The Multicore Era Over the past ~15 years, server processors from Intel and AMD have evolved from the early quad-core processors to the current monsters with over 50 cores per socket. The memory subsystems have grown at similar rates, from 3-4 DRAM channels at 1.333 GT/s transfer rates to 8-12… read more
memory latency
The evolution of single-core bandwidth in multicore processors
The primary metric for memory bandwidth in multicore processors is that maximum sustained performance when using many cores. For most high-end processors these values have remained in the range of 75% to 85% of the peak DRAM bandwidth of the system over the past 15-20 years — an amazing accomplishment… read more
The Surprising Effectiveness of Non-Overlapping, Sensitivity-Based Performance Models
This was a keynote presentation at the “2nd International Workshop on Performance Modeling: Methods and Applications” (PMMA16), June 23, 2016, Frankfurt, Germany (in conjunction with ISC16). The presentation discusses a family of simple performance models that I developed over the last 20 years — originally in support of processor and… read more