486 is a dirty word. So we have 586 (a.k.a. 5x86) and 686. The higher the number the better it seems. Now, even x86 is bad. New processors from the great-unwashed (ie, not Intel) are now 'Pentium-like'.
The poor customer cannot tell what is really going on with these chips without a PhD in processor architectures, or at least, a quick course in pipelines, cache types and instruction set extensions.
One particular semiconductor company is perhaps the worst offender, with its flagship processor being falsely positioned as a Pentium equivalent simply because of its clock speed. Although it is just a fast 486 with MMX extensions, and it is not all that fast according to industry benchmarks. Not to be outdone in outlandish comparisons, another recently introduced Taiwanese-made CPU is positioned as a Pentium III equivalent because it can run up to 800 MHz clock speeds. But with 64 KB of internal L2 cache, it is going to get blown out by even the slowest Celeron.
So what is a poor customer to do? Do not believe any claims from any of the clone manufacturers about their processor performance. This is a particularly important point because certain suppliers have embraced clone CPUs to drive cost down.
If the customer really wants to save a few bucks by going the non-Intel route, the customer is obligated to benchmark the clone CPU using software that is reasonably close to the real stuff he is going to use in his product. There is so much variability in pipelines, memory bandwidth, cache sizes and other issues that there is no other substitute to tell what the clone can really do. I think they will be in for a surprise.
For more information contact local Ampro representative, Electronic Products Design, 012 665 9700.
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