Maynard Handley (name99.delete@this.name99.org) on August 27, 2014 1:34 pm wrote:
> I like a good fact-free fight about how x86 [sux|roolz] as much as anyone, but how about
> we turn aside from that for a few minutes to consider one particular set of datapoints?
>
> To recap:
> The argument made (enthusiastically by juanrga, more moderately by others) is that the
> ARM-64 server CPUs which we should see from various vendors will do well because they
> will offer a compelling performance/power advantage over their x64 competitors.

My arguments are very similar to others [Microprocessor Report: "THUNDER X RATTLES SERVER MARKET, Cavium Develops 48-Core ARM Processor to Challenge Xeon" (2014, June 9)]:

Compared with Xeon, ThunderX could deliver 50% to 100% more performance per watt and per dollar, particularly when considering the additional chips that Intel needs to complete the server design. Integrating the system fabric switch, a feature that Calxeda also provided, further reduces system (rack-level) cost compared with a Xeon-based design. These advantages should be enough to gain design wins against Intel, particularly in a server market that is hungry for an alternative to the x86 giant.

[Microprocessor Report: Broadcom Bares Muscular ARM, Quad-Issue ARMv8 CPU Targets Xeon-Class Performance (2013 October 21)]

Developing its own CPU will help Broadcom differentiate even as its competitors adopt the same ISA. Vulcan is considerably more powerful than Cortex-A57, ARM’s high-end 64-bit CPU. Building on multithreading technology from the XLP, the new CPU should have outstanding single-thread performance as well as excellent scaling across multithreaded workloads. We don’t expect custom ARMv8 designs from AppliedMicro and Cavium to match Vulcan on single-thread performance; they will compete instead on multicore scaling and performance per watt.

[...]

Unlike most of these new server vendors, Broadcom already has strong ties with large server OEMs and data-center operators. As the leading vendor of Ethernet chips, it works closely with all of these companies. Broadcom has plenty of experience building high-performance SoC products with high-speed I/O in advanced process nodes. Because even general-purpose servers are starting to use encryption and pattern-matching engines, the company can support these needs with proven technology.