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programming and human factors
by Jeff Atwood
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I've commented on .NET compiler performance before, and I recently uncovered another Xbit Labs article that confirms my previous conclusion:
For compiling .NET code, the Athlon 64 is 33% faster than a Pentium 4 of the same speed. That's a significant productivity boost for a developer. Time spent compiling is time wasted staring at the build output window. Compiling doesn't typically take long enough to force me to ALT+TAB away and start doing something else, so there's no real incentive to multitask.. and those wasted seconds add up throughout the day.
And that's assuming we're comparing apples to apples, eg, CPUs of the same clock rating. If we remove that restriction, you could buy the cheapest Athlon 64 available and still get better .NET compiler performance than the fastest Pentium 4 available. That's cash in your pocket twice: once for the purchase of the less expensive CPU, and again as you spend less time writing the same code.
As something of a homebrew hardware enthusiast, I tend to upgrade my computer once per yer, and I'm due. So, based on the above, I'm placing this order with NewEgg:
The really interesting item here is the PC-V1000 case; it looks vaguely like the recent Apple G5 series, but has a number of unique innovations in addition to its looks, such as the placement of the power supply at the bottom of the case.
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Did I mention that the Athlon 64 is also significantly faster for gaming? And has the possibility to get even faster with the upcoming 64-bit edition of Windows XP? Plus it has support for the XP SP2 no-execute bit hardware protection that no Intel chip can (currently) offer? Well, that's just icing on the cake!
If you're not into building your own computers-- although trust me, it's easy-- don't waste your time looking for an Athlon 64 system on the Dell website. Dell has some kind of satanic pact with Intel, and even though the Athlon 64 is a superior technology-- in pretty much everything except for media encoding-- they will never offer it. I suggest looking on the HPaq website; they offer laptops and desktops with the Athlon 64.
If you're really miserly, the AMD Athlon XP platform also offers .NET compiler performance identical to a Pentium 4 of the same clock rating at (literally) a fraction of the cost. This is something of a dead end platform, and in a lot of other high end applications (gaming, photoshop, media encoding) the P4 will be quite a bit faster, though. That's the tradeoff..
Jeff Atwood on August 7, 2004 11:54 PMJust wanted to comment on Athlon 64 3500+ has some awesome compiler performance, running it with about 1GB RAM, using Visual C++ for a new retail management suite and just have to say outstanding performance...
Jason Ziarko
Home Computer Consulting
http://www.homecconline.com
The Power supply at the bottom is a stupid idea. Hot air goes up and so you want the inlet fan at the bottom and the outlet fan (which is with the power supply at the top). That way the cool air goes up and cools everything.
With the power supply at the bottom the hot air from the power supply is going to go up and heat, not cool the rest of the machine.
Stephen Jones on December 15, 2005 8:36 AMLook closely at the picture-- it's a completely seperate compartment. The air flows in from the front-bottom, and out through the power supply at the back-bottom.
The hot air in the power supply compartment isn't going anywhere but out!
Jeff Atwood on December 15, 2005 1:51 PMHas anyone tried the AMD Turion 64 processor in a notebook? I'm unsure if I should go with the dual core designs or with the AMD 64. I found some HP and Acer 64 AMD notebooks here: http://www.tritechcoa.com/computers/M7C9A2_over_900.html Am I better off with a desktop instead of a notebook in this case?
Scott on May 15, 2006 7:54 AMDual core for sure. AMD's dual core mobile chips have been delayed slightly.
The Athlon 64 is a great chip, but the Core Duo is equally good. As long as you're avoiding Intel's underperforming and overheating Pentium 4 CPUs, you're fine.
Jeff Atwood on May 15, 2006 10:16 AMMaybe we could see an update with Athlon 64x2 v Core Duo(when they're available). It will be interesting to see how much Intel have cought up Amd for .Net
With the power supply at the bottom the hot air from the power supply is going to go up and heat, not cool the rest of the machine.
http://biglider.ru/
What is better.
No one.
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Do You Want a hp v1000 battery?You can still get a brand new hp v1000 battery from our company.Just tell your friends to buy, Details of products are posted here:<a href=http://www.adapterlist.com/hp/v1000.htm>hp v1000 battery</a>.
Do You Want a hp v1000 battery?You can still get a brand new hp v1000 battery from our company.Just tell your friends to buy, Details of products are posted here: http://www.adapterlist.com/hp/v1000.htm hp v1000 battery.
The Power supply at the bottom is a stupid idea. Hot air goes up and so you want the inlet fan at the bottom and the outlet fan (which is with the power supply at the top). That way the cool air goes up and cools everything.
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Great blog!
Opteron Processor on May 18, 2009 5:50 AM| Content (c) 2009 Jeff Atwood. Logo image used with permission of the author. (c) 1993 Steven C. McConnell. All Rights Reserved. |
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