can the clock speed on these processors be directly compared, as far as how RouterOS runs on each?

for instance, in the PC world, 3Ghz on an Intel i7 CPU does not equal 3Ghz on an AMD CPU. can the same be said for Tilera vs. intel vs. mips-be? are there any sort of optimizations for x86 processors, and/or can the difference in IPC (instructions per clock) between the processors make any difference within ROS?

You can not directly compare clocks, please refer to the routerboard datasheets.

Hi, both intel and AMD are x86 constructions, but they still have different IPC, now you want to compare different constructions? They of course have diff in speed - not only IPC, but they also run different instructions set.
Tilera is ARM based, in my mind, x86 > PPC > ARM > MIPS, but I'm not sure about this.

when you say the datasheet, are you referring to the PDF brochure that is available on routerboard.com under each model, like the one below? if so, that doesn't really tell me much, other than the actual clock speed, which i already know.

http://i.mt.lv/routerboard/files/CCR100 ... 094150.pdf

Hi, both intel and AMD are x86 constructions, but they still have different IPC, now you want to compare different constructions?

yes, exactly....this is why i'm posting this, to find out which should theoretically be the faster overall performer.

They of course have diff in speed - not only IPC, but they also run different instructions set.
Tilera is ARM based, in my mind, x86 > PPC > ARM > MIPS, but I'm not sure about this.

this is my thinking as well, ARM is typically used for lower-power situations, so despite having a somewhat high numerical clock speed, i'm wondering if multiple lower-clocked ARM-based cores is going to be faster or slower than fewer (but higher-clocked and theoretically faster at the same clock speed) intel cores.

The product pages which are complete have a throughput table at the bottom. I look at the medium sized packets for an estimate that is neither too optimistic nor too pessimistic.

These are values without taking advantage of the new fasttrack feature.

The product pages which are complete have a throughput table at the bottom. I look at the medium sized packets for an estimate that is neither too optimistic nor too pessimistic.

These are values without taking advantage of the new fasttrack feature.

right, but is there one of these datasheets for x86-based CPU's? the figures for mips-be & tilera don't really do me much good if i can't compare them to x86 in the same fashion. and not just x86, but specific types of x86 processors, like the Core2Duo vs. i7 vs. AMD xxxx, etc.

I will not bother with a PC for so small requirements.

The RB2011 maxes out at around 210Mbps in one direction without using fasttrack and can do 500Mbps at 65% with fasttrack if you don't go through a bridge.

The RB850Gx2 is twice as fast.

I built an UTM once using an Atom board.

OK, so let's ask this another way:

is an Intel Core2Duo (dual-core @ 3Ghz) or Core i7 (quad-core @ 3.4Ghz) faster than a CCR1009 with 9 x 1.2Ghz? if so, how much faster?

I understand that if you look at a single connection the CCR is currently limited at 1Gbps.

While you should be able to do faster than that if you put a 10GbE card in your PC.

I don't know how they compare in a multiple connection scenario.

But even for the smaller routers, remember that they usually have switch chips inside, allowing for wire speed LAN in most cases (without going through the CPU).