Dual Core Linux Performance: Two Penguins are Better than One
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 1, 2005 5:55 AM EST- Posted in
- Linux
The Hardware
We attempted to purchase and scavenge hardware that fits about the same price bracket. We could have easily thrown in an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ or an FX processor but we opted to pick out slightly more practical hardware instead.
Test Configurations |
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Processor: |
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester |
Intel Pentium D 840 |
RAM: |
2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 EL Dual Channel DIMMs 2-2-2-10 |
2 x 512MB Crucial DDR-II 533 Dual Channel DIMMs 3-2-2-12 |
Motherboard: |
Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra SLI |
Intel D955XBKLK |
Memory Timings: |
Default |
|
Operating Systems: |
SUSE 9.3 Professional x86_64 |
|
Kernel: |
Linux 2.6.11-21.7 |
|
Video Cards: |
Gigabyte 6800GT GV-N68T256D |
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Hard Drives: |
Seagate 160GB Barracuda SATA |
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Compiler: |
GCC 3.3.4 |
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You may notice a few things off the bat; first of all, we are not using any of the Pentium 4 5xx processors. This is because we anticipated only doing our benchmarks on a 64-bit OS. The processors we selected today all run in the $250 to $600 range. These processors are a bit on the high end, but the various speed bumps between the chips should demonstrate the scalability of the processor in our benchmarks.
We are running the relatively new SUSE 9.3 Professional for this analysis. All programs were compiled via the GCC 3.3.4 compiler unless they were preinstalled on the operating system. All multitasking benchmarks are launched from shell scripts unless stated otherwise.
We owe a special "thank you" to Monarch Computer for rushing us the Intel motherboard used in this review!
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sweatshopking - Saturday, May 9, 2009 - link
maybe we should take the linux tab off the top since nobody has updated since '05....PrincessNybor - Sunday, June 21, 2009 - link
I was just going to say the same thing. If Anandtech isn't going to cover Linux, then just remove the tab and call it a day. If you are going to even pretend to make Linux a priority, then perhaps at least ONE article per YEAR would be a nice way to start. No articles since 2005 is just embarrassing.Ryan offered that Ubuntu article well over a year ago, and has offered nothing but excuses since then. I realize you are all busy, and I don't fault him for anything besides not coming out and saying that Linux isn't a priority at Anandtech.
rossmcdonald - Thursday, September 11, 2008 - link
Didn't AT talk about doing a linux for a month article many months ago?Milleman - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
Yepp! He/they did!What happened to that one? They've probably lost it down the drain somewhere. Or is M$ paying them to not favor any other O/S now...? Somehow it seems that AT lost all interrest in Linux. Bad move...
forkd - Monday, November 17, 2008 - link
I agree, Anandtech wasn't a bad source of linux info 'til this article stopped everything.I'm not really upset but I am a little disappointed.
At some point they should take the Linux tab off of the website.
Years ago I subscribed to consumerreports.com for information on products I was considering on purchasing. I quickly realized that most of the articles on things i looked for were out dated by years.
Of course I never paid for my anandtech subscription so I can't complain about them leaning toward more profitable press.
Milleman - Sunday, June 15, 2008 - link
Hello??Is this the latest Linux article from Anand, made 3 years ago...?
Come on...
fstratzero - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - link
I'd say testing linux is freaking hard to do. I'm a Gentoo linux user.And having complied tons of kernels over the years, performance can range greatly in what options you use in your kernel. I found that the CFQ scheduler can hurt performance since it tries to spread out cpu usage evenly between all processes.
That and also with linux you could assign a single process to a single core. Alternatively you could "nice" the application ie lower priority and still have a really usable system.
People in our forums will compile stuff on one cpu and use the other for playing games while having tons of crap running in the background, and report their seemingly invincible performance feeling.
Although I don't know much about Suse, I'd say this review is pretty well done for people that don't "get under the hood." Yet if you do get your hands a little wet with nice and taskset, you can do just about anything and hardly feel a slow down.
orbatos - Sunday, November 5, 2006 - link
Why no Shake vs. Shake, sure 3.5 isn't available, but 3.01(?) would be fine. Where's GIMP on windows? NewTek's LightWave® 3D 7.5b != ScreamerNet 7.5b , Why not go Blender vs. Blender or Maya vs. Maya? Who uses Mozilla Composer as an alternative to Dreamweaver as opposed to the myriad of other available web dev software? Outlook? what about Thunderbird on Windows? XMMS vs. iTunes doesn't make sense, they're different types of applications, try Rhythmbox. WinZip vs. Gzip doesn't make sense, try comparing a GUI tool. MS Office vs. OO.o, at least try the windows versions! If you're comparing workalikes as opposed to the same software, don't compare Nero vs. Nero, the Linux version is terrible.Suggestion: WaveLab is a do-all of audio manipulation, not the type of software that has direct analog under Linux, try looking at suites of software that can be used to the same effect all through a similar interface (e.g. JACK). Antivirus? ClamAV sounds decent, did you even look?
hojit - Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - link
Has any one pointed out the mod15 error using the sil3112/3114 and the seagate hd's the hardware in the article seems to suggest a conflict on the amd system. I had this same issue and it killed all my speeds for things like transcoding and any thing hd intencive.MarcusAsleep - Saturday, July 9, 2005 - link
Howdy!I was just wondering what kernel and kernel settings you were using. Since the article was on multi-tasking it seems especially relevent since the development of low-latency/preemptable options in recent years!
Any clue?
Mark.