# How fast is this computer compared to my ibook? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-is-this-computer-compared-to-my-ibook/104973 "2002-04-22T12:37:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-is-this-computer-compared-to-my-ibook/104973/1 "2002-04-22T12:37:36Z")
From: [http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm\_571790.html?menu=news.latestheadlines](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_571790.html?menu=news.latestheadlines) > [@](#): > > \*\*A new Japanese supercomputer has taken the title of world’s fastest away from the US. > > The NEC Earth Simulator processes data five times faster than its closest competitor. > > It works at a speed of 35,600 gigaflops compared to its closest rival, IBM’s ASCI White, which runs at a speed of 7,226 gigaflops.\*\* How fast would this be compared to my 300mhz ibook, or a 1ghz desktop computer? I realise speed does not equal processing power, but a rough comparison? What are gigaflops:ghz anyway? ---
**Author:** ![ScottHaneda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@ScottHaneda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScottHaneda)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-is-this-computer-compared-to-my-ibook/104973/2 "2002-04-22T12:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > What makes a supercomputer “super” is its ability to execute at least one billion floating-point operations per second, a staggering measure of speed known as a “gigaflop.” The PowerPC G4, architected by Apple, Motorola and IBM, was the first microprocessor to deliver a sustained performance of over one gigaflop, thereby winning renown as the first supercomputer on a chip. Well, it’s time to rewrite the record books. Because the new Power Mac G4 desktop system with the dual 1GHz PowerPC G4 processor configuration hits speeds of 15 gigaflops. > To gauge the advances in processing power in real terms, we compared the new dual 1GHz Power Mac G4 to the one desktop computer even remotely in its class — another Power Mac G4: > > The original single processor 500MHz Power Mac G4 had a measured peak performance of 3.7 gigaflops. Power Mac performance has increased fourfold since then. In other words, you’d need four of the original Power Mac G4 systems to get the processing power available in the new Power Mac G4. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-is-this-computer-compared-to-my-ibook/104973/3 "2002-04-22T14:00:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*What are gigaflops:ghz anyway? \*\* **FLOPS** is short for Floating Point Operations per Second. This a a somewhat dubious measurement of speed as it focuses on the speed of the FPU unit of a microprocessor which is only one piece of a whole. Depending on what you are using the computer to do this number may be less or more meaningful. For a computer doing scientific calculations (e.g. calculatin pi to a zillion decimal places) this number would be useful. If you’re using a word processor this number is less useful (although how fast does a word processor really need to run anyway?). A Gigaflop is 1 billion floating point operations per second. **Ghz** is a measurment of how fast a processor spinns its wheels and is also a somewhat dubious measurement of the overall horsepower of a CPU. Think of Ghz like the RPM measurment in a car or a metronome. Each ‘click’ moves the calculations in the processor ahead one step. A Ghz is 1 billion cycles per second. The problem with this measurement is some processors can do more in 1 cycle than other processors. For example a P-III 250 Mhz processor (if it ever existed which it doesn’t) might outperform a P-II 400 Mhz processor. Currently an AMD Athlon CPU seems to outperform an Intel P-IV processor clocked several hundred megahertz higher. As to the Power Mac G4 being the first ‘supercomputer’ on a chip I remember a few funny ads for it. The US government restricts sale of supercomputers overseas so they had a picture of a G4 surrounded by tanks to protect it.