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In the Forums... |
Posted: June 5th, 2001 Written by: Tuan "Solace" Nguyen Benchmarks (cont.) Benchmark Studio 2001 Benchmark Studio is basically a bench that tests office applications similar to SysMark Office. However, the difference here is that Benchmark Studio’s stress system is based on load levels that you can set to see how well a certain system adapts to increasing thread loads. Each thread in Benchmark Studio stays constant except for the increasing or decreasing loads depending on the load level you choose. All of the tests done are more processor intensive than in a regular office scenario where a person would typically be doing word and spreadsheet processing while searching for content on the Internet. Benchmark Studio stretches the horizon further and includes simulation of network activity as well as presentational applications. Not all the applications are multi-threaded however, but most are and the important thing here is that there are a lot of different things occurring at the same time.  This test comprises of a few things occurring at the same time, and isn’t a heavy load by any means. We are told by this graph that the benefits of the dual processor system are only realized when the situation takes full advantage of dual processors. You certainly won’t see any gains in your typical day to day use of Word and Excel on a single Athlon 1.2GHz system let along a dual Athlon MP system. With that in mind, I put a heavier load on.  Once there’s a lot of commotion, the dual Athlon MP setup pulls ahead of the rest of the pack by a large amount. We see a gain of over 50% when going from an Athlon SP system to an Athlon MP system. We see the true benefits of multiple processors in a system with a high stress load. Obviously, a stress load this significant will only be often witnessed on a server and or high-end workstation. In most cases, these numbers will only be seen in a server environment because workstations usually tend to one or two specific tasks and not a whole bunch at a time. In a situation similar to the one we’ve just seen, the new enhanced MOESI cache coherency protocol comes into play and makes sure the system performs at its peak. While we know the regular Athlon is capable of much more from just clock speed, working clock for clock with an Athlon MP proves that the enhanced features work right out of the box. All of the small leads you’ve been seeing when comparing the Athlon MP to the Athlon “Thunderbird” are care of optimized cache. |
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