WHITE PAPER Technical Specifications in the Public

WHITEPAPER-TechnicalSpecificationsinthePublicProcurementofComputers(30November2010)Copyright©2010,IntelCorporation.Allrightsreserved.Page1of16WHITEPAPERTechnicalSpecificationsinthePublicProcurementofComputersNovember2010Achieve‘BestValueforMoney’andStayLegalThegoalofthiswhitepaperistohelpcontractingauthoritiesdrafttechnicalspecificationsinthetenderdocumentationforpubliccontractsforthesupplyofcomputersystems(desktops,notebooksandservers).Publicprocurementlegislationaimstoenablecontractingauthoritiestoachieve‘BestValueforMoney’intheirpurchasingactivitiesbyremovingunjustifiedobstaclestotheopeningupofpublicprocurementtocompetition.Thewayinwhichtechnicalspecificationsaredefinedinthecontractdocumentsiscriticaltothispurpose.Whilstpublicprocurementlawsandregulationsvaryfromcountrytocountryaroundtheworld,themainprinciplesgoverningthedraftingoftechnicalspecificationsinthecontractdocumentationofpublictendersaresubstantiallysimilaracrossjurisdictions:-transparencyandopennessoftenderstocompetition,whichrequiresthattechnicalspecificationsbedraftedsoastoaffordequalaccessfortenderers;-equaltreatmentoftenderersandnon-discrimination,whichmeansthattechnicalspecificationsshouldnotdiscriminate,eitherdirectlyorindirectly,againsttenderers.Inparticular,manycountriesprescribenottousebrandsintechnicalspecifications,unlessobjectivelyjustifiedbythesubject-matterofthecontractortheneedtodescribethecontractedgoods,ifthesegoodscannotbeadequatelydescribedotherwise.Whenpurchasingcomputers,contractingauthoritiesshouldidentifythefeaturesoftheCPUandthecomputersystemtheywouldliketopurchase,takingprimarilyintoaccounttheirintendeduseoftheproductandtheavailablebudget.Tothiseffect,theyshouldcarefullyconsiderallthefeaturesbroughttothemarketbyresearchandtechnologicalinnovationinthemanufactureofcomputers,withaviewtoidentifyingthosefeaturesthatbestmeettheirrequirementsandhelpthemachievetheirgoals.Whileperformanceisimportant,otherCPUandcomputersystemfeaturesunrelatedtoperformanceareequallyimportantandsometimescriticalinrelationtothecontractingauthority’sintendeduseoftheproduct.Sections1and2oftheWhitePaperprovidepracticalguidanceonhowtodescribe,respectively,performanceandotherCPUandcomputersystemfeaturesunrelatedtoperformanceinthetechnicalspecifications.ThisWhitePaperwillthereforeenablecontractingauthoritiestoeffectivelyachievetheir‘BestValueforMoney’objectives,whileremainingcompliant.WHITEPAPER-TechnicalSpecificationsinthePublicProcurementofComputers(30November2010)Copyright©2010,IntelCorporation.Allrightsreserved.Page2of16TABLEOFCONTENTS1.Performance………………………………………………........31.1.Usingbenchmarkstodescribeperformance…………………………….41.1.1.WhatbenchmarkshouldIuse?……………………………………………………………41.1.2.Howtouseperformancebenchmarks……………………………………………………71.2.Othermethodstodescribeperformance………………………………...82.Featuresunrelatedtoperformance…….…………………..102.1.Energyefficiencyandenergy-efficientperformance………………….112.2.Moreexamplesoffeaturesunrelatedtoperformance………………..123.Sampletechnicalspecifications……………………………..15Thiswhitepaperispublishedon://(30November2010)Copyright©2010,IntelCorporation.Allrightsreserved.Page3of161.PerformanceAmongstallCPUandcomputersystemfeatures,performance,iscertainlythefirstthatcomestomind.The‘CentralProcessingUnit’(CPU),alsoknownas‘processor’or‘centralprocessor’,isthebrainofacomputersystem,beingthecomponentthatactuallyexecutesinstructions.Inpersonalcomputers(desktopsandnotebooks)theCPUiscontainedonasinglesiliconchipcalled‘microprocessor’,andsointhePCworldthetermsCPUandmicroprocessorareusedinterchangeably.Inlargemachines(e.g.,servers),CPUsarecontainedononeormoreprintedcircuitboards.ReferringtotheCPU,performanceindicateshowfastaCPUdoesitsmainjob-processinginstructions.CPUperformanceistheresultofvariousfactors,someofwhichhavetodowithhowtheCPUisbuilt,whileothersdependontheconfigurationofthecomputersysteminwhichtheCPUisintegrated.ThefollowingCPUfeaturesdirectlydeterminetheCPUperformance:-internalarchitecture;-clockspeed,alsoknownasfrequency,whichismeasuredinMHzorGHz(e.g.,1.86GHz,3.20GHz);-widthofinstructions/datathattheCPUisabletoprocess,whichismeasuredinbit(e.g.,16-bit,32-bitor64-bit);-numberofexecutioncoresperCPU(e.g.,singlecore,dual-core,quad-core);-multithreadingandmultitaskingenablingtechnology;-Individualprocessorcorespeedvariesbaseduponreal-timeperformanceneeds;-sizeofthelocalcachememoryoftheCPU(e.g.,1MB,4MB);-internalarchitecture,frequency(measuredinMHz:e.g.,800MHz,1066MHz,1333MHz,etc.)orwithintegratedmemorycontroller(measuredinMHzandMemoryStickdependent)andwidth(measuredinbit:e.g.,16-bit,32-bit,64-bit)ofthesystembus;andTheotherhardwareandsoftwarecomponentsofthecomputersystem,inwhichtheCPUisintegrated,andtheirsettings,alsohaveanimpact,atvaryingdegrees,onthe