Dual Core Linux Performance: Two Penguins are Better than One
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 1, 2005 5:55 AM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Gaming Benchmark 2: Compiling and Gaming
Compiling and gaming are two of the most system intensive application, and often I find myself running both at the same time. In this benchmark we attempt to compile the Linux 2.6.4 kernel for x86_64 with varying amounts of jobs in make.
- Open FireFox 1.0.4 and load all 5 web pages
- Open XMMS and start playing a Nine Inch Nails CD ripped to Ogg
- Open Thunderbird for news
- Login to our news server and start downloading headers for our subscribed news groups
- Fire up Neverwinter Nights and log into a game
- Begin cross compiling Linux 2.6.4 for x86_64; time the compilation
Compilation of the kernel was done as follows:
# yes "" | make config
# time make -jX
Here is a benchmark where we truly see dual core unrestrained on Linux. Neverwinter Nights didn't lose a step during this analysis on any of the processors, but it isn't really a game that should stress today's processors too much. As we increased the number of jobs for make, the compilations really took off - reducing the compilation time by as much as 40%.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
69 Comments
View All Comments
StealthyOne - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
where is the pentium EE? :-)JGunther - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
#4, it's 'cause Kris is writing the article. 'nuff said. ONCE AGAIN he's skewed the benchmarks by throwing the top of the line Intel dual core chip up against the entry level AMD chip. Nice job.Also, ditto on #7 and #12... way to criticize the AMD part for its price, Kris, without mentioning that the Pentium-D requires a mobo upgrade while the X2 does not.
semo - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
#6 that's what i'm thinking.plus, i thought that with dma enabled, the cpu would not have to do too much work to burn a dvd
atlr - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
I look forward to some database server/web server tests.appu - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
Kris, great work! You might want to consideramaroK (http://amarok.kde.org) as an equivalent
of iTunes under Linux, or even gtkpod. XMMS is
better treated as an equivalent of Winamp 2.x.
Furen - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
I have one question: why was the compile job on the x2 system only run with -j1? Not trying to flame you or anything, just a wondering...bob661 - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
Kristopher Kubick,"At $558 you pay through the nose for the additional performance of the Athlon 64 X2 4200+"
That's the price for the P-D 840 not the X2 4200.
SLIM - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
I think #7 has hit the nail on the head. One other large difference in the prices besides the memory is the extra $100+ spent on a 955x motherboard or a comparable nforce4 sli intel edition (not sure if these support dual core yet though). The price difference, as has been pointed out several time before, between the intel cpus and amd cpus is just about negated once you tack on the extra cost of the MB and memory.You could definitely choose a 945 MB and save about $100 but I have yet to see the pentium D benched on that platform, and I don't think there is an sli platform for intel that's available for under $225.
GoatHerderEd - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
Ill stick with my K6-3 550 (=Furen - Friday, July 1, 2005 - link
haha, what a cool article name and icon =)