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Linux 2.6 And Hyper-Threading

Posted by timothy on from the bits-and-pieces dept.

David Peters writes "2CPU.com has posted an article on Hyper-Threading performance in Linux. They use Gentoo 1.4 and kernel 2.6.2 and run through several server-oriented benchmarks like Apache, MySQL and even Java server performance with Blackdown 1.4. The hardware they use in the tests is border-line ridiculous (3.2GHz Xeons, 3.2GHz P4 and P4 Prescott) and the results are actually quite interesting. It's a good read as he even takes the time to detail his system configuration all the way down to the CFLAGS used while compiling the software."

4 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Says who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The hardware they use in the tests is border-line ridiculous

    I'm typing this on a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 that has hyperthreading. The entire system cost me $1200 to build just before Christmas - including 1GB of RAM, a Radeon 9800 Pro video card and a 120GB SATA hard drive. Dell and IBM sell 3GHz notebooks now for a similar price.

    My point is that a 3.2GHz CPU is not ridiculous in an age where 2.66GHz processors are considered entry-level (FYI, Dell is currently selling a 2.66GHz desktop for $499).

    What are you still running on? A 486?

  2. Re:Tantalizing . . . by metalix · · Score: 5, Funny

    I did some informal testing between VC++ native and C# to .Net bytecode. I had a little loop calculating primes. The native C++ kept everything in registers, while the CLR made everything relative memory accesses to BP. I figured that would devastate performance, but on the Pentium 4, it was only 5% slower! It seems to have an L1 cache that's as fast as the registers. That will certainly make it easier on the compiler writers.

    oops you just violated the VS.NET EULA by posting a performance benchmark. shame on you!

  3. Re:License software based on # of CPUs by kayen_telva · · Score: 5, Informative

    actually, Intel recommends against using HyperThreading with Win2K (all flavors)

    Intel.com

    it will run but performance sucks

  4. Re:They need -mm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You are an idiot. To start with, a CPU with HT has two discrete visible register sets. If you are so smart, how would you fix this imaginary performance hit by "handling" registers better

    Second, the SMT scheduler in -mm kernels isn't a hack. It is a general and extensible topology description that the scheduler uses to achieve exactly the behaviour it needs.