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Most of the PCs I built are dual CPU computers. The latest batch are of the 2.4GHz Dual Xeons. Can PerformanceTest exercise both CPU? If it does, I assume the results on a Dual 2.4GHz box should be somewhat higher than a single P4 2.4GHz ?? Is this correct?
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Most of the tests in PerformanceTest are single threaded. This means that only a single CPU will be used at a time. This is similar to a lot of commonly used applications, which are also single threaded.
However there are a few exceptions to this.
1/ A number of the tests call operating system functions to do the work they need to do. In some cases these operating system functions are coded to take some advantage of multiple CPUs. This can also be the case with device driver software and other software such as DirectX (as used for the 3D tests). So systems with multiple CPUs can benefit slightly when this is the case.
2/ There is always a small amount of background activity happening in Windows. Having a 2nd CPU means that this background activity can be offloaded to the spare CPU. Leaving the other one more available to do slightly more work.
3/ The MaxMegaFLOPS test in PerformanceTest runs in 4 threads and will fully use up to 4 CPUs. Results on multiple CPU systems should be *much* higher for this particular test.
These three factors above should give your dual CPU systems a slight boost in the overall result. (but maybe not as much as could be expected)
For the next version of PerformanceTest we have created a more realistic multithreaded test.
Here is the link to the new (currently pre-release) version of PerformanceTest (Version 4.0 build 1009).
[Link removed - 10/Dec/2003 - Final release version is now available. Download from: http://www.passmark.com/download/index.htm]
The two main changes in this version are the Advanced Multi-process testing window and the updated Advanced Disk Testing window.
The Multi-process test in this pre-release version should show a big performance gain on a dual system compared to a single CPU system.
Also related to this disucssion is Hyperthreading (which simulates dual CPUs). See this previous article for details.
"Hyperthreading, the MaxMegaFLOPS test and sample results"
http://www.passmark.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8
David
PassMark
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