Re: OO and IBM z series COBOL was Re: Discussions of

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:44:09 -0400, Rick Smith wrote:
 
>
> Current dual core
>
> Intel Pentium 4, 2.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, IA-32,
> 768MB common memory.
>
> Previous single core
>
> AMD Athlon XP, 2.4GHz, ? L2 cache, IA-32,
> 256MB memory

You may have been conned.

The P4 has (in some models) "hyperthreading". The system shows 2 CPUs but
they share most resources so you only get the throughput of about 1.15
CPUs. It is quite a stretch to call this "multicore".

Combine this with the fact that a P4 does not deliver anywhere the
processing per MHz that an Athlon XP does, plus the high power
consumption of the P4 and you have bought a lemon.

The results you report are quite consistent with the CPUs described.

Intel's later models such as Core 2 Duo have two or more real
full processing engines per unit and deliver exceptional performance. I
just bought a system based on a QX6600 4-way.

Tim Josling