Q & A : Benchmarks : Performance vs. Speed (aka Speed Efficiency)

Q & A : Benchmarks : Performance vs. Speed (aka Speed Efficiency)

What is it?

A chart, available in all benchmarks that compares the performance of the device with the speed it is running at. It allows us to view how the device’s performance scales with its speed and how competing devices perform at the same speed.

Why do we measure it?

While Speed Efficiency is not relevant in itself, it is indirectly used to estimate both Power Efficiency and long-term Cost Efficiency. The most efficient design is generally considered to be “the best”, unless another characteristic (e.g. highest possible performance, lowest possible power) is the over-riding factor.

What do the results mean?

1. The result is a ratio of performance (MIPS, MFLOPS, MB/s, etc.) over speed (MHz, rpm, etc.)
2. Where higher indexes mean better performance (MIPS, MFLOPS, MB/s, etc.) the higher the ratio of performance over speed the better the Speed Efficiency.
3. For timing indexes, e.g. latencies (ns, us, etc.) where lower indexes mean better performance the lower the ratio of timing over speed the better the Speed Efficiency.

Typical Results from Desktop Processors on the Market

Testing various current desktop processors or just checking out the reference results makes the differences in architectures and implementations very clear.

Rank	Desktop Processor		Performance / Speed	Speed Efficiency	Commentary
#6		AMD Phenom X3 720	28164 MOPS @ 2.8GHz	10.1 MOPS/MHz	If you can enable the 4th core on this chip it can become a good choice after all.
#4		AMD Phenom X4 970	47463 MOPS @ 3.5GHz	13.6 MOPS/MHz	Not a bad positioning for this quad core with a little help from a slighlty higher frequency.
#2		AMD Phenom X6 1055	56713 MOPS @ 2.8GHz	20.3 MOPS/MHz	The two extra cores helps AMD to beat the Intel equivalent.
#5		Intel Core i3 550	38807 MOPS @ 3.2GHz	12.1 MOPS/MHz	It has only 2 cores but it performs very well without question.
#3		Intel Core i5 760	54388 MOPS @ 2.8GHz	19.4 MOPS/MHz	A middle range chip that performs exceptionally given the specs.
#1		Intel Core i7 975	96463 MOPS @ 3.2GHz	30.1 MOPS/MHz	Again Intel’s Core design is a clear winner in the performance per MHz contest.

You can check your own processor’s Speed Efficiency or view how other processors measure up using the Performance vs Speed tab in Sandra’s benchmarks.

Typical Results from Mobile Processors on the Market

Testing various current mobile processors or just checking out the reference results makes the differences in architectures and implementations very clear.

Rank	Mobile Processor		Performance / Speed	Speed Efficiency	Commentary
#1		Intel Core i7 620M	36881 MOPS @ 2.67GHz	13.8 MOPS/MHz	The mobile version of the i7 design delivers again top performance per MHz.
#2		Intel Core i3 350M	27841 MOPS @ 2.27GHz	12.3 MOPS/MHz	Despite it’s marginally lower specs than the i7, it performs quite well.
#3		AMD Phenom II N950	27807 MOPS @ 1.5GHz	13.2 MOPS/MHz	The quad core approach from AMD does not jump any higher because of the lower frequency limited by the 45nm fabrication process.
#4		AMD Turion II Neo K625	9961 MOPS @ 1.5GHz	6.6 MOPS/MHz	A dual core processor with acceptable performance that can be a good choice given its lower TDP.
#5		Intel Atom N550	4545 MOPS @ 1.5GHz	3.0 MOPS/MHz	Same frequency and number of cores as the Turion but its design gives you half of AMD’s performance.
#6		VIA Nano L3100	5951 MOPS @ 2GHz	3.0 MOPS/MHz	2 GHz it is no enough for a single core to match competitors’s design, although it is very close to the Atom’s efficiency.

You can check your own processor’s Speed Efficiency or view how other processors measure up using the Performance vs Speed tab in Sandra’s benchmarks.

Most Popular Processors, Chipsets & Memories

Most popular Processors as benchmarked by users (past 30 days):		Most popular Chipsets (and thus Mainboards) as benchmarked by users (past 30 days):
1. 0% Intel 10.79 GBP		1. 0% Intel Atom 10.79 GBP 2. 0% Intel 10.79 GBP
For a complete list of statistics, check out the Most Popular Hardware page. For a list of more products, see SiSoftware Shopping.

Typical Results from Desktop Chipsets & Memories on the Market

Testing various current desktop memory sub-systems or just checking out the reference results makes the differences in architectures and implementations very clear.

Rank	Desktop Chipset / Memory / Processor		Performance / Speed	Speed Efficiency	Commentary
#3		AMD 890FX / 2x 2GB DDR3 PC3-8500 / AMD Phenom X4 970	12800 MB/s @ 1066MHz	12 MB/s/MHz	Very little difference between this platform and the equivalent with the same DDR3 memory from Intel.
#5		AMD 890FX / 2x 2GB DDR3 PC3-10600 / AMD Phenom X6 1055	13100 MB/s @ 1333MHz	9.8 MB/s/MHz	AMD needs to improve it’s memory controller design if it’s to compete with Intel having the same DDR3 memory.
#2		Intel H55 / 2x 2GB DDR3 PC3-8500 / Intel Core i3 550	13000 MB/s @ 1066MHz	12.2 MB/s/MHz	Very good performance per clock despite a lower spec DDR3 memory used.
#4		Intel P55 / 2x 2GB DDR3 PC3-10600 / Intel Core i5 760	15700 MB/s @ 1333MHz	11.8 MB/s/MHz	Higher clocked memory delivers a very good performance, but not per MHz.
#1		Intel X58 / 3x 2GB DDR3 PC3-12800 / Intel Core i7 975	26300 MB/s @ 1600MHz	16.4 MB/s/MHz	Intel’s triple channel memory controller is unbeatable and wins by a large margin.

You can check your own chipset/memory’s Speed Efficiency or view how other chipsets/memory measure up using the Performance vs Speed tab in Sandra’s benchmarks.

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