In Dec. 2005, I bought a new CPU for $389. It was an AMD Athlon 64 X2, with dual 2.0GHz processors. I also bought 1GB of RAM for $120.
In September 2008, I bought a new CPU. It was an AMD Phenom II X4, with quad 3.0 GHz processors, for $190. I also bought 8GB of RAM for $270.
Now I'm looking for a newer CPU and more RAM. I can buy an AMD Phenom II X6, with six 3.2 GHz processors, for $170. I can also buy 16GB of RAM for $100.
Dec. 2005 was 5 years and 10 months ago. So we should have had 3 to 4 Moore doublings. From .0333 GHz/$, that would take us to .266 to .533 GHz/$. From 8.3 MB/$, we should have gone to 66.4 or 132.8 MB/$.
Instead, I am at 6x3.2 GHz/$170 = .113 GHz/$ and 160 MB/$. CPU speed is lagging far behind Moore's Law, while RAM is outstripping it.
Both depend on transistor density. So why are they so different?
In Dec. 2005, I bought a new CPU for $389. It was an AMD Athlon 64 X2, with dual 2.0GHz processors. I also bought 1GB of RAM for $120.
In September 2008, I bought a new CPU. It was an AMD Phenom II X4, with quad 3.0 GHz processors, for $190. I also bought 8GB of RAM for $270.
Now I'm looking for a newer CPU and more RAM. I can buy an AMD Phenom II X6, with six 3.2 GHz processors, for $170. I can also buy 16GB of RAM for $100.
Dec. 2005 was 5 years and 10 months ago. So we should have had 3 to 4 Moore doublings. From .0333 GHz/$, that would take us to .266 to .533 GHz/$. From 8.3 MB/$, we should have gone to 66.4 or 132.8 MB/$.
Instead, I am at 6x3.2 GHz/$170 = .113 GHz/$ and 160 MB/$. CPU speed is lagging far behind Moore's Law, while RAM is outstripping it.
Both depend on transistor density. So why are they so different?