While only being part of the performance equation, analyzing IPC can be quite interesting in understanding the design of the processor and how performance might

While only being part of the performance equation, analyzing IPC can be quite interesting in understanding the design of the processor and how performance might be achieved. One thing itches me with the presented comparison: it is running very few benchmarks generated with the same compiler. For a thorough IPC analysis, shouldn't the tests rather being programmed in assembly to exclude any influence by the compiler choice? Also probably a wider range of algorithms should be checked, as IPC on modern processors depends less on how many cycles a certain instruction takes (you should be able to find that in the manuals), but how well multiple components of the processor can be utilized at the same time. Which extremely depends on the actual program to be run.