AMD has been showing off its codename Zacate CPU/GPU hybrid Fusion chip and had two demonstrations to prove that it would outperform a Intel Core i5 CPU. The move, which is probably designed to put a spoiler on Intel's 32nm Sandy Bridge announcement, is part of the hype AMD wants to have around its new 32nm process chips.
AMD was determined to demonstrate that its latest chips could easily top Intel's last-generation parts. The test involved an unspecified Zacate chip with a pair of Bobcat cores, versus a 2.4-GHz Intel Core i5. AMD refused to say what the speeds of the Zacate chip were.
The first test involved AMD's Zacate challenging the Intel Core i5 with the Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 "Pyschedelic Browsing" demo. As you might expect, the AMD chip kicked Intel's bottom.
Next, AMD played the 2004 NcSoft "City of Heroes" game to get the sense of an average frame rate. The Core i5 version turned out frame rates of about 15 to 20 frames per second, while the Zacate version touched over 30 frames per second.
This would have been impressive if Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and co-general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, had not been showing off Sandy Bridge running "Starcraft 2".
Tuesday, 14 September 2010 09:19
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