Linux Desktop CPU Roundup: Cutting Edge Penguin Performance
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 19, 2004 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Summing it all up
We were extremely pleased to see the 64-bit applications generally perform better than their 32-bit counterparts. Unfortunately, there were still several cases where 64-bit binaries performed slower; John the Ripper being one of those examples. Some software, like MEncoder 1.0pre5 proved difficult to install on SuSE 9.1 x86_64 as well. We didn't even touch on the hundreds of software ports that do not have working 64-bit binaries yet, including Wine. Sometimes the advantage of speed does not outweigh the advantage of software compatibility.Another interesting revelation in our analysis came when we swapped our DDR2 memory with DDR1. We observed instances giving either memory configuration the advantage, with no clear winner. Although we tested several benchmarks and saw several trends, DDR2 versus DDR1 on Linux from a performance standpoint looks inconclusive. Even though DDR2 continues to fall in price, the additional premium makes it difficult to justify the cost. Our DDR2 memory configuration retails for $400 while our DDR1 configuration retails for $250. With many 915P and all 925X, you are not even given the choice of which memory type to chose, so weigh your motherboard performance on the value that you put on your memory. The DFI LanParty board that we used for this analysis supports both.
A straight comparison of processor against processor is not as simple as it looks. Price invariably becomes the strongest argument in buying one CPU over another. The cheapest CPU in our shootout (the Athlon 64 3500+) costs $350 while the Pentium 4 560 - if you can find it - retails for $500. The Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition and Athlon FX-53 both retail for over $800. If you are considering a processor merely on bang for your buck, the Athlon 64 3500+ does not disappoint. The only real reason why anyone should even consider buying an Extreme Edition or FX processor would be for overclocking (if that's your thing). As we saw in most of our benchmarks, the 3800+ and the FX-53 performed very similarly, usually within 3% of each other.
Realistically, the Pentium 4 560 and the Athlon 64 3500+ are the best contenders in this match up. In six months when we run this shootout again we will likely be saying the same things about the Athlon 64 3800+. For now, however, the Athlon 64 3500+ does an excellent job of balancing price with performance. Arguably the most compelling reason to suggest the Athlon 64 over a Pentium 4 would be for the extremely favorable 64-bit content creation binaries. Wary of x86_64 "gotchas", this editor just dual boots SuSE x86 and SuSE x86_64 for the best of both worlds.
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Cheval - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
Using Firefox 1.0PR and those graphs don't work either.jensend - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
Were any of the 32-bit binaries (incl kernel) conducted with -mregparm=x where x!=0? See e.g. http://lwn.net/Articles/66965/ - improvements in the use of registers are generally the main source of performance improvements for x86-64, and using this parameter can significantly improve gcc's register usage on regular x86. Generally, mregparm=3 is recommended for the kernel and =1 for C++ code.RyanHirst - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
o, i c.k.
ryan
LittleKing - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
The article is good, but the Rollover images don't work in FireFox 9.2.KristopherKubicki - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
I had trouble compiling crafty. The numbers were more to show the impact of compiler options rather than actual chess numbers themselves.Kristopher
RyanHirst - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
Hello,Liked the article! I was disappointed to see you stuck with the only chess engine on the planet that is faster on a 3.6GHz P4 than a 2.4GHz A64. The Crafty benches looked odd, but they were more realistic. Even with HT optimized engines like Frtiz8 (which has competed internationally for as much as $1 million on Xeon machines, including one 4-way Xeon "donation" from Intel) pull almost identical numbers between the top a64 and the top p4.
If, as I assume, you left HT off [which you should for benchmarks. there are some odd issues with HT and chess], there just isn't a chess program around (except apparently TSCP) that pulls these numbers.
I know there is a risk of sounding fanboyish. That is not my intent. I play in the computer engine room on playchess.com, and I know the numbers I get from other machines. The benchmark you are using is simply not representative of chess engines. Please take a look at Frtiz benchmarks at: www.beepworld.de/members39/computerschach2/chessmarks.htm [disregard the top dual xeon score; "Deep Fritz 8" calculates many more nodes/s than regular "Fritz8", even on a single processor]. Again, this is an engine that is optimized for the Pentium architecture.
Less dedicated engines like Crafty show the results that, unfortunately, you found questionable in the previous article. Bob Hyatt has been programming chess for decades and Crafty is available on every major desktop OS. It's part of the SPEC2000 benchmark [where it performs identically on a lowly XP3200 and a Xeon 3.4]. It is also the first engine out the door with a 64-bit clean code! In one of the few fields where 64-bit computing can offer a near perfect doubling of calculations/s, why leave out the 64-bit bench? If you're concerend Crafty is Athlon optimized, check out Hyatt's homepage: www.cis.uab.edu/info/faculty/hyatt/hyatt.html ...his ICC account pet machine is a dual Xeon.
Cheers,
Ryan
KristopherKubicki - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
johnsonx: sorry about that- i put in the 530 score for the 3500+. The correct score is 175.Kristopher
johnsonx - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
Good article Kris.I think you've got a graph error on the 32-bit MEncoder graph. You show the P4 530 and the A64 3500+ tied at 146fps, but then show the A64 3800+ at 193fps; that's a 32% higher score for a CPU that is only 9% higher-clocked and otherwise identical. Methinks the 146fps for the A64 3500+ is an error; it should be somewhere between 165 & 175, right around the P4EE.
WooDaddy - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
"whenever I get cornered by a processor on campus or guest speak at a Linux Users Group"OH NO!!!! ROGUE PROCESSORS ARE ATTACKING PEOPLE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES!!!! LOCK YOUR DOORS!! GRAB YOUR SHOTGUN!!
heheheh
Kris.. I think you meant professors ;)
I'd still lock your doors and grab weapons of minimal destruction. Professors are scary. Especially the fat ones with suspenders who talk about overclocking their PDP-11s.
Illissius - Monday, September 20, 2004 - link
Nice review, and you actually compared 32- and 64-bit for once ;). Would've been more interesting to do it back when you had some 64-bit Intel processors in the mix as well, though...Why no 64-bit results on the kernel compile? :/ That's probably the single benchmark out of all of them I'd be most interested in (Gentoo :D).
Also, UT2004 has both 32- and 64-bit Linux versions, and nVidia has both 32- and 64-bit Linux drivers. Seeing as this was a desktop review, that would've been nice to see.
I'd personally have been more interested in s754 processors, but they're the same architecture anyways so I can mostly extrapolate their performance from the ones tested, so it isn't a big deal either way.