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Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

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41–50 of 448 posts

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#42

Where are the performance per watt numbers? Anyone can get the performance crown by having an unlimited energy budget. Performance per watt is much more valuable in data centers (TCO) and consumer devices (battery life).

Well, the article is speaking about the M2 ultra, which only going to be used in the Mac pro under Mac studio, both desktop computers.

The Mac Pro does have a rack-mounted configuration for the non-desktop data centers case. (I have no idea whether people will actually use it that way, but it exists.)

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro/rack

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#43
post #5

Ahhaha, Intel's TDP is 2-4 times bigger under full load (and I guess ~10-15x under moderate load) while having negligible perf advantage over M2. The author can not be serious.

Since when was TDP a deciding factor in desktop purchasing decisions? Sure M SOCs are great on laptops, but there are no reasons to get them on the desktop, slower, more expensive and with less compatibility.

I considered it an important factor even 15 years ago, long before the reality of the environmental and energy crises really dawned on us. Surely I can't be alone.

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#44
Definitely have to adjust for TDP. The new gen Intel processors match the M2 performance for $100-150. TDP is triple but still relatively low. There isn't really anything available from non-niche retailers that approaches the TDP of Apple chips. And what does tends to be a binned just to be sold as mobile. Better to buy the standard chip and limit clock speed. What also shocks me is more expensive chips that offer inconsequential gains in processing for double TDP. I'm more likely to invest in a slight performance hit for much lower TDP.

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#45
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when was TDP a deciding factor in desktop purchasing decisions? Sure M SOCs are great on laptops, but there are no reasons to get them on the desktop, slower, more expensive and with less compatibility.

Where and when electric energy is $0.51/kWh, one might care quite a bit.

I doubt the target customers of the M2 ultra aren't going to be able to cover extra energy costs for a cheaper and more performant device.

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#47
post #37

The results speak for themselves (Apple is slower than some) but the context does matter: Apple has been talking about performance per watt since Steve Jobs showed a keynote slide announcing the transition from PowerPC. The cynical view is that Apple is intentionally misleading customers with their ambiguous graph axes. Another perspective is they’re simply demonstrating the metric they’ve optimized for in the first…

Do people really care about efficiency for plugged-in devices? There is the environmental factor, but there are people on 100% renewable a too...

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#48
post #5

Ahhaha, Intel's TDP is 2-4 times bigger under full load (and I guess ~10-15x under moderate load) while having negligible perf advantage over M2. The author can not be serious.

Is that like 5 acre feet per fathom? TDP makes no sense here.

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#49
post #44

Definitely have to adjust for TDP. The new gen Intel processors match the M2 performance for $100-150. TDP is triple but still relatively low. There isn't really anything available from non-niche retailers that approaches the TDP of Apple chips. And what does tends to be a binned just to be sold as mobile. Better to buy the standard chip and limit clock speed. What also shocks me is more expensive chips that offer in…

Just wondering, what is the cpu that you picked?

But I agree, tdp should really be kept in consideration.

Re: Apple M2 Ultra SoC isn’t faster than AMD and Intel last year desktop CPUs

#50

This and the introduction of the new slower less expandable - at least with respect to GPUs and memory - is indicative that it was a mistake for Apple to completely transition to ARM and should have kept high end options on Intel until they had a better GPU story to tell. They already had the Mac Studio, they could have kept the Mac Pro on Intel.

The new M2 Ultra can process 24 4K streams at once. How much more processing power do people with the Mac use case in mind need?
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