Intel's Compiler "cripple AMD" function

[wiak]

http://www.agner.org/optimize/blog/read.php?i=49

"This looks like a victory for AMD. If we read "any Intel product" as Intel's compilers and function libraries, "any Third Party" as programmers using these compilers and libraries, and "Artificial Performance Impairment" as the CPU dispatcher checking the vendor ID string; then the settlement puts an obligation on Intel to change their CPU dispatcher. I will certainly check the next version of Intel's compiler and libraries to see if they have done so or they have found a loophole in the settlement."

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Intel's compilers are for Intel processors just as AMD's compilers are for AMD's processors. CUDA compilers are only for CUDA-capable GPUs and Streams compilers are only for Streams capable GPUs. If you want a non-biased compiler, you need to go to a third party that creates a multiplatform compiler (like GNU).

 

[iDont]

Intel's compilers are for Intel processors just as AMD's compilers are for AMD's processors. CUDA compilers are only for CUDA-capable GPUs and Streams compilers are only for Streams capable GPUs. If you want a non-biased compiler, you need to go to a third party that creates a multiplatform compiler (like GNU).

I agree with you, but what disturbes me is that the blog link from wiak suggests that the Intel compiler has made its way into some benchmarking apps:

"My my. Swap CentaurHauls for AuthenticAMD, and Nano's performance magically jumps about 10 percent. Swap for GenuineIntel, and memory performance goes up no less than 47.4 percent. This is not a test error or random occurrence; I benchmarked each CPUID multiple times across multiple reboots on completely clean Windows XP installations. The gains themselves are not confined to a small group of tests within the memory subsystem evaluation, but stretch across the entire series of read/write tests. Only the memory latency results remain unchanged between the two CPUIDs."

 

[FordGT90Concept]

That's a good point. Benchmarking software should stick to the GNU compilers and alter their names so that they are harder to create driver optimizations for.