[SWLUG] how much more CPU performance can one get these days?

[Huw Lynes]

On Fri, 2009-09-18 at 08:08 +0100, Mark Summerfield wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Short version: 
>     I have Linux 2.6 2GB RAM Dual Core Pentium D 2.8GHz
>     What would I need to get 5x the CPU performance?
> 
> 
> Long version:
> 
>     I sometimes have to run a program that starts by reading 5-50MB of
>     data, then spends 12-15 minutes processing (no I/O, no graphics,
>     pure CPU), then writes out a single 5-100MB output file.
> 

I'm assuming that this code is doing floating-point maths rather than
integer maths? If so you will see a big speed-up on core2 or above. 

5x speedup from using a modern CPU and compiler combination doesn't seem
out of the question.

But testing is always the best way. If you send me the code and a
dataset I can see how fast it runs on one of our newer boxes.

Thanks,
Huw

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Huw Lynes                       | Advanced Research Computing
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