What Role Does Transistor Count Play?

turkey3_scratch · Aug 31, 2014

If there are two processors with the same exacr specs, frequency, cores, but one has more transistors, how much performnce increase is that?

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

Hi OP,

In a processor, there are lot of things to look around. If one thing wants to give you more performance/more power, then it definitely requires more transistors. For example - To make a bottleneck less severe in a pipeline, you need to put in functional units in which, each of those requires more transistors. Hence, the things get done faster i.e., performance increases.

From here, you can also explain parallelism. It means you are adding something in parallel to get the things done in a short span of time, efficiently.

turkey3_scratch · Aug 31, 2014

If transistors are important, why do people on this forum never consider transistor count as a factor for buying a CPU?

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

Nice, thanks for messing up my tiny brain lol.

Well, look at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count

People are not considering the transistor count yet it gradually increases in a order for each consecutive processor. Hence - the more powerful processor you go, more transistor count would play.

USAFRet · Aug 31, 2014

turkey3_scratch :

Because it is only tangentially important. Overall performance is what counts.
You can't buy two different versions of an i5-4670k...1 with 28 million 'transistors', and one with 33 million 'transistors'.
Overall performance of the CPU is what counts.

A lot like the Ghz race. A Pentium IV at "3.3 Ghz" is monumentally slower than an i5 at "3.3Ghz".

turkey3_scratch · Aug 31, 2014

@USEFRET: So is that why an i3 with the same specs as an i5 would be less powerful? Less transistors?

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

USAFRet :

Nicely stated. Overall performance is vital. It just depends upon lot of factors like -

> Clock Speed

> Bandwidth

> FSB Speed

and so on.

Also- As quoted in my above post, the transistor count increased with the invention of new processors.

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

turkey3_scratch :

Factors affecting the performance:

Clock speed, Bandwidth, Heat and Heat Dissipation, FSB Speed etc comes into the play. Also, i3 and i5 have never been same.

turkey3_scratch · Aug 31, 2014

So what would a 2Ghz processor be like against a 4Ghz with half the transistors? If they has same cores.

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

turkey3_scratch :

That's why, I stated parallelism. In an electronic circuit, everything happens in parallel. So, in the present world, there will no chance for decreasing the transistors when the processor gets upgraded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count Here's the proof.

Correct me If I'm wrong.

USAFRet · Aug 31, 2014

turkey3_scratch :

But an i3 does NOT have the same specs as an i5. Even completely ignoring transistor count.

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

Maybe, OP is considering an instance. Let's make it simple. More Transistors = More Performance yet that's not the only one to affect the performance of a Processor.

turkey3_scratch · Aug 31, 2014

Okay, thanks! But I just don't know why transistor count seems to be ignored.

MostWantedSoulRider · Aug 31, 2014

Why do we need it anyway, OP?

There are lot of factors for measuring the performance of a CPU which can be comprehended by any human being and there will be no need to be so geeky on learning them.

You don't go to shop keeper and ask how many transistors are present in each processor lol. You will mess him up eventually.

Basically, if two processors are same in everything but transistor count changes, then there will be a difference in performance. But developers are very smart and they put the upgrades in every consecutive processors. MORE upgrades = more performance and thus more transistor count which is not needed to know because we already knew that there are more upgrades!

Also, there is a fact called parallelism. Two same specs with different transistor counts NOT REALLY POSSIBLE AT ALL!

USAFRet · Aug 31, 2014

turkey3_scratch :

Because it doesn't really matter in the overall scheme of things. A 'newer' processor will probably have more transistors than a previous version. It will also have other, better capabilities.

More transistors does not automagically mean better performance for a given task. It simply means there are more transistors.

If you're buying a CPU based on transistor count, that is mere willy-waving, and proves exactly nothing.

turkey3_scratch · Aug 31, 2014

I was just curious.

V1ctor89 · Sep 1, 2014

Transistor count is inversely proportional with the size of the die. The smalled the die, the more transistors can fit. And since the size of it tends to get smaller and smaller (32nm-> 22n-> 14nm), obviously we would expect to always have more transistors in newer chips. And of course the performance is directly proportional with the number of transistors. The newer the chip, the better the technology involved => better CPUs. Moore's law states that the number of transistors on a die tends to double every 2 years. However, starting with 2013 the transistors and densities are expected to double every 3 years.

What Role Does Transistor Count Play?

Expert

Reputable

Expert

Reputable

Titan

Expert

Reputable

Reputable

Expert

Reputable

Titan

Reputable

Expert

Reputable

Titan

Expert

Distinguished

Share this page