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Subject: Itanium Processor tm, Will it Power Chess Software Better Than I A-32?

Author: Terry McCracken

Date: 20:56:14 06/20/01


 benchmarks
Intel® Itanium™- based systems





Intel® Itanium™-based systems are designed to provide outstanding computing
power in the key areas of security, transaction processing, computer-aided
engineering, and high-performance technical computing.

Security Performance Coradiant* Secure Transactions
Transaction Processing
Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering.MSC.Nastran – Nastran 70.7.2
High Performance / Technical Computing.Linpack*-1000
SPEC CPU2000 Performance – SPECint2000
SPEC CPU2000 Performance – SPECfp2000
System Memory Bandwidth Performance.STREAM*
Scientific Computing Performance Sixtrack* Benchmark @ CERN



Workload is clients requesting 2K object.
Details at http://www.networkshop.ca/documents/icspreview.pdf
Different processor MHz on Sun* systems based on systems available at time of
tests.
updated results pending



All projections based on Intel estimates for Sun USII* 450 MHz, Sun USIII* 750
MHz. Itanium™ 800 MHz prototype measurement using online transaction processing
(OLTP) workload testing at Intel on test system configurations.



Source for Sun USII* :
http://www.mechsolutions.com/support/prod_support/nastran*/performance/v
707_sngl.html#Vend_Sun SUN E6500: Single USII 400 MHz, Solaris 7, 2 Gb, 2
Controllers, 11 disks (10,000 rpm, 9gb).
Source for Intel Itanium Processor: Intel Measurements on an Itanium-based
System: Single 800 MHz 4M Cache in Itanium-based system, 16GB RAM, Microsoft
Windows* 2000/64 (Whistler Beta).



USII* 450 MHz measurement at www.netlib.org
USIII* 750 MHz projection based on Intel estimates
Itanium processor 800 MHz prototype measurement (test system configuration)



Source for Sun USII* and USIII* results: results published at www.spec.org.
Itanium processor prototype measurement 800 MHz / 4M, 266 MHz Bus (133/2X) with
460GX chipset



Source for Sun USII* and USIII* results: results published at www.spec.org.
Itanium™ processor prototype measurement 800 MHz / 4M, 266 MHz Bus (133/2X) with
460GX chipset. Second processor dedicated to running operating system.



Source for Sun USII* and USIII* results: www.cs.virginia.edu/stream, triad
performance. single CPU
Itanium™ Processor Prototype Measurement 800 MHz / 2M, 266 MHz Bus (133/2X),
triad performance. single CPU.



source: http://www.space.com
http://www.spec.org, Sun: 900MHz USIII
CERN, running in-house code on Fujitsu-Siemens Itanium System.


Source for all data: Report from Coradiant under contract with Intel
Sun E420R, 4P USII* 450 MHz, RSA SSL-C libraries
Sun E450, 4P USII* 400 MHz, Open_SSL libraries with Hardware SSL acceleration
Lion 4P, Itanium C0 800MHz/ 266FSB 4MB Cache w/ RSA SSL-C* libraries

Performance tests and ratings are measured using specific computer systems
and/or components and reflect the approximate performance of Intel® products as
measured by those tests. Any difference in system hardware or software design or
configuration may affect actual performance. Buyers should consult other sources
of information to evaluate the performance of systems or components they are
considering purchasing. For more information on performance tests and on the
performance of Intel products, reference
http://www.intel.com/procs/perf/limits.htm or call (U.S.) 1-800-628-8686 or
1-916-356-3104.





* Legal Information and Privacy Policy © 2001 Intel Corporation




  frequently asked questions about the Intel® Itanium™ processor family

 		 	Q1. What is the Intel® Itanium™ processor ? How is this different than the
products based on IA-32? A1. The Intel® Itanium™ processor (formerly code-named
Merced) is designed to provide features that enable scalability, high
availability, performance, investment protection, and choice for high-end
servers and workstations. The Itanium processor represents the most significant
advancement to the Intel® architecture since the 80386. The Itanium processor is
the first product in the Itanium processor family based on the EPIC (Explicitly
Parallel Instruction Computing) design technology and incorporates a number of
new technologies, features and capabilities that make it ideal for the high-end
server and workstation markets. The Intel Itanium processor family will
complement the IA-32 processor family to provide a complete line of Intel®
processor-based platforms for all computing environments. Q2. What is EPIC? A2.
EPIC stands for Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing–a new design
philosophy going beyond the RISC and CISC processors that are available today.
EPIC technology enables greater instruction level parallelism than previous
processor architectures, supporting higher levels of performance in targeted
application segments. The Itanium architecture is based on EPIC technology. EPIC
is based on a unique combination of innovative features such as predication,
speculation and explicit parallelism enabling world-class performance for the
high-end enterprise class of computing. Q3. What is the difference between EPIC
technology and Itanium processor based architecture? A3. All products in the
Intel Itanium processor family are based on the Itanium architecture. The
Itanium architecture is based on the EPIC design philosophy. Itanium
architecture is much more than the typical 64-bit architecture; it was designed
from the ground up to address the needs of enterprise computing. The
architecture incorporates several advanced features for scalability and
performance while maintaining backward binary compatibility to IA-32
instructions in hardware. As with IA-32 architecture, the Intel Itanium
architecture will be the foundation for an entire family of products. Q4. What
will be the MHz of Itanium processor-based systems? A4. Itanium processor-based
systems will be available at 733 and 800Mhz in 2MB and 4MB L3 cache
configurations. Q5. What kind of performance can we expect from the Itanium
processor? A5. Itanium-based systems are introducing new performance,
scalability and reliability advantages to the highest levels of
enterprise/technical computing in a cost-efficient way, ushering-in a new era of
enterprise computing. The performance of Itanium-based systems is tailored to
the needs of large database management, data mining, secure e-Commerce,
computer-aided engineering, and high-performance scientific and engineering
computing. We're seeing world-class performance in these target areas. We expect
system performance benefits to increase as application vendors continue to
utilize optimized software development environments such as compilers,
libraries, tools and OSs. Q6. What features does the Intel Itanium processor
include that make it relevant to address the high-end server market? A6. The
high-end server market requires a highly available and balanced system which is
much more responsive, compared to a desktop system. Intel Itanium
processor-based systems will extend the capabilities of the Intel architecture
to the most demanding server environments that often rely on costly and
proprietary architectures today. Servers are used to run mission-critical
business applications and must have the performance, scalability and reliability
to meet the needs of this market. The Itanium processor provides 2MB or 4MB of
L3 cache; 64-bit addressability; EPIC features such as speculation, predication
and parallelism; along with massive machine resources of 128 integer and 128
floating point registers to deliver immediate benefits to the demands of the
server market. Server applications such as large databases and business
intelligence will benefit immediately from the 64-bit addressing as well as the
EPIC features delivered by the Intel Itanium processor, which will provide
higher availability, performance, and improved transaction throughput. Q7. What
features does the Intel Itanium processor include that make it relevant to
address the workstation market? A7. Features of the Intel Itanium processor,
such as increased floating point performance, memory bandwidth, and memory
addressability to handle large data sets, will significantly enhance performance
and lead to improvements in the workstation market. Workstation applications in
the high-performance computing segment, digital content creation, mechanical and
electrical design automation will benefit from 64-bit addressing, floating-point
performance, and the EPIC features delivered by the Intel Itanium processor. Q8.
What makes this 64-bit architecture different from other 64-bit architectures on
the market? A8. The advanced features of the Intel Itanium architecture go
beyond 64-bit memory addressability. Intel Itanium processors contain advanced
EPIC technology which enables world-class performance, high availability and
scalability, and IA-32 binary compatibility in hardware for end user investment
protection, a combination offered by no other architecture. Moreover, the Intel
Itanium processor is already supported by more OEMs than any other 64-bit
architecture. Q9. What is the Operating System support for Itanium-based
systems? A9. The Itanium™ processor includes support from four operating
systems, including Microsoft (Windows XP 64-bit Edition, 64-bit Windows Advanced
Server Limited Edition 2002), Linux (from four distributor companies - Red Hat,
SUSE, Caldera and Turbo Linux), and two Unix versions - Hewlett Packard's HP-UX
11i v 1.5 and IBM's AIX-5L. Please ask each company for specific information and
shipment plans. Q10. What is the difference between Xeon™ processor-based
systems and Itanium-based systems? When should one company buy one system over
the other? A10. Itanium-based systems target the most demanding enterprise
computing and technical applications including large database, data mining,
e-Commerce security transactions, computer-aided engineering, and
high-performance scientific and engineering computing. Customers who have new
applications or projects that require the performance, scalability and large
memory addressability that the Itanium architecture provides should consider
using Intel Itanium-based systems. Xeon processor-based systems continue to
provide the solution of choice, industry-leading performance, and
price/performance for existing IA-32 applications. Q11. Will the Intel Itanium
processor family eventually replace IA-32? A11. No. The IA-32 architecture has a
strong future roadmap and will continue to provide value to its target market
segments. The two architectures will complement each other to enable a full
range of solutions based on the Intel architecture for all computing
environments. Q12. Will Itanium processor-based systems be compatible with IA-32
systems? Will IT be able to effortlessly migrate their systems to Itanium
processor-based systems? A12. Optimal performance for Itanium processor-based
systems will be achieved with 64-bit software. The Intel Itanium processor
supports 32-bit binary compatibility in hardware. Because compatibility is
always also dependent on OS and system features, IT should work with their
solutions vendors to validate their complete solution environment, including
current IA-32 code. Q13. When will I be able to buy an Itanium processor-based
system? A13. Sales of Itanium-based servers and workstations have begun. Intel
expects approximately 25 system manufacturers to offer more than 35 models this
year and hundreds of hardware, software and application vendors will market
solutions throughout the year depending on individual production and validation
schedules. Itanium-based systems target the most demanding enterprise computing
and technical applications, including large database management, data mining,
secure e-Commerce transactions and computer-aided engineering, as well as
high-performance scientific and engineering computing. Q14. What is McKinley?
A14. McKinley is the code name of the second processor in the Intel Itanium
processor family and will extend the family into new solutions in the high-end
enterprise server and technical computing market segments. McKinley will follow
the same development and rollout phases as the Itanium processor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If some or any of the members or software developers here at CCC have use of
the Itanium Processor tm, please respond to any benefits or deficits of this
new IA-64 chip in relation to chess.

Thanks!

 Regards,
  Terry McCracken






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