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Application Note 116
Performance Rating the Cyrix M II-300 Processor
APPLICATION NOTE 116 Performance Rating the
Cyrix M II-300 Processor
Megahertz and Performance
In the past, performance of a processor has been measured in megahertz (MHz).
The MHz rating simply refers to the clock speed of the processor. If the clock speed
is increased, the performance increases for the same type of processor.
For different types of processor architectures, clock speed is not a good indicator of
comparative performance. For example, one could imagine two processors
operating in parallel as one device, and an other device with only a single processor.
With both operating at same clock speed, their performance would be markedly
different.
The best way to compare processors is to directly measure their performance. In a
real world situation, this can be done by running the same popular business
programs on all processors under test. To ensure consistency, an application bench-
mark program should be used that runs these programs using a fixed script. The
script should model the steps a typical user would use in the real world. As the
benchmark runs, it should navigate through several types of applications, exercising
the computer-system components for about an hour. In Cyrix's opinion, an excel-
lent program for performing this type of application benchmark testing is Winstone
98 as it conforms to the criteria mentioned above.
Application Note 116 - Performance Rating the Cyrix M II-300
Examples of Different Processor Architectures
Examples of Different Processor Architectures
The table below lists current Intel and Cyrix processors and their different
architectural features.
PEN TIUM W/
ARCH ITECTURAL FEATURE M II PENTIUM II CELER ON
MMX
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M II AND PENTIUM P ROCESSORS ARCHITECTURAL F EATURES
Synthetic Benchmarks
Synthetic benchmark programs are small programs found in popular utility pro-
grams. These benchmark programs are called "synthetic" in that they merely loop
through an arbitrary set of instructions and do not accurately indicate real world
performance. Depending on the instructions chosen, they can be very misleading.
The Cyrix Performance Rating
A "Performance Rating" has been defined so one can compare Cyrix processors
with Intel