To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question...

Indeed. So, we know that 2.11 MIPS4k is slower than HPC2k on StrongArm, which is about the same speed as HPC2k on XScale. And we know that CE4.2 on XScale is a little faster still, though this highly dependent on what you're actually crunching. I believe the biggest difference is in multimedia and other applications where vectorization is possible. But for non-multimedia applications, is there any *compelling* difference in performance?

Railing means 'not comfortable' esentially.

Zapper, as mentioned by everyone else corporate, you won't see much diff for most apps. Yes, 1 sec, or 500msec, but dun expect to see too much diff for most apps.

The benchmarks are flawed and at the same time correct in the sense that, by repeating the same operations a few hundred or thousand times, they magnify any differences in performances so that its visible. But at the same time, it means that if the differences is just a few points (or even many few points!), it may translate to only a 1 sec or half sec differences.

As also mentioned, running CPU intensive applications, like multimedia apps will show, and then there are those HPCs with added graphics processors like the GX2000 (yes?) on some devices like the SL4. These will do some of the graphics work for the CPU (if the OS is optimized for that) and hence will give a better overall performance, such as speedier screen redraw etc.

Snappy, again some excellent posts from you!

i'd mention another factor.. how well is a program written... just compare IE 2 to IE 4... of course a slow SH3 cpu absolutely can't compete with a strongarm or xscale, but there are some stuff in IE 2 that is no longer in IE 4 so you'll have to wait for more time in certain cases

cmonex,

HPC2000 on it in my experience doesn't run as well as it should.

Sanppy!,
Video is specifically whatt I'm thinking of (having spent too much time on PocketDVD benchmarking, I seem to think in video framerates at the moment )

I'm referring to the IA32 Architecture core set vs IA64 vs Alpha vs MIPS vs PPC. Not the "impliementation, bolt-ons and optimisation techniques"/technology

Video is specifically whatt I'm thinking of (having spent too much time on PocketDVD benchmarking, I seem to think in video framerates at the moment )

wow i'm not alone not understanding what railing means! so good not to be alone!

no, there's no compelling difference between strongarm and xscale, i can't compare them with mips though. you should be able to as you had both (or did you mean your question about comparing the 900 (hpc2000) and the 900C (ce.net)? in this case, again no compelling difference. i wish i had made tests, but i never thought of that, only in the case of IE4 and IE6)
btw, i can assure you there's a compelling difference between sh3 and strongarm (my experience) (though it is application dependant..)

Sadly, since most apps uses MFC for coding, be it on desktop or HPCs or other Windows platform, there is a huge chunk of the app's performance that *cannot* be optimized much. Its limited by how optimized MFC code is. In some cases, rather optimized, but in most others, slow and chunky, if not leaky (think memory leaks!)

(TabletPC users should know this. Windows XP TabletPC edition has a memory leak issue until its patched only recently. grrr )

I'll third that option! Upgrading to a 790 via a ROM upgrade or a totally different set is prob good enuff.

Or else you can consider a J720 if you dun mind the slightly daintier keyboard.

So, if it were for the apps and hpc2000 support, go for 790. But if you really want a longer support for software, J720 may be a better bet, since it is on StrongARM and hence would run even more apps, even ppc apps with some tweaking.
..... now back to the question of upgrading ... as I mentioned, if you are really for longer lifespan in terms of software support, go for a J720. If not, a 790 ROM upgrade.

PS: Remember how certain apps would crash in AMD systems but run perfectly in Intel systems. There *are* differences in even how the x86-compatible architecture is being implemented. Of cos stabilities plays in, but is a different issue altogether.

videos.. you didn't even mention dstn
but if you're away you can watch video then. could be cool sometimes.

I'll add my 2 cents here.
After first getting my 6651 and playing about for a bit, I thought I made a mistake and went hunting for a 72x because it seemed to have everything, arm, speed, compatibility, futureproof.

I learned speed and cpu type wasn't the endall. In another thread we discussed performance and my 129mhz mips delivers about 60-65% of the performance of a 400mhz xscale. So IMO it's not all about numbers or cpu type. If the unit does what you want in an acceptable timeframe, so be it.

For me it is all about the OS. I sold my j690 because I felt really restricted softwarewise. The 2.11 OS didn't allow me the flexibility of hpc2k. I've discovered many ppc programs work great on my hpc. With a few exceptions, I *think* there is enough life left in hpc2k to carry me to the day of my next hpc, whenever a suitable one appears

I feel fortunate having both a 2.11 and hpc2k machine concurrently. It taught me to appreciate the value of hpc2k.

I realized after I bought my 6651 that the unit originally shipped with 2.11 or hpc2k. I never asked the vendor what OS it had, my bad. Anyway, if I had received a 2.11 unit I'd be doing my best to get the rom updated to unlock the full potential. To end my long-windedness, IMO, going from 2.11 to hpc2k may be the *only* update many hpc users will ever need.

In my case, I've realized a change of cpu or moving to .net OS wasn't in my best interests. I'd lose the best screen ever produced on any hpc, past or present and USB hosting. I was hunting for another unit, arm based, for my flyiing adventures but since I've had no luck meeting my criteria I realized I have the best of the pack already.