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Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

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Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#11

Post by Cyberdog »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #7
Cyberdog wrote: post #3

Yesterday: ARM in your phones Today: ARM in your toys (RasPI, Nintendo Switch) Tomorrow: ARM in your servers Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? I, for one, welco…

> The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... . - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? The current MBP already has ARM: https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/28/apples-new-intel-driven-ma... But this is similar to ARM (or MIPS or whatever) cores that alre…

I care about performance in my phone too, so where can I buy an Intel phone?

The truth is that my phone doesn't have to be the fastest; it just has to be fast enough in balance with other factors important to me (size, battery life, etc).

And the same goes with my laptop. I currently have an MBP with an i7 processor, and I'm a web developer - it's overkill. I also play games with it now and then, but it's clear that the iGPU is the bottleneck there and not the processor. Very rarely do I do heavy compiling or video encoding or other CPU-maxing tasks on this thing.

So would I trade the i7 for an A-series plus a couple more hours of battery life and/or a lower (or at least not further increased, damn it Apple) price? Yes, I would take that trade, and probably never suffer for it.

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#12

Post by Cyberdog »

monocasa wrote: post #9
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... . - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? The current MBP already has ARM: https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/28/apples-new-intel-driven-ma... But this is similar to ARM (or MIPS or whatever) cores that alre…

While I agree with you that we almost certainly won't see an ARM macintosh, I wouldn't be surprised to see an ARM laptop exclusively running iOS at some point. We probably will see an ARM core with single threaded performance in Intel's realm once Intel is fully backed against the wall that is the end of Moore's law. It'll probably always be slower than an intel core if it has to emulate x64, but the iOS ecosystem gi…

> an ARM laptop exclusively running iOS

So an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard? Apple already sells those!

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#13

Post by monocasa »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #8
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... . - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? The current MBP already has ARM: https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/28/apples-new-intel-driven-ma... But this is similar to ARM (or MIPS or whatever) cores that alre…

"Intel maintains the pure-performance lead everywhere else" The point of the article is that ThunderX is claimed to be faster than Xeon Gold for HPC applications.

But no where near single threaded performance.

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#14

Post by nine_k »

Cyberdog wrote: post #3

Yesterday: ARM in your phones Today: ARM in your toys (RasPI, Nintendo Switch) Tomorrow: ARM in your servers Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? I, for one, welco…

Finally, a chance to have a desktop CPU without a black-box coprocessor like Intel ME? (A quick web search did not find anything definitive about its presence / absence in Cavium.)

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#15

Post by monocasa »

Cyberdog wrote: post #12
monocasa wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with you that we almost certainly won't see an ARM macintosh, I wouldn't be surprised to see an ARM laptop exclusively running iOS at some point. We probably will see an ARM core with single threaded performance in Intel's realm once Intel is fully backed against the wall that is the end of Moore's law. It'll probably always be slower than an intel core if it has to emulate x64, but the iOS ecosystem gi…

> an ARM laptop exclusively running iOS So an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard? Apple already sells those!

It's a little more than a stretch to refer to a current iPad with Bluetooth keyboard as a laptop. But sure, it shows how Apple is inching in that direction.

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#16

Post by pm90 »

Cyberdog wrote: post #3

Yesterday: ARM in your phones Today: ARM in your toys (RasPI, Nintendo Switch) Tomorrow: ARM in your servers Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? I, for one, welco…

I'm very happy about this development as well. Especially looking at Intel's fiasco with ME... I just don't trust proprietary chip makers anymore.

And yes, I am willing to trade in performance, for more security. My MacBook should be every bit as power conserving as my iPhone, perhaps with a GPU for multi screen and playing videos.

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#17

Post by nine_k »

melling wrote: post #5
Cyberdog wrote: post #3

Yesterday: ARM in your phones Today: ARM in your toys (RasPI, Nintendo Switch) Tomorrow: ARM in your servers Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? I, for one, welco…

ARM has been in Chromebooks for a while. 90% of the desktop has been Microsoft Windows for about 2 decades so it's really up to Microsoft to try again. Ideally, Android and iOS will evolve so phones and tablets replace the desktop for more people.

ChromeOS is already capable of running Android apps.

What makes a laptop a laptop is a decent keyboard and a reasonably large screen. There is a fundamental mismatch between the screen size comfortable for the eyes, keyboard size comfortable for typing, and device size comfortable for holding in hand. Because of this, I don't think phones and laptops will ever converge; tablets and laptops are already actively converging, though.

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#18

Post by Cyberdog »

monocasa wrote: post #15
Cyberdog wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an ARM laptop exclusively running iOS So an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard? Apple already sells those!

It's a little more than a stretch to refer to a current iPad with Bluetooth keyboard as a laptop. But sure, it shows how Apple is inching in that direction.

Well, it's a stretch for me to consider iOS as a usable laptop OS, so I guess we're both stretching. :P

But to play the devil's advocate, how is it not sufficiently laptop-ish for you? Because the keyboard is detachable? Because it has a touchscreen?

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#19

Post by grawlinson »

wyldfire wrote: post #4
Cyberdog wrote: post #3

Yesterday: ARM in your phones Today: ARM in your toys (RasPI, Nintendo Switch) Tomorrow: ARM in your servers Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? I, for one, welco…

> Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? And it's not just coprocessors, next year we will see real ARM SoCs - https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/18/16495010/microsoft-windo... Next year^H^H^H^Hdecade: RISC-V in your ______

I'd love to see RISC-V become a huge presence, but ARM IP seems a lot more refined & hassle-free.

A bit similar to Linux/FOSS not having any decent CAD alternative to proprietary ones.

Re: Cavium Is an Arm Server Contender

#20

Post by agumonkey »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #7
Cyberdog wrote: post #3

Yesterday: ARM in your phones Today: ARM in your toys (RasPI, Nintendo Switch) Tomorrow: ARM in your servers Next week: ARM in your desktop/laptop? The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? I, for one, welco…

> The iMac Pro will have an ARM co-processor: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/19/imac-pro-a10-chip-hey-s... . - Arguably for "Hey Siri" and other mobile-inspired functionality, but wouldn't it be interesting if it were also an ARM-on-the-desktop beachhead? The current MBP already has ARM: https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/28/apples-new-intel-driven-ma... But this is similar to ARM (or MIPS or whatever) cores that alre…

ARM is a bit of a misnomer, there are many segments, Cortex M, Cortex A. Only the "A" series could be considered intel/amd class I guess.

But yes, arm cores are everywhere.

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