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From: gem...@homxb.UUCP (Rick Richardson)
Newsgroups: net.arch,net.micro
Subject: 8/14/86 Dhrystone Benchmark Report
Message-ID: <1862@homxb.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 15-Aug-86 07:07:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: homxb.1862
Posted: Fri Aug 15 07:07:39 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Aug-86 08:15:01 EDT
Organization: PC Research, Inc.
Lines: 414

x

ANNOUNCMENT
Attached, please find the 08/14/86 list of DHRYSTONE 1.1 benchmark results.
I'm sorry it took so long to get this list together.  The only excuse
I can offer is that it took a lot more wining and dining to convince
Margo to get engaged to me than I initially thought :-)!

I'll be posting the source code for DHRYSTONE 1.1 in a few days.  It
has been well posted already, so you can probably get a copy from
a neighbor.

I'm no longer accepting or reporting results from the 1.0 version.
Remember, the "goofed" version?  I am now keeping a real database of
all the reported results.  To help me in automating this process,
I am requesting that all results sent to me are on a copy of the
following form, and mailed to:

	ihnp4!castor!pcrat!dry

-------CUT HERE-------
DHRYSTONE 1.1 BENCHMARK REPORTING FORM
MANUF:
MODEL:
PROC:
CLOCK:
OS:
OVERSION:
COMPILER:
CVERSION:
OPTIONS:
NOREG:
REG:
NOTES:
DATE:
SUBMITTER:
MAILTO: ihnp4!castor!pcrat!dry
-------CUT HERE-------

A sample filled out form looks like this:

DHRYSTONE 1.1 BENCHMARK REPORTING FORM
MANUF: AT&T
MODEL: 6300 PLUS
PROC: 80286
CLOCK: 6
OS: UNIX
OVERSION: SVR2
COMPILER: cc
CVERSION: 2.0
OPTIONS: large
NOREG: 99999
REG: 99999
NOTES: immersed unit in He
DATE: 8/15/86
SUBMITTER: ihnp4!frostbite (Abby Normal)
MAILTO: ihnp4!castor!pcrat!dry

The good news is that this new format allows reporting the information
in several ways.  I have attached reports sorted by manufacturer and
by performance.  I am also reporting all reasonable submissions, even
for identical configurations.  I gave up trying to figure out which one
might be a better measure.  These things aren't all that reliable a
measure of performance, anyhow, and anybody who quibbles over
say a 10% difference between machines is missing the point, as stated
below.

CLARIFICATION
There seems to have been a great deal of confusion over what this
benchmark measures, and how to use these results.  Let me try to clarify
this:

	1) DHRYSTONE is a measure of processor+compiler efficiency in
	   executing a 'typical' program.  The 'typical' program was
	   designed by measuring statistics on a great number of
	   'real' programs.  The 'typical' program was then written
	   by Reinhold P. Weicker using these statistics.  The
	   program is balanced according to statement type, as well
	   as data type.

	2) DHRYSTONE does not use floating point.  Typical programs don't.

	3) DHRYSTONE does not do I/O.  Typical programs do, but then
	   we'd have a whole can of worms opened up.

	4) DHRYSTONE does not contain much code that can be optimized
	   by vector processors.  That's why a CRAY doesn't look real
	   fast, they weren't built to do this sort of computing.

	5) DHRYSTONE does not measure OS performance, as it avoids
	   calling the O.S.  The O.S. is indicated in the results only
	   to help in identifying the compiler technology.

If somebody asked me to pick out the best machine for the money, I
wouldn't look at just the results of DHRYSTONE.  I'd probably:

	1) Run DHRYSTONE to get a feel for the compiler+processor
	   speed.
	2) Run any number of benchmarks to check disk I/O bandwidth,
	   using both sequential and random read/writes.
	3) Run a multitasking benchmark to check multi-user response
	   time.  Typically, these benchmarks run several types of
	   programs such as editors, shell scripts, sorts, compiles,
	   and plot the results against the number of simulated users.
	4) If appropriate for the intended use, run WHETSTONE, to determine
	   floating point performance.
	5) If appropriate for intended use, run some programs which do
	   vector and matrix computations.
	6) Figure out what the box will:
		- cost to buy
		- cost to operate and maintain
		- be worth when it is sold
		- be worth if the manufacturer goes out of business
	7) Having done the above, I probably have a hand-full of
	   machines which meet my price/performance requirements.
	   Now, I find out if the applications programs I'd like
	   to use will run on any of these machines.  I also find
	   out how much interest people have in writing new software
	   for the machine, and look carefully at the migration path
	   I will have to take when I reach the limits of the machine.

To summarize, DHRYSTONES by themselves are not anything more than
a way to win free beers when arguing 'Box-A versus Box-B' religion.
They do provide insight into Box-A/Compiler-A versus Box-A/Compiler-B
comparisons.

As usual, all comments and new results should be mailed directly
to me at ..ihnp4!castor!pcrat!rick.  I will summarize
and post to the net.  These results are also being sent to Rheinhold
Weicker for adding to his list of Pascal and Ada results.

A SPECIAL THANKS
I didn't write the DHRYSTONE benchmark.  Rheinhold Weicker did. He has
certainly provided us with a useful tool for benchmarking, and is
to be congratulated.

			Rick Richardson
			PC Research, Inc.
			(201) 834-1378 (9-17 EST)
			(201) 922-1134 (7-9,17-24 EST)
			..ihnp4!castor!pcrat!rick	(normal mail)
			..ihnp4!castor!pcrat!dry	(results only)



BENCHMARK SUMMARY