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[Horse Armour]

Anandtech have reviewed Intel's new Atom and it looks to finally deliver very competitive performance versus ARM processors at their trademark low power draws. What caught my eye is that it also beat the much higher power draw Jaguar used in the PS4 and XB1 in instructions per cycle (IPC).

This is quite exciting as it should mean that CPU wise, even bottom tier devices shouldn't have problems running most multiplatform next gen games (assuming most games aren't amazingly multithreaded). Of course, GPU heavy games will still require a beefy GPU but most GPU light next gen games should be quite playable on cheap Windows tablets releasing soon:

Jaguar= AMD A4-5000

Single threaded integer:

Single threaded floating point :

Mozilla Kraken Benchmark:

http://anandtech.com/show/7314/intel-baytrail-preview-intel-atom-z3770-tested

 

[bomblord]

The PS4/Xbone is based on AMD's FX series processor's from my understanding not the A series. It's also using a 6 core processor not a 4 core. It's not really comparable they are completely different lines.


Nvm ignore me just looked it up and I was wrong. The jaguar chip in the consoles is supposed to be heavily customized though and it is an 8 core variant not the one your seeing here.

 

[Pagusas]

Quite exciting, and quite pathetic. It's going to be sad seeing smart phones having better processors in 2 - 3 years than our large consoles.

 

[AdmiralPain]

What the hell? This can't be right! A freaking Atom beats the consoles' CPU?

 

[McHuj]

What the hell? This can't be right! A freaking Atom beats the consoles' CPU?

Jaguar is AMD's equivalent of Atom.

 

[pax217]

New Intel CPU beats old AMD CPU.

...Huh.

 

[diaspora]

The PS4/Xbone is based on AMD's FX series processor's from my understanding not the A series. It's also using a 6 core processor not a 4 core. It's not really comparable they are completely different lines.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

No, the PS4/Xbone CPUs are based off of AMD's mobile/netbook Jaguar line which would omit FX.

 

[Pagusas]

Did the Cell or Power PC chips used in the last consoles ever get put through this type of benchmark? I'd be curious to see how the Jags perform compared to the old systems.

 

[RadarScope1]

Newer > Older?

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

What the hell? This can't be right! A freaking Atom beats the consoles' CPU?

Jaguar is a very low powered cpu design made with tablets/low end laptops in mind.

That's why there have been so many comments about sony/ms not being on the bleeding edge anymore.

 

[Mr Zebra]

The PS4/Xbone is based on AMD's FX series processor's from my understanding not the A series. It's also using a 6 core processor not a 4 core. It's not really comparable they are completely different lines.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Nope. Jaguar is used in the A Series. But, PS4/XB1 have 8 cores while A Series have only 4.

 

[onQ123]

That Atom CPU is most likely 22nm vs Jaguar 28nm so I would expect it to preform better at around the same clock rate on single threaded tasks

 

[kortez320]

The PS4/Xbone is based on AMD's FX series processor's from my understanding not the A series. It's also using a 6 core processor not a 4 core. It's not really comparable they are completely different lines.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Nvm ignore me I was wrong. The jaguar chip in the consoles is supposed to be based on a newer line though and it is a 6 core variant not the one your seeing here.

Jaguar is a mobile chip. FX is the desktop variant and pulls more power then just about anything. No way you could put it into a console.

Past that two of the three tests here are single-threaded so core count doesn't really matter when comparing them.

 

[wsippel]

The PS4/Xbone is based on AMD's FX series processor's from my understanding not the A series. It's also using a 6 core processor not a 4 core. It's not really comparable they are completely different lines.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Jaguar is AMD's low end embedded core, same thing as Atom. FX and high end A series like the A10 use the bigger, more powerful Piledriver cores.

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

This is not surprising at all considering they are competing products in the same market segment. Eight cores notwithstanding it has always been known that the new consoles have shitty CPU's.

 

[Caayn]

What the hell? This can't be right! A freaking Atom beats the consoles' CPU?

No. Just because this atom can defeat a Jaguar based CPU doesn't mean that all CPUs with jaguar cores are weaker than this atom. Besides the atom and jaguar in question here are both quad-cores. The ones in the PS4 and X1 are octa-cores.

Did the Cell or Power PC chips used in the last consoles ever get put through this type of benchmark? I'd be curious to see how the Jags perform compared to the old systems.

It wouldn't make any sense to do so. PPC chips cannot be 1-on-1 compared to X86 based chips.

 

[jett]

Finally, PC gamers get the freakishly powerful performance they crave.

 

[artist]

That Atom CPU is most likely 22nm vs Jaguar 28nm so I would expect it to preform better at around the same clock rate on single threaded tasks

This.

You can also expect a 22nm AMD chip to run faster and more efficient than a 28nm one. Intel has a process node advantage and will keep leveraging that. It's too bad their current high-end GPUs top out at less than half of PS4's GPU ..

 

[DagnastyEp]

The new Atom beats Jaguar on CPU performance, but loses on GPU performance. With AMD's APUs it seems they're putting more of an empahsis on the GPU performance, with the hopes that heterogenous compute really starts to take off in the future.

 

[Terbinator]

Multi-threading performance of the consoles will be above those (both Atom and AMD) results in the AT review.

The consoles have two 4-core Jag chips in them whereas the AT review is only a 4-core Jag chip.

 

[Crisco]

This is quite exciting as it should mean that CPU wise, even bottom tier devices shouldn't have problems running most multiplatform next gen games (assuming most games aren't amazingly multithreaded). Of course, GPU heavy games will still require a beefy GPU but most GPU light next gen games should be quite playable on cheap Windows tablets releasing soon:

So no next gen games at all then? Games haven't been "GPU light" since Doom.

 

[TheD]

That Atom CPU is most likely 22nm vs Jaguar 28nm so I would expect it to preform better at around the same clock rate on single threaded tasks

Process node affects power and heat, it does not directly effect IPC.

These numbers also prove the whole "x86 is not competitive with ARM at the low end because x86 is inefficient" thing is just a load of bullshit by people that are stuck in the late 80's.

 

[nico1982]

Which compiler did they use?

Jokes aside, Bay Trail clocks as high as 2.4 GHz if there's enough thermal headroom, while the A4-5000 is locked at 1.5 GHz. On multithread benchmarks they are about on par, while on single threaded apps the Intel CPU has a clear advantage.
Jaguar has 2x the performance of previous gen Atom, and this is inline with Intel own estimates for Bay Trail. Bay Trail is obviously more efficient, though.

 

[Jrs3000]

Which compiler did they use?

Jokes aside, Bay Trail clocks as high as 2.4 GHz if there's enough thermal headroom, while the A4-5000 is locked at 1.5 GHz. On multithread benchmarks they are about on par, while on single threaded apps the Intel CPU has a clear advantage.
Jaguar has 2x the performance of previous gen Atom, and this is inline with Intel own estimates for Bay Trail. Bay Trail is obviously more efficient, though.

This is pretty much it. The default clock is 1.5ghz but for it to beat AMD it's hitting higher with turbo. Nice to do so with less power though. We'd have to wait for a review to see if they disable turbo and test.

 

[FLAguy954]

These benchmarks are misleading as fuck. Intel's new Atom CPU beats AMD's months (nearly a year) old Jaguar... lol

That Atom CPU is most likely 22nm vs Jaguar 28nm so I would expect it to preform better at around the same clock rate on single threaded tasks

This actually make to Atom CPU look even worse in comparison because it barely edges the older Jaguar cores with the new 22nm process.

 

[Shambles]

These benchmarks are misleading as fuck. Intel's new Atom CPU beats AMD's months (nearly a year) old Jaguar... lol

That's usually how progress works. How is this misleading?

 

[TheRealTalker]

Not really comparable... As other people stated it a months old chip not the one used for the next gen consoles
Edit: same chip customized my bad... Kill me now

 

[Atraveller]

I wonder where will Intel put their new atom CPUs, netbooks are no longer relevant.

 

[FLAguy954]

That's usually how progress works. How is this misleading?

Read the second half of my post.

 

[TouchMyBox]

I wonder where will Intel put their new atom CPUs, netbooks are no longer relevant.

I hear tablets and phones are a thing.

 

[longdi]

That is what i have been saying...these jags cpu are poor, and at a low freq of 1.6-1.8ghz, i think it is disappointing....i hope sony decides to upclock theirs.

 

[inherendo]

That's usually how progress works. How is this misleading?

I guess he means the title of this thread is misleading. Anything from 6 months to a year out being compared to something just released, doesn't allow you to make any non trivial observations besides technology improves.

Intel has in recent memory always worked better for single thread as well as efficiency. For AMD chips to compete with something, it usually requires a huge TDP. The reason why the console makers avoid intel is because the huge margins Intel expects from their products. Nvidia is similar but not to the extent of Intel's business model.

Most games aren't gimped by cpus though, it's usually the gpu side which is why intel has devoted a lot of the their chips die for their integrated graphics. Yes, come things can be limited by cpu, but if I had a choice of an adequate cpu and good gpu vs a good cpu and adequate gpu, in general, I'd see better frames from the better gpu.

Went a little off topic, but eh.

 

[terrisus]

I saw "Jaguar" in the thread title, and couldn't help thinking:

 

[Atraveller]

I hear tablets and phones are a thing.

Power consumption and heat?

 

[MrCunningham]

Well it is being compared to a 4 core Jaguar, not an 8 core. Not really surprising concidering that intel has trumped AMD in jus about every catagory in the CPU space.

 

[lyrick]

Well it is being compared to a 4 core Jaguar, not an 8 core. Not really surprising concidering that intel has trumped AMD in jus about every catagory in the CPU space.

There isn't an 8 core jaguar cpu. The upcoming consoles are implemented by using two implementations of 4 core modules.

How well those two modules will be able to interact with one another has yet to be determined.

 

[tokkun]

That Atom CPU is most likely 22nm vs Jaguar 28nm so I would expect it to preform better at around the same clock rate on single threaded tasks

Why would you expect that? The process technology shouldn't have a direct impact on IPC.

 

[MrCunningham]

There isn't an 8 core jaguar cpu. The upcoming consoles are implemented by using two implementations of 4 core modules.

How well those two modules will be able to interact with one another has yet to be determined.

Oh well see, I didn;tknow that. I haven;t been following next gen console specs at all. I assumed they were both custom 8-core CPU's.

 

[Sanic]

Read the second half of my post.

So...how again is this misleading? They're just comparing performance of the new Intel chips while throwing AMD's stuff along with it for context?

 

[Ty4on]

These benchmarks are misleading as fuck. Intel's new Atom CPU beats AMD's months (nearly a year) old Jaguar... lol

This actually make to Atom CPU look even worse in comparison because it barely edges the older Jaguar cores with the new 22nm process.

The Jaguar isn't old. It was released in may this year and its predecessor Bobcat is from Q1 2011. The A4 5000 also has a TDP of 15W which means it is far too hot for a fanless tablet while Bay Trail was tested in a fanless tablet and the CPU is estimated to use just 2W like competing ARM CPUs.

The Jaguar is very much designed for the low end market where Brazos (APU with Bobcat cores designed for low end laptops/netbooks) enjoyed some decent success. The Tablet versions of the Jaguar CPU architecture runs at 1Ghz.

The names can probably sound confusing so this might clear it slightly:
Core architecture:
High end:
Sandy Bridge -> Ivy Bridge -> Haswell (Intel)
Bulldozer -> Piledriver -> Steamroller (AMD)
Low end:
Bonnel -> Saltwell -> Silvermont (Intel)
Bobcat -> Jaguar (AMD)
Bolded are current.

Names like A4 and Atom are just brand names. You'll find anything from Sandy Bridge, Ivy, Haswell and even Silvermont cores now underneath a "Pentium" badge. AMD also does the same. "Bay Trail" is just what Intel calls tablet SoCs using Silvermont, but with AMD it can be even more confusing to find Trinity and Zambezi both mean Piledriver cores only the first one is an APU and they you have Richland which is a slightly tweaked Trinity...
If you get confused just check wikipedia or google the names to find what is what.

There isn't an 8 core jaguar cpu. The upcoming consoles are implemented by using two implementations of 4 core modules.

How well those two modules will be able to interact with one another has yet to be determined.

"Modules" just means that the cores share some resources. This quad core Intel CPU has two dual core modules while an eight core AMD FX CPU has four dual core modules. It's sort of like hyperthreading on steroids

 

[Log4Girlz]

Intel dropping that atom bomb.

 

[diffusionx]

Intel is scared senseless of the ARM steamroller and is putting major resources into power efficiency. This is not surprising at all, they have way more resources than AMD.

The question is can they find their way into phones and tablets in a big way.

 

[dem]

Power consumption and heat?

ARM level..


Intel is trying to make ARM pointless..
And they're off to a good start.


Cheap, fanless tablets with a long battery life running full Windows 8 are going to be showing up soon.

 

[Orayn]

Not really all that surprising. Microsoft and Sony made a good choice with the 8-core Jaguar, but on an absolute scale it's still a pretty lightweight CPU.

What the hell? This can't be right! A freaking Atom beats the consoles' CPU?

Preorder canceled?

 

[Azih]

What kind of games would Atom struggle with?

 

[Dictator93]

Pack 8 of these cores together and you have yourself a nextgen console.

 

[dragonelite]

God dam :'(
Inbe4 supercharged architecture, Huma and esram

 

[Derpcrawler]

What kind of games would Atom struggle with?

Any game. That is with integrated graphics found in those netbooks.

 

[StevieP]

No.

Per core? Yes.

 

[Reallink]

The bigger news for me is pricing on Win 8.1 tablets. Curious to see where a 9" - 11" 1080p might land. I'm so tired of the perpetually broken ass browsing experiences on Android and iOS.