According to the author of the recent Executive Perspectives: Reality Check article "Does Megahertz Matter?", the answer is yes, megahertz matters, but processor frequency does not solely determine application performance, and only when comparing systems with the same architecture. However, it can be easy to get swept up in the inaccurate perception that an increase in processor megahertz will improve application performance by the same amount and thus increase productivity and speed up time to market.

Sun strives for balance on the UltraSPARCR III Cu processor between the need for increased frequency and other enhancements like better scalability, increased efficiency in memory management and greater reliability. These extra capabilities, along with compilers that take advantage of architectural improvements, provide the balance necessary when increasing megahertz to get the greatest increase in application performance.

Real-world workloads, such as EDA simulation, show that a Sun BladeTM 2000 Workstation with a 900 MHz UltraSPARC III Cu processor can outperform a 1.7 GHz 32-bit system by up to 23 percent. Delivered performance is a matter of a balanced and efficient system architecture.

Balanced System Performance

The features of the Sun Blade 2000 Workstation, such as eight MB of cache and the SunTM Fireplane Interconnect, with up to 4.8 GBps of data bandwidth, ensure that the processor capabilities aren't bottlenecked elsewhere in the system. Furthermore, the Sun Blade 2000 Workstation's FC-AL drives offer a peak data transfer rate of 100 MBps, balancing the compute performance to disk I/O. The entire system works together efficiently to help eliminate potential bottlenecks.

64-Bit Computing

Sun provides a smooth transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. A 32-bit SolarisTM Operating Environment (Solaris OE) running on the Sun Blade 2000 Workstation can address up to four GB of memory, providing better application performance. Most competing 64-bit operating environments have a two GB addressing limit for 32-bit applications. This means technical computing customers whose data sets are increasing beyond four GB, requiring a move to a 64-bit architecture, will face limitations on other platforms since some of their other applications will still be running in a 32-bit environment.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.sun.com/executives/realitycheck/headsup020314.html [...read more...]

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