On Feb 12, 2005, at 4:21 PM, Sean Davis wrote:
>> -mcpu=ultrasparc schedules the code such that the 
>> even-more-superscalar
>> nature of the ultrasparc can be used.  it doesn't really allow the use
>> of raw 64 bit arith...
>
> See, this is one of the oddities of sparc64 that makes me want to put
> SpamAssassin back on it - with 2MB cache, 333mhz CPU, it would eat 
> through
> messages about half as fast as a 256KB cache 2.167ghz CPU (athlon xp) -
> shouldn't the performance margin be a LOT bigger there?

   Well, it should be if we were comparing apples with apples, but we're 
not.  There's nothing particularly speedy about the x86 architecture.  
The only reason those guys get any performance at all out of their 
systems is the amazing process technology which results in huge clock 
rates.  It's still a mid-1970s processor architecture.

> It does spamassassin at over twice the speed of a p3-650 with the same 
> ram,
> for example.

   Not entirely surprising. :-)  This is precisely why UltraSPARCs do 
all the heavy lifting on my networks.  Well, that and the reliability.

         -Dave

--
Dave McGuire              "I've watched Harley people throw up
Cape Coral, FL                      on the ceiling."    -Krissi