Microprocessor - DRAM performance gap

Source: Hennesy and Patterson “Computer architecture”,

Morgan Kaufmann (1996)

• Average CPU clock rate doubles every 18 months

• Main memory data transfer speeds increase 10% every 18 months

• Conventional interconnects cannot deliver performance that matches improvement in CPU

1997 - Jan. Intel Pentium MMX (150 - 233 MHz)

1997 - 2Q AMD K6 MMX (233 - 300 MHz)

1997 - 2Q Intel Pentium II (233 - 300 MHz)

1998 - Intel Deschutes (333 - 450 MHz)

1999 - Intel Pentium III (450 - 550 MHz)

1999 - Intel Merced

Processor Clock (MHz) SPECint95 SPECfp95

Pentium II 266 10.8 6.9

DEC Alpha 266 7.9 11.8

Pentium II 300 11.6 7.2

DEC Alpha 333 9.8 12.5

Pentium II 450 18 13.3

Pentium III 450 18.7 13.7

DEC Alpha 500 15.0 20.4

Pentium III 500 20.6 14.7

Previous slide

Next slide

Back to first slide

View graphic version