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Subject: Re: windows for AMD64 - MMX not 64-bit threadsafe

Author: Eugene Nalimov

Date: 22:08:33 08/29/03

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On August 30, 2003 at 00:47:18, Jay Urbanski wrote:

>On August 29, 2003 at 23:35:53, Eugene Nalimov wrote:
>
>>>>Yeah it could, except that it's 4X more expensive.  The list price for our 2 X
>>>2.0Ghz Opteron system is around $6000.  For the two-way 1.5Ghz Madison system
>>>that gets 30 SPEC FP rate it's $26,000.
>>
>>Here is dual Itanium2/1.5GHz/6Mb L3 for ~$15k:
>>
>>http://www.smb.compaq.com/MiddleFrame.asp?page=config&ProductLineId=433&FamilyId=1431&BaseId=9443&oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&AirTime=False
>
>Which is a workstation, not a server.  Apples and oranges.  HP's dual processor
>server configured with 2 CPU's and 2GB RAM is $22,743.
>
>http://www.smb.compaq.com/MiddleFrame.asp?page=config&ProductLineId=431&FamilyId=1475&BaseId=9375&oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&AirTime=False
>
>(add a CPU and a gig of ram)
>
>A dual processor 2.0Ghz Opteron workstation is around $5000
>http://www.boxxtech.com/asp/cf_step2.asp?ModelInstanceID=180
>
>But let's compare servers to workstations anyways.
>
>$6000 / 28.1 = $213 per SPECFP-rate for Opteron
>http://www.spec.org/cpu2000/results/res2003q3/cpu2000-20030728-02426.html
>
>$15,000 / 42.4 = $353 per SPEhCFP-rate for Itanium
>
>Hardly "comparable price performance for SMP systems"
>
>Like I said before, the 1.4Ghz 1.5MB cache Madison is comparable.

Sorry, you are right. Dual Itanium2/1.3GHz/3Mb cache cost ~$7.5k

http://www.smb.compaq.com/MiddleFrame.asp?page=config&ProductLineId=433&FamilyId=1431&BaseId=9079&oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&AirTime=False

I cannot find its SpecFP Rate on SPEC web site, but dual Itanium2/1GHz/3Mb cache
system has score 30.7, so 1.3GHz system's score should be something like 38-39.
$7.5 / 38 == less than $200. Comparable not only to Opteron server (Itanium is
slightly better), but to the workstation as well (Itanium is slightly worse).

>But still, what software are you going to run on it other than an OS?

You have C/C++/Fortran compiler, and most of FP applications need just
recompilation.

I worked with some ISPs (they reported bugs in our compiler), and there *are*
some large CAD-like applications available on NT for Itanium.

>I will admit, I like Opteron.  I think it's a very nice architecture.  The
>onboard memory controller is an extremely smart move.  I also can't understand
>why anyone would want to throw away 20+ years of software investment to move to
>Itanium.  Microsoft should (and does) understand this more than anyone.  Tell
>me, how many Microsoft applications are available for IPF natively?

Most important *server* ones: NT and SQL Server.

Thanks,
Eugene

>>And I believe exactly such system (zx6000 with dual Itanium2/1.5GHz/6Mb L3) has
>>Spec FP rate of 42:
>>
>>http://www.spec.org/cpu2000/results/res2003q3/cpu2000-20030630-02327.html
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Eugene
>>
>>>>For integer performance story is different, but that thread was about FP
>>>>performance, right? :-)
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>Eugene



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