Linux Shootout: Opteron 150 vs. Xeon 3.6 Nocona
by Kristopher Kubicki on August 12, 2004 2:35 PM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Our preliminary look at Intel's 64-bit Xeon 3.6GHz Nocona (which happens to be identical to the Intel 3.6F Pentium 4) stirred up a bit of controversy. The largest two concerns were:
- We tested Intel's Xeon server processor against an Athlon desktop CPU.
- We chose poor benchmarks to illustrate the capabilities of those processors.
Fortunately, with the help of the other editors at AnandTech, we managed to reproduce an entire retest of the Nocona platform and an Opteron 150 CPU. We also managed to find an internet connection stable enough for this editor to redraft en entire performance analysis on his vacation.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD Opteron
150 (130nm, 2.4GHz, 1MB L2 Cache) Intel Xeon 3.6GHz (90nm, 1MB L2 Cache) |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB PC-3200 CL2 (400MHz) Registered 2 x 512MB PC2-3200 CL3 (400MHz) Registered |
| Memory Timings: | Default |
| Operating System(s): | SuSE 9.1 Professional (64 bit) Linux 2.6.4-52-default Linux 2.6.4-52-smp |
| Compiler: | linux:~ # gcc -v Reading specs from /usr/lib64/gcc-lib/x86_64-suse-linux/3.3.3/specs Configured with: ../configure --enable-threads=posix --prefix=/usr --with-local-prefix=/usr/local --infodir=/usr/share/info --mandir=/usr/share/man --enable-languages=c,c++,f77,objc,java,ada --disable-checking --libdir=/usr/lib64 --enable-libgcj --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/g++ --with-slibdir=/lib64 --with-system-zlib --enable-shared --enable-__cxa_atexit x86_64-suse-linux Thread model: posix gcc version 3.3.3 (SuSE Linux) |
| Libraries: | linux:~ # /lib/libc.so.6
GNU C Library stable release version 2.3.3
(20040405), by Roland McGrath et al.
Copyright (C) 2004 Free Software Foundation,
Inc.
This is free software; see the source for
copying conditions.
There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Configured for i686-suse-linux.
Compiled by GNU CC version 3.3.3 (SuSE
Linux).
Compiled on a Linux 2.6.4 system on 2004-04-05.
Available extensions:
GNU libio by Per Bothner
crypt add-on version 2.1 by Michael
Glad and others
linuxthreads-0.10 by Xavier Leroy
GNU Libidn by Simon Josefsson
NoVersion patch for broken glibc
2.0 binaries
BIND-8.2.3-T5B
libthread_db work sponsored by
Alpha Processor Inc
NIS(YP)/NIS+ NSS modules 0.19 by
Thorsten Kukuk
Thread-local storage support included.
Report bugs using the `glibcbug' script
to |
The Intel Xeon 3.6GHz has HyperThreading enabled by default, so we use that
with the SMP kernel during the review. The entire review uses 64-bit binaries
either compiled from scratch or as installed from RPM. We only used a 32-bit
benchmark during the synthetic analysis, but still on SuSE 9.1 Pro (x86-64).
As one reader has pointed out, the GCC 3.3.3 used in this review has a few back ported optimizations from GCC 3.4.1 care of the SuSE development team. Thus, architecture specific optimizations for nocona are included.
Special thanks to Super Micro for getting us additional Intel components
for testing on such short notice!
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
92 Comments
View All Comments
menads - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Now all I want to say is big thanks for listening to your readers. Unlike other site which I would not mention that claims they are never wrong I think it is very nice of Anandtech editors to accept the criticizm and feedback from their readers and to get back retesting/reviewing.It is not about scores or brands - it is about the trust of the people reading these arcticles - a misleading review in most cases is worse than non-review.
Also Kristoper please do not take criticizm of the previous article personally - by criticizing your article most people were hoping you will do better next time.
KristopherKubicki - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Hi Tau,>Handcoding ASM for specific tasks is NOT ancient
No youre correct. The context of the sentence though its the hand coded ASM used in 3.6 "stable" is ancient. Someone pointed out to me it doesnt even have the original MMX optimizations in it (i think).
Kristopher
Jeff7181 - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
What's that sound? I hear heavy footsteps and heavy breathing... oh... wait... it's the Xeon trying to keep pace with the Opteron :DSDA - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Yeah, gj Kris, and yeah, I'd say you deserve a vacation after all that... thanks for listening to people, that's a lot more than certain editors at certain sites COUGHCOUGHTHGCOUGH would do.Pirox - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Lmao...i got hand to kriz though ..you sure are one tough guy! Nice article...and to think that the guy remains calm...what gives?KristopherKubicki - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Lynx516:Parts of 3.4.1 are backported into 3.3.3. Please check the SuSE 9.1 man pages.
Kristopher
TauCeti - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Hi Kris,First: I appreciate the work you put into this review. But i cannot restrain to offer one (hopefully constructive) remark:
you write: "We are using John the Ripper 1.6.37 in this portion of the benchmark. As a few extremely knowledgeable readers pointed out, the "stable" 1.6 branch of code relies heavily on hand coded ASM which by today's standards is fairly ancient anyway."
Handcoding ASM for specific tasks is NOT ancient. Handcoded ASM allows you to utilize the execution units and the cache-latency distribution of a given core architecture to fullest extend.
That is of uttermost importance to widespread library functions used in scientific calculations. Even the popular GIMPS client is handcoded in ASM for every CPU-variation (there are even different codepaths for different cache sizes). The GIMPS developers are fighting for every single clock that can be saved in a inner loop for different architectures.
That aside...
Have a nice vacation. I guess you ned it ;)
If you - for yourself - agree that you could have done better, swallow your pride and try to convert the substantial complaints into positive energy. Ingnore the personal bullshit from wannabe-i-know-betters. Never waste a minute of your life for that. It's not worth is.
Regards,
Tau
Lynx516 - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Hang on You said that you used -march=nocona and -march=k8 with gcc3.3.3. However those compile options are NOT IN gcc3.3.3! There is a serious problem if you use non existant optimisations as it casts a shadow of doubt on the competence of the author as it shows they dont know what they are doing.If this is the case read up on Linux before doing articles! If I am being overly harsh then correct the error
Lynx516 - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Much better. Your compiler flags arnt the best as things like "-funroll-loops" tends to do nothing but bloat the binarys. Also your config page is not working in Firebird. Its nice to see realistic results. From the last version it looked as if all x86-64 cpus got owned by intel's offering because that was the only data you where presented with.However this shows a price for price comparison which is much better.
One point I have to make is why the first article was ever published in the first place as it was of little value as you had nothign realistic to compare it wiht.
syadnom - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
nice to see comparable processors benched against each other, the 164 in the old review justs isn't in the same category of processors.that said. i'm dissapointed to see the Xeon look so weak. I expected the benches to flop back and forth on which proc was faster because of their different designs. I know the Opt150 is one hell of a chip, but I think intel can do better.