastest memory clock is only
around 266 MHz. Max memory bandwidth is up to 8.53
GB/s. On the other hand, Core i7 Haswell can support up to
32 GB of RAM, DDR3 memory interface which have
memory clock and bandwidth up to 1600 MHz 25.6 GB/s
respectively.
IV. ADDITIONAL FEATURE COMPARISON
Most of new generation Intel processor such as Core i7
Haswell comes with may feature and advance technology to
enhance performance of the desktop/laptop. For example,
Intel Turbo Boost Technology which dynamically increases
the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of
thermal and power headroom to give a burst of speed when
needed, and increased energy efficiency when it is not
needed. Then, theres Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
that delivers two processing threads per physical core.
Highly threaded applications can get more work done in
parallel, completing tasks sooner.
One of the most useful feature is that it has an integrated
graphic unit that improve the performance graphic
capabilities without the need of an external graphic
processing unit (GPU). On the Core i7 Haswell processor,
the integrated GPU model is Intel HD Graphics 4600. It has
graphics base frequency of 350 MHz and can max out up to
1.25 GHz. The graphics video memory is up to 1 GB. The
Pentium 4 do not have any integrated GPU, therefore, in
needed of an external GPU to help enhance video or any
graphic software.
REFERENCES
[1] Osborne, Adam (1980). An Introduction to Microcomputers. Volume
1: Basic Concepts (2nd ed.). Berkely, California: Osborne-McGraw
Hill. ISBN 0-931988-34-9
[2] Krishna Kant Microprocessors And Microcontrollers: Architecture
Programming And System Design PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2007
ISBN 81-203-3191-5 page 61, describing the iAPX 432
[3] Intel Core i7 Haswell Family Datasheet at
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/4th-gen-
core-family-desktop-vol-1-datasheet.html
[4] Glenn Hinton, The Microarchitecture of the Pentium 4 Processor at
http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/koren/ece568/papers/Pentium4.pdf
[5] Comparison of Intel CPU at http://ark.intel.com/compare/
[6] Definition of Microprocessor at
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/microprocessor.html