[comp.sys.atari.st] TT speed figure

cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) (06/13/90)

l86@nikhef.nl (Hugo Burm) writes:

>The developers version of the TT (16 MHz) runs
>at 4100 Dhrystones
>(Turbo C 2.0, 68020 compiler switch on, cache on,
>run in dual purpose RAM (time sliced with the video logic))
>A normal ST runs at 1700.

4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  You can get that kind of
performance from a vanilla 386 clone.  For comparison sake (no flames
please) people on comp.sys.amiga have stated that they have gotten
double this figure on the 25mhz A3000.  I'm not sure how much of
this difference is because of the faster clock or from the 68882
in the A3000.  I wonder what kind of Dhrystone figure a Mac IIcx
would produce?  

Chris


------------------------------+---------------------------
Chris Mauritz                 |Donde hay una cerveza
cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu   |hay un plan.
(c)All rights reserved.       |
Send flames to /dev/null      |El Guerrero Aereo es el rey!
------------------------------+---------------------------

gl8f@astsun9.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) (06/13/90)

In article <CMM.0.88.645215952.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes:
>
>4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  You can get that kind of
>performance from a vanilla 386 clone.

Indeed, Dhrystone is an awful benchmark. Depending on how you do the
string copies, Dhrystone performance can vary 30% or more on a single
machine between compilers. Also, given what Alan Pratt said a long
time about about the TT's memory system, you can expect 50% better
performance from the ram above 2 megs which doesn't have video
contention.

Now can we shut up about this topic until the TT is in stores? We
aren't getting anywhere with all these stupid postings.

--
"Perhaps I'm commenting a bit cynically, but I think I'm qualified to."
                                              - Dan Bernstein

ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) (06/13/90)

In article <CMM.0.88.645215952.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes:
>l86@nikhef.nl (Hugo Burm) writes:
>
>>The developers version of the TT (16 MHz) runs
>>at 4100 Dhrystones
>>(Turbo C 2.0, 68020 compiler switch on, cache on,
>>run in dual purpose RAM (time sliced with the video logic))
>>A normal ST runs at 1700.

What version of Dhrystone? There's a vast difference between Dhrystone
1.x and Dhrystone 2.x.  Dhrystone 1.x can be optimized a lot by removing
benchmark code; smart compilers will see that the computed results
aren't used, and so the computations are discarded.  V2.x defeats this
by *using* all the answers computed.  V2.0 ran ~1200 on a MicroVAX II.

>4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  You can get that kind of
>performance from a vanilla 386 clone.  For comparison sake (no flames

I achieved about 5000 Dhrystones (V2.1) on a 25Mhz 386 running Interactive
Unix, with register parameters and aggresive optimization. That's 386
native mode too.

>please) people on comp.sys.amiga have stated that they have gotten
>double this figure on the 25mhz A3000.  I'm not sure how much of
>this difference is because of the faster clock or from the 68882
>in the A3000.  I wonder what kind of Dhrystone figure a Mac IIcx
>would produce?  

Dhrystone is an integer benchmark only; the floating point chip can have
no effect on it.  I suspect the Amiga 3000 advantages are from the clock
speed, and also probably from the compiler (Lattice C optimizes quite
well).
-- 
First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T  T E C H N O L O G I E S      / /  
                                                                    \\ / /    
Then, the disclaimer:  All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \  / o
Now for the witty part:    I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam!             \/

daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (06/14/90)

In article <CMM.0.88.645215952.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes:
>l86@nikhef.nl (Hugo Burm) writes:

>>The developers version of the TT (16 MHz) runs
>>at 4100 Dhrystones

>4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  You can get that kind of
>performance from a vanilla 386 clone.  

Benchmarking is kind of a black art, and Dhrystone is one of the blackest 
forms of this art.  First, saying "Dhrystone" is kind of meaningless in this
era of optimizing compilers -- some compilers can produce far faster numbers
with Dhrystone 1.1 vs. Dhrystone 2.x, on the same hardware.  So first thing,
you want to compare like with like.  Then of course there's the compiler 
used.  You can get a nearly 2:1 increase going from early C compilers to the
latest Lattice with all the "go faster" flags set, on the same [Amiga] 
hardware.  Then you get to the issue of "memory model".  For 68030s, you
should be running with 32 bit integers, just like RISC machines or VAXen
or other 32 bit CPUs that show up in the comparisons.  But you can get higher
numbers in many cases choosing 16 bit integers.  Benchmarks for Clones will
just about always use 16 bit integers.  Then consider the operating system.
Most machines have an OS eating part of the CPU time during any benchmark.
On an MS-DOS machine, you can throw out MS-DOS and use a '386 program loader
to further boost the numbers.  And on a '386 with cache, the entire 
Dhrystone program will fit in a 16K cache.

All of which means that current '386 machines under MS-DOS tend to give pretty
high Dhrystone numbers.  It doesn't say too much about what such machines will
do with actual programs, or even moreso, actual programs in a real operating 
system.  So don't pay too much attention to Dhrystone; it's best at comparing
Amigas to Amigas, Ataris to Ataris, etc. where the software is invarient.  As
move toward more and more dissimilar architectures, you often find unusual
differences, especially with Dhrystone 1.1.

>I'm not sure how much of this difference is because of the faster clock or 
>from the 68882 in the A3000.  I wonder what kind of Dhrystone figure a Mac 
>IIcx would produce?  

Dhrystone has no floating point component.  The '882 won't affect the results.
Other than clock speed, the compiler will have a noticable difference.  The
caches, burst memory, etc. do too.

>Chris Mauritz                 |Donde hay una cerveza


-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
	"I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit" -REM

towns@atari.UUCP (John Townsend) (06/14/90)

in article <CMM.0.88.645215952.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu>, cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) says:
> 
> l86@nikhef.nl (Hugo Burm) writes:
> 
>>The developers version of the TT (16 MHz) runs
>>at 4100 Dhrystones
>>(Turbo C 2.0, 68020 compiler switch on, cache on,
>>run in dual purpose RAM (time sliced with the video logic))
>>A normal ST runs at 1700.
> 
> 4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  You can get that kind of
> performance from a vanilla 386 clone.  For comparison sake (no flames
> please) people on comp.sys.amiga have stated that they have gotten
> double this figure on the 25mhz A3000.  I'm not sure how much of
> this difference is because of the faster clock or from the 68882
> in the A3000.  I wonder what kind of Dhrystone figure a Mac IIcx
> would produce?  
> 
> Chris
> 
> [... Longish Signature Deleted ...]

Why don't you try comparing the figure to something that is in the 
same "computing class"??? Why not see what the Dhrystones are for a 
Macintosh SE/30 are? Or perhaps a Mac IIcx? 

Comparing the figures of a TT to an Amiga 3000 running at 25MHz is 
not even close to a fair comparison. I would be willing to bet that
the TT would compete favorably with an equally equipped A3000.

-- John Townsend
   Atari Corp.

 

cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) (06/15/90)

In article <2217@atari.UUCP> towns@atari.UUCP (John Townsend) writes:
>in article <CMM.0.88.645215952.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu>, cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) says:
>> 
>> 4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  You can get that kind of
>> performance from a vanilla 386 clone.  For comparison sake (no flames
>> please) people on comp.sys.amiga have stated that they have gotten
>> double this figure on the 25mhz A3000.  I'm not sure how much of
>> this difference is because of the faster clock or from the 68882
>> in the A3000.  I wonder what kind of Dhrystone figure a Mac IIcx
>> would produce?  
>> 
>> Chris
>> 
>> [... Longish Signature Deleted ...]
>
>Why don't you try comparing the figure to something that is in the 
>same "computing class"??? Why not see what the Dhrystones are for a 
>Macintosh SE/30 are? Or perhaps a Mac IIcx? 
>
>Comparing the figures of a TT to an Amiga 3000 running at 25MHz is 
>not even close to a fair comparison. I would be willing to bet that
>the TT would compete favorably with an equally equipped A3000.

Hehe, well maybe if you guys got the silly machine out the door
so we could get a look at it and see for ourselves, we COULD
make some valid comparisons.  This is rather comical.

Yes, sorry about comparing a 25mhz machine with a 16mhz machine
(slaps wrist...smack!).  We shall see what the real numbers are
like soon (or do we have to wait until 4th quarter 199X?)

Sorry to be such a cynic, but you guys make it so easy. :-)

>
>-- John Townsend
>   Atari Corp.

<longish signature inserted>



------------------------------+---------------------------
Chris Mauritz                 |Donde hay una cerveza
cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu   |hay un plan.
(c)All rights reserved.       |
Send flames to /dev/null      |El Guerrero Aereo es el rey!
------------------------------+---------------------------

jfbruno@rodan.acs.syr.edu (John Bruno) (06/15/90)

In article <1990Jun15.133149.22197@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) writes:
 >In article <2217@atari.UUCP> towns@atari.UUCP (John Townsend) writes:
 >>in article <CMM.0.88.645215952.cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu>, cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) says:
 >>> 
 >>> 4100 Dhrystones?  ACK!  That is awful.  
 >>> [My Amiga can beat up Your Atari drivel deleted]
 >>> 
 >>> Chris
 >>> 
 >>> [... Longish Signature Deleted ...]
 >>
 >>Why don't you try comparing the figure to something that is in the 
 >>same "computing class"??? Why not see what the Dhrystones are for a 
 >>Macintosh SE/30 are? Or perhaps a Mac IIcx? 
 >>
 >>Comparing the figures of a TT to an Amiga 3000 running at 25MHz is 
 >>not even close to a fair comparison. I would be willing to bet that
 >>the TT would compete favorably with an equally equipped A3000.
 >
 >Hehe, well maybe if you guys got the silly machine out the door
 >so we could get a look at it and see for ourselves, we COULD
 >make some valid comparisons.  This is rather comical.
 >
 >Yes, sorry about comparing a 25mhz machine with a 16mhz machine
 >(slaps wrist...smack!).  We shall see what the real numbers are
 >like soon (or do we have to wait until 4th quarter 199X?)
 >
 >Sorry to be such a cynic, but you guys make it so easy. :-)
 >
 >>
 >>-- John Townsend
 >>   Atari Corp.
 >
 >------------------------------+---------------------------
 >Chris Mauritz                 |Donde hay una cerveza
 >cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu   |hay un plan.
 >(c)All rights reserved.       |
 >Send flames to /dev/null      |El Guerrero Aereo es el rey!
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hehe, Chris, we'd all appreciate it if you would take your own advice and keep
keep your childish posts to yourself. Dhrystones blahblah dhrystones this that 
drivel drivel... Gimme a break!  Those Byte magazine geek benchmarks don't mean
squat! No matter how fast your  machine is, it'll still take you 15 minutes to
type a letter and X minutes to type in a spreadsheet. I'm sure everybody is
real impressed that your Amiga can do more GigaHoozits than our Ataris, so
what?

Well, enough of that, we now return you to our regular programming. Let's
see, where were we.... Ah yes, I think we were discussing a non-existent
machine, or was it the differences between Dhrystone 1.X and 2.Y... Real
interesting stuff, doncha think?

---jb

Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com (06/16/90)

John Townsend writes:
>Why don't you try comparing the figure to something that is in the 
>same "computing class"??? 
   ...
>Comparing the figures of a TT to an Amiga 3000 running at 25MHz is 
>not even close to a fair comparison. I would be willing to bet that
>the TT would compete favorably with an equally equipped A3000.
 
Does this mean we should slow an Amiga 3000 down to 16Mhz...?
 
 ...or try to find a 25Mhz TT...??     (Just to make it fair...)
 
BobR