> I'm still assuming it's faster due to unified memory architecture
AMD, Intel, ARM, & Qualcomm have all been shipping unified memory for 5+ years. I'd assume all the A* SoCs have been unified memory for that matter too unless Apple made the weirdest of cost cuts.
Moreover literally none of the benchmarks out there include anything at all that involves copying/moving data between the CPU, GPU, and AI units. They are almost always strictly-CPU benchmarks (which the M1 does great in), or strictly-GPU benchmarks (where the M1 is good for integrated but that's about it)
> An AMD/Intel using same soldered RAM next to CPU and same process node would give Apple a run for its money.
AMD's memory latency is already better than the M1's. Apple's soldered RAM isn't a performance choice:
For equivalent laptop specific CPU, you will get a speedup from on-package RAM vs user replaceable RAM placed further away, even desktops would benefit but it would not be a welcome change there.
That's not really how dram latency works. In basically all CPUs the memory controller runs at a different clock than the CPU cores do, typically at the same clock as the DRAM itself but not always.
If you meant the dram was running faster on the AMD system then also no. The M1 is using 4266mhz modules while the AMD system was running 3200mhz ram
> For equivalent laptop specific CPU, you will get a speedup from on-package RAM vs user replaceable RAM placed further away, even desktops would benefit but it would not be a welcome change there.
Huge citation needed. There's currently no real world product that matches that claim nor a theoretical one as the physical trace length is minimal latency difference and far from the major factor.
AMD, Intel, ARM, & Qualcomm have all been shipping unified memory for 5+ years. I'd assume all the A* SoCs have been unified memory for that matter too unless Apple made the weirdest of cost cuts.
Moreover literally none of the benchmarks out there include anything at all that involves copying/moving data between the CPU, GPU, and AI units. They are almost always strictly-CPU benchmarks (which the M1 does great in), or strictly-GPU benchmarks (where the M1 is good for integrated but that's about it)
> An AMD/Intel using same soldered RAM next to CPU and same process node would give Apple a run for its money.
AMD's memory latency is already better than the M1's. Apple's soldered RAM isn't a performance choice:
"In terms of memory latency, we’re seeing a (rather expected) reduction compared to the A14, measuring 96ns at 128MB full random test depth, compared to 102ns on the A14." source: https://www.anandtech.com/show/16252/mac-mini-apple-m1-teste...
"In the DRAM region, we’re measuring 78.8ns on the 5950X versus 86.0ns on the 3950X." https://www.anandtech.com/show/16214/amd-zen-3-ryzen-deep-di...