Thu Mar 14 2019
ARM vs X86 vs AMD64
AMD64
The AMD64 or x86-64 or x64 is a 64-bit processor architecture invented by AMD. AMD64 is designed to enable simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance. With Direct Connect Architecture, AMD64 processors address and help eliminate challenges and bottlenecks related to system architectures because everything is directly connected to the central processing unit. When 64-bit processors were first coming to market, AMD devised the 64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set which maintained backward compatibility with all the existing 32-bit programs. This was AMD64, it's more or less the same as the current x86-64 specification.
x86
The “x86” name comes from the original 16-bit Intel processors that used the x86 instruction set, the 8086. Future generations that shared the same instruction set also shared the same suffix, like the 80386. This kept on until the Pentium chips, which broke the naming convention. Nevertheless, we still use “x86” to refer to these kinds of chips.
ARM
An ARM processor is one of a family of CPUs based on the reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture developed by Advanced RISC Machines (ARM). ARM makes 32-bit and 64-bit RISC multi-core processors. ARM is the most widely used instruction set architecture and the instruction set architecture produced in the largest quantity.
ARM vs X86 vs AMD64
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ARM's processors are less power-consuming, but a bit slower.
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Intel's processors are always cutting-edge fast but at the cost of needing a sizeable power source.
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ARM's processors are more on the RISC side, so your highest-level instruction is limited to multiplication-tier operations level.
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Intel's processors are more on the CISC side, so your highest-level instructions like Compute Reciprocal of Square Root ie x-1/2 = 1/sqrt(x) are seemingly arbitrarily chosen.
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ARM is for mobile phones and stuff where you are on a battery and that battery does not carry "a lot of" charge.
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Intel is for regular PCs which hook up to a power outlet most of the time, and so power consumption is not a really big deal.
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ARM is not locked to a particular vendor like Intel/AMD are the X86/x64 market.
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ARM platform is more of a recipe where a company can pick and choose the functionality they want.
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ARM processors are designed for a power requirement at first, performance second.
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x86 chips work quickly but are harder to make, expensive and not as power-conscious.
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RISC chips require fewer transistors to function. With fewer transistors to power, RISC chips see power savings and heat reduction when compared to their CISC counterparts.
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ARM chips are used in heaps of other devices: routers, set-top boxes and smart TVs, smartwatches, some gaming devices, automotive infotainment systems and so on.
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The x86 has some very powerful instructions, the arm can still beat it in a fight.
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x86 can operate on direct memory as well.
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AMD64 supports 3D-Now and 3D-Now Extensions, in both 32-bit (legacy) and 64-bit (long) mode.
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AMD64 is designed to concurrently enable 32 and 64-bit processing with no loss of performance.
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Athlon 64 and Opteron are examples of some of the AMD processors that use the AMD64 architecture.
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AMD64 is the AMD-led update to the venerable x86 instruction set architecture, or ISA.
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AMD64-compatible desktop processor market is huge these days.
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AMD64-able mobile processors for laptop systems, something Intel has yet to offer.
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The AMD Athlon 64 adds a memory channel depending on the socket, twice or four times the cache memory depending on the model, and comparable and further frequencies, to beef up the performance of that model line compared to Sempron 64.
Stock photo from graphicINmotion