How would *4* ARM cores compare with *2* Intel/AMD cores?
(quad-core ARM Cortex A9 cf Intel Core2 Duo)
A. Background
1. Current workstation is adequate 99% of the time but creaks when
Firebug & Dragonfly chew up CPU - current hardware is:
1x AMD-Athlon-XP3000+ (2166Mhz, 128k L1, 512k L2) w/ 166Mhz bus, 2G RAM;
current RAM usage runs 3G including cache&buffers, 2G without.
2. I have read that the biggest TCO of a computer is often the
electrical power consumption.
B. Objectives of new workstation (for which i am starting to plan/spec-out)
1. Run Firebug/Firefox & Dragonfly/Opera simultaneously,
with OpenOffice responsive meanwhile.
2. Potentially run OpenOffice (or Firefox, etc) under debuggers
(gdb, valgrind; not at the same time as B1).
3. Limit electrical power usage - rationale is both TCO & environment/green.
4. Limit noise - silent/fanless ideal.
5. Usable for at least 5 years before replacement,
no hardware-induced downtime.
6. Run my choice of GNU/Linux distribution (currently Ubuntu,
subject to change), with full hardware support.
7. Balance all of the above objectives with budget/initial-cost/price.
C. Draft specs
CPU: ARM Cortex A9 (2x 2-core 2-scaler 2Ghz @ 2W) (or 1x 4-core)
RAM: 3-4G
video: ~2000x1600 capable, specs avail for FOSS X-driver (monitor separate)
I/O: HD >= ~200G, DVD, USB, Eth
OS: Ubuntu-LTS
other: low electric power use, low noise
I think roughly i'm trying to maximize mips-per-watt, price/performance,
and/or mips/watt/price - given the minimum capabilities/performance listed
in B1-2 above.
T.I.A. for additional insights.
/Randall
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