Suppose you are choosing between four different desktop computers: one is an Apple Mac Intosh and the other three are PC-compatible computers that use a Pentium 4, an AMD processor (using the same compiler as the Pentium 4), and a Pentium 5 (which does not yet exist in 2004 but has the same architecture as the Pentium 4 and uses the same compiler). Which of the following statements are true?
a. The fastest computer will be the one with the highest clock rate.
b. Since all PCs use the same Intel-compatible instruction set and execute the same number of instructions for a program, the fastest PC will be the one with the highest clock rate.
c. Since AMD uses different techniques than Intel to execute instructions,they may have different CPIs. But, you can still tell which of the two Pentium-based PCs is fastest by looking at the clock rate.
d. Only by looking at the results of benchmarks for tasks similar to your workload can you get an accurate picture of likely performance.